Pedestrians on the street level and on the raised High Line park walkway
This week I visited New York City’s High Line, a former urban freight railway that has been re-envisioned as a public park. The High Line provides a purposeful contrast to the Ruston Way waterfront (Tacoma, WA) as both share an industrial history, are sites of preservation and transformation, and have deep connections to rail transport. In addition, both sites support exploration of how landscapes change over time.
As I walked the 1.45 mile long High Line I was struck by the highly intentional design that makes visible the former use of the site. Throughout the park visitors see railroad tracks. The site was redeveloped, and is maintained, through collaboration between a non-profit conversancy, Friends of the High Line, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It embodies the concepts of preservation and transformation by preserving the raised transport artery and transforming the use from an active rail line to a public park.
The High Line is a unique park. As the founders of Friends of the High Line note, “Some people think of parks as being an escape from the city, but the High Line works because it never takes you away from New York. You are not in a botanical garden. You can hear horns honking. You can see traffic and taxis. It’s knitted into the city. And you’re not alone. You’re walking up there with other New Yorkers” (David & Hammond, 2011, p. 128).
So far I’ve been in New York for three days and have walked on the High Line each day. Below I share some initial impressions.
View of High Line and adjacent buildings
Knitted into the City
The image above shows just how “knitted into the city” the High Line is. Apartments, condominiums, and hotels literally line the park. The commercial developments surrounding the High Line are evidence of how humans make and re-make landscapes. Visitors often stop at viewpoints that open out onto city views and street scenes. In Tacoma, the Ruston Way waterfront parks are also knitted into city–they are embedded within active transport arteries (e.g., railroad, road, shipping lanes).
Artifacts as Teachers
Throughout the High Line railroad tracks have been reinstalled as reminders of the park’s past as a busy transport artery. The founders of Friends of the High Line explained, “Robert and I wanted some of the old New York Central railroad tracks to be reinstalled on the High Line, because we loved the way they looked, and because we hoped they would help visitors sense the structure’s past without having to take a history lesson” (p. 128). This design approach highlights the educational power of purposefully placed artifacts.
The two images below, contrast the original High Line tracks currently visible on the Interim Walkway (a spur at the northern end of the High Line) with the reinstalled railroad tracks within the park.
Interim Walkway and original High Line rails and self-seeded plantings
The original tracks, and the plants that self-seeded the High Line when it was not in use, inspired local community members to advocate for converting the High Line into a park. The Interim Walkway supports visitors to see, and experience, the inspiration for the entire park. This part of the High Line also traverses over the Metropolitan Transportation Authority West Side Yard, where commuter rail cars are stored, bringing into view our continued reliance on train transport.
Re-installed High Line rails and plantings
The reinstalled railroad tracks populated with plantings of trees, grasses, and flowers also reflect the history of the High Line as an active rail line. These purposeful plantings are a stark contrast to the self-seeded plants that populated the abandoned rail line; however, both landscapes can be conceptualized as “wild” or “natural.” Both make visible the interaction of nature and culture in shaping landscapes.
On the Ruston Way waterfront, the concrete ruins of the wigwam and boiler room at Dickman Mill Park are industrial artifacts that invite visitors to think about that park’s previous use as a lumber mill.
Walkers on the High Line
Expanse and Enclosure
The image above shows how, despite the High Line being surrounded by tall skyscrapers, the park is thoughtfully designed on a human scale. The walking paths are narrow. The many and varied seating areas, and the paths, create a sense of both expanse and enclosure. Along the walkway plantings give way to vistas as well as create living overhangs and walls.
The public walkway on the Ruston Way waterfront provides expansive views of Commencement Bay. However, visitors who have responded to my ongoing survey have highlighted only a few sites of peaceful enclosure: Chinese Reconciliation Park, the beach at Dickman Mill Park, and the walkway lined with trees in Cummings Park.
Honey, I Twisted Through More Damn Traffic Today by Ed Ruscha, 1977/2014
Pedestrian Right of Way
The image above is a mural by Ed Ruscha (1977/2014) located on a building wall that faces the High Line. The mural reflects both the street traffic below and the pedestrian traffic on the High Line. On the High Line, pedestrians walk unencumbered by busy street level intersections full of taxis, delivery trucks, cars, and bicycles. The walkway is well used and may reflect both New Yorkers and tourists’ interest in walking in pedestrian-friendly spaces. During busy hours on the High Line (which seems to be most of day), the pathway is teeming with walkers, much like pathway on the Ruston Way waterfront is brimming with walkers, runners, and cyclists on summer weekends.
Connection to Ruston Way Waterfront
On my last walk along the Ruston Way waterfront, before leaving for New York, a coal train rumbled by. I stopped at Les Davis Pier and decided to count the cars. I counted 123 railcars filled with coal. Visitors to Ruston Way experience an active working rail line. In contrast, as I’ve walked on the High Line I’ve thought about the High Line as a site of nostalgia about train transport. At the same time, in a garden of rails and plants, surrounded by the sounds of honking horns and sirens, and views of traffic and new buildings, High Line visitors are knitted into an active cityscape.
For more information about this research project read the Project Overview.
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Resources
David, J. & Hammond, R. (2011). High Line: The inside story of New York City’s park in the sky. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
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