The Highline

The high line was discussed in class and it is a 1 mile New York City park. It was constructed on an abandoned section of elevated freight railroad, which runs along Manhattan. The highline was designed and created as an aerial greenway. This urban railway park has created developments of condominiums that are built on top of the highline.

The highline was created for a public safety concern and opened to trains in 1934. Originally the train ran from 34th street to St. Johns Park. It was cleverly designed to be connected directly to factories and warehouses, allowing trains to roll right inside buildings. This also allowed for much of the delivery and transport of manufactured goods such as milk, meat and produce without disrupting the traffic on the streets. In the 1950's rail traffic was discontinued through out the nation.

Some of the highline was demolished and it wasn't until 1999 when the High line was considered to be preserved and reused as public open space. With support from The New York Mayor, city funding and community support grew in 2004. By 2009 one part was completed and in 2011 the middle section has been completed. The northernmost section is still uncertain for development.

The park's attractions are natural planted landscapes of a variety of wildlife that grow on the unused tracks. The plants included 210 different species. They also have cultural attractions along the highline such as a temporary installation of 700 purple and grey coloured glass panes to match the Hudson river.

One of the great benefits of the height of the high line is there is virtually no crime because you are always visible from other buildings. And lastly the redesign of the park from an abandoned urban railway was cheaper then demolishing it. The highline is an inspiration to many other cities and is encouraging them to do the same to their abandoned railways.

Image taken from http://www.nomadicphotos.com/United-States/New-York/New-York-City/i-qpBwB76/1/M/P1270525-the-high-line-walkway-M.jpg