Re-rethink Affordable Housing

Thoughtful Urban Renewal

The 5th Street Park Coalition invites you to rethink affordable housing as a design challenge worthy of rigor, nuance, and civic ambition that respects beauty and community context. Jane Jacobs, herself a resident of the West Village, tirelessly petitioned to save her neighborhood from the ongoing march of modernism: oversized buildings and highways built for efficiency at the expense of neighborhood character, promoted by a city government that initially opposed her.

Jane Jacobs, in 1969: an ordinary mom who set out to protect the neighborhood. Detail of a photograph by Elliott Erwitt / Magnum and John J. Burns Library, Boston College.

Housing Architecture

Keeping the Character,
Adding the Care.

Like the rest of the East Village, East 5th Street is defined by its human scale, narrow 18- to 20-foot frontages, and varied, colorful façades. New development must carry the neighborhood’s famous character forward through disciplined massing, setbacks, compatible materials, daylight, and greenspace. The restored 9th Precinct station house, built in 1912 and rehabilitated in the early 2000s, offers a strong precedent for scale, materials, and character. (F)

Housing Graphic

Green Space

Integrating greenspace enhances the lives of housing residents, the neighborhood, and the city through carbon absorption, cleaner air, and sustainable water management. (F)

10

Even 10 mature trees can contribute meaningfully to shade and biodiversity

12 lbs

Approximate annual CO2 absorption from a modest number of trees

4 aqi

Estimated air quality improvement possible with limited greenspace

3ºF

Potential temperature reduction through relief from urban heat

15 in

Rainwater absorption capacity from permeable ground and planting

130 lbs

Annual oxygen output from a small group of healthy trees

Proposals should move beyond lip service by incorporating current and future neighborhood priorities, meaningful public participation, and targeted greenspace into a context-aware plan for East 5th Street that serves residents over the long term.

Open-grid permeable systems
Minimize solar heat gain
Canopy trees
Open-grid permeable systems
Minimize solar heat gain
Canopy trees
Open-grid permeable systems
Minimize solar heat gain
Canopy trees
Open-grid permeable systems
Minimize solar heat gain
Canopy trees

Request RFP
  1. Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Random House, 1961, Chapter 2: "The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety", p. 35.
  2. Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Random House, 1961, Chapter 10: "The Need for Aged Buildings", p. 232.
  3. Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Random House, 1961, Chapter 22: "The Kind of Problem a City Is", p. 238.
  4. While subject to inaccuracies and errors, this information has been prepared to the best of our ability, utilizing over a decade of experience, and based on interviews with architects and designers.
  5. These statements are based on interviews with landscape architects, all statements require further research to confirm.