Jane Jacobs and the Upper West Side

It was in the midst of this urban renewal maelstrom that Jane Jacobs wrote Death and Life in 1960, and it is unsurprising that she would view the intermediate results of such a disruptive transformation with horror.

Jacobs first salvo occurs in her introductory chapter and is aimed just to the north of the UWS in Morningside Heights at Morningside Gardens, a six-building middle-class cooperative project that was spearheaded by David Rockefeller and Robert Moses and built along with the low-income General Grant Houses:

...the planning arms of the city government got together, applied more planning theory, wiped out the most run-down part of the area and built in its stead a middle-income cooperative project complete with shopping center, and a public housing project, all interspersed with air, light, sunshine and landscaping. This was hailed as a great demonstration in city saving. After that, Morningside Heights went downhill even faster. (Jacobs 1961, pp 8)

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IRT subway line going elevated in Morningside Heights
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Morningside Gardens west perimeter wall
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Morningside Gardens
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Morningside Gardens
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Morningside Gardens
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Morningside Gardens
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Morningside Gardens security booth
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Morningside Gardens
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Morningside Gardens parking
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Morningside Gardens security booth
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Morningside Gardens parking garage
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General Grant Houses sign
01/16/2002
General Grant Houses
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General Grant Houses
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Playground in General Grant Houses
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General Grant Houses
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General Grant parking
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Entry to 1295 Amsterdam
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Entry to 3150 Broadway
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Manhattanville Houses (north of General Grant Houses)

Next: The Uses of Sidewalks