New York is a city of superlatives. A new series of walking tours around the city, led by the New York Times architecture critic, draws out the many examples of the city's exceptionalism.
Michael Kimmelman is providing a colorful series of articles that share walks around various corners of New York City. They latest walk tours Jackson Heights, a "global town square" that is the most diverse neighborhood in New York, and potentially the world, according to the article.
The brainchild of commercial real estate developers in the early years of the last century who hoped to entice white, middle-class Manhattanites seeking a suburban lifestyle a short subway ride away, Jackson Heights has become a magnet for Latinos, those who identify as L.G.B.T.Q., South Asians and just about everybody else seeking a foothold in the city and a slice of the American pie.
Suketu Mehta, a New York University professor and the author of Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found and This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto, guides Kimmelman on this tour through a rapidly changing neighborhood (even by New York standards, according to Kimmelman). Mehta gives the a corner of the neighborhood called Diversity Plaza exceedingly high praise: "If I were Baudelaire, this is where I would do my flâneur thing."
The interactive article provides incredible detail on the numerous cultural revelations available in the details of photos taken around the neighborhood. The previous installation of the series toured Harlem.
FULL STORY: Jackson Heights, Global Town Square
Falling in Love With One of the Filthiest Creeks in the Country
Steven Stern explores New York's Newtown Creek through the eyes of Mitch Waxman, a self-taught historian and unlikely devotee of the aquatic wastedump-turned-Superfund site.
NYC E-Scooter Program Threatened Despite High Ridership
Rental scooters in Queens and the Bronx provided close to two million trips in 2024, with many trips starting or ending near transit. Some city officials want to remove them.
E-Scooters Are Rolling Into Queens
Citing the success of a shared scooter program in the Bronx, New York City officials are expanding e-scooter service to parts of eastern Queens.
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
The VW Bus is Back — Now as an Electric Minivan
Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz reimagines its iconic Bus as a fully electric minivan, blending retro design with modern technology, a 231-mile range, and practical versatility to offer a stylish yet functional EV for the future.
Healing Through Parks: Altadena’s Path to Recovery After the Eaton Fire
In the wake of the Eaton Fire, Altadena is uniting to restore Loma Alta Park, creating a renewed space for recreation, community gathering, and resilience.
San Diego to Rescind Multi-Unit ADU Rule
The city wants to close a loophole that allowed developers to build apartment buildings on single-family lots as ADUs.
Electric Vehicles for All? Study Finds Disparities in Access and Incentives
A new UCLA study finds that while California has made progress in electric vehicle adoption, disadvantaged communities remain underserved in EV incentives, ownership, and charging access, requiring targeted policy changes to advance equity.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research