In the PIE stimulus paper I wrote in 2012 on New York as a city of Neighbourhoods I mentioned the High Line as an example of an innovative urban park in which a obsolete aerial railway formerly used to convey industrial goods had been converted to a public park as a result of community action. The third and final section of the High Line has now been completed enabling assessments of the impact and value of the High Line to be made.

While the initial assessment was that the High Line would attract 400,000 visitors a year, the outcome has been that it is attracting 5 million visitors a year making it the second most visited cultural attraction in New York with an estmated $2.2 billion impact in new economic activity. Increased tax revenue from the High Line neighbourhood is expected to reach about $980 million. This is a very good example of innovative place making resulting from community action.

The High Line idea has caught on with proposals for similar proposals developing around the world including Toronto, Mexico City, Chicago, and Philadelphia. Innovative place making such as the High Line can add much to the quality of life of residents in cities, often resulting from community action. Action to revive the Congress Square Park in Portland taken by a community group provides a further contemporary example. PASCAL Networks would welcome further examples of innovative place making.