World Trade Center Neighborhood Livability Plan

Client
Manhattan Community Board #1
Faculty
Paul Buckhurst, Frank Fish and Harlan Sexton
Team
Marc Abelson, Meryl Block, Stephanie Davies, Alison Drury, Cassy Gleason, Deena Hamdani, David Quart, Jaime Sharrock, Christy Smith, Thomas Sze-Leong Yu

Community Board 1 asked the Capstone team to create a neighborhood livability plan for the areas surrounding the World Trade Center site. Even before the tragic events of 9/11, the Community Board had been working to develop, grow, and improve Lower Manhattan. The project study area included the neighborhoods below Chambers Street, between Broadway and West Street. Given that the focus of rebuilding has been on the World Trade Center site itself, the Capstone team’s charge focused more on the areas surrounding Ground Zero to better connect the site with the larger community. The goal was to create a plan that would yield a vibrant, mixed-use community that functions as a center for business, culture, tourism, and residential living. The plan addresses issues of overall accessibility, pedestrian, mass transit and vehicular transportation, residential construction and conversions, retail development, open space, cultural and educational facilities, and streetscape design.