“Otis White”:http://www.governing.com/notebook/today.htm calls the High Line project “ingenious and delightful.”

From “the Times”:http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/12/arts/design/12high.html

Nonetheless, the selection marks a critical step in one of the most compelling urban planning initiatives in the city’s recent history. The preliminary design succeeds in preserving the High Line’s tough industrial character without sentimentalizing it. Instead, it creates a seamless blend of new and old, one rooted in the themes of decay and renewal that have long captivated the imagination of urban thinkers.

Perhaps more important, the design confirms that even in a real estate climate dominated by big development teams and celebrity architects, thoughtful, creative planning ideas — initiated at the grass-roots level — can lead to startlingly original results. As the process continues, the issue will be whether the project’s advocates can maintain such standards in the face of increasing commercial pressures…

Such issues can easily be corrected as the design process unfolds. But they point to what may ultimately be the greatest threat to the project’s success: regulating access to the site. The High Line has already begun to spark the interest of developers, who understand its potential as an agent for raising real estate values… In an effort to take advantage of that interest, city planners have envisioned a series of incentives that would reward developers who include public access to the High Line in their plans. The scheme would also allow developers to connect commercial ventures directly to the gardens, which could radically alter the nature of the project. At the same time, allowing those who own properties below the High Line to relocate creates the possibility of freeing portions of the High Line from the surrounding density.