Neighborhood needs a proactive approach to planning

Real estate developers think in terms of sites. Public agencies should think in terms of communities. As change comes inevitably to Riverdale, I urge my colleagues on Community Board 8 to begin planning for the needs of our community, rather than responding to proposals for individual sites.

Our community is running away from us as developers find it increasingly attractive and as the City struggles to find sties for affordable housing. To take one example, in the Broadway corridor, extending from 238th Street north to the city line, Stagg Development Co. has acquired three sites for residential development, the borough president is talking about building over the rail yards, the Van Cortlandt Motel site is up for sale (thank heavens), Selfhelp is developing a senior residence, etc. I have personally identified 17 sites between 242nd Street and the city line that are either undeveloped or developed at less than the density allowed under the zoning ordinance. Yes, change is coming.

There are questions we need to be asking ourselves: What are desirable levels of density? What are the limitations of our infrastructure (roads, sewer systems) to handle increased populations and what improvements are needed? What is the desired mix of market-rate, affordable and low-cost housing for our community and what the best combination of residential and commercial development? Are there design guidelines that should be in place? And then there are the perennial issues of parking and mass transit, or the lack thereof, which we bemoan, as if they were like the weather, and fail to explore creative solutions. It would seem we have here the agenda of a planning study.

There are, of course, obstacles. Many of the potential development sites are privately owned. The zoning law tends toward inflexibility. The City Planning Department is not always as cooperative as it could be. Nevertheless, a combination of suasion and sanctions can produce results. See the recent theory of the effectiveness of a “nudge.”

When some of us old timers were first appointed to community boards, they were referred to as “community planning boards.” In a way, it’s unfortunate that they lost that designation. In the absence of a plan, the future will be shaped by the “invisible hand” of the free market. As we have often seen, the invisible hand can be all thumbs.

Some 60 years ago, my father owned a store in South Yonkers. Many of our customers came from Riverdale. As a young man, I used to make deliveries here. Often, when I would complement people on their beautiful neighborhood, I would be told (60 years ago!), “You should have seen it 20 years before, it was so much nicer.”

Everyone is made uncomfortable by change. But change always comes. The question is, will we be wise enough and strong enough and determined enough to control change, or will it control us?

David Kornbluh is a former chair of Community Board (CB) 7 in Manhattan and is now a member of CB 8 in the Bronx. He studied Urban Planning at The New School.