Population density in the New York region.

A major report released today conclude that the New York region needs to radically rethink its approach to land use, transportation and school finance. The report was issued by the Citizens Housing and Planning Council and the Regional Plan Association.

The report said the region needed to reduce its reliance on suburban single-family homes and begin promoting two-family houses, garage apartments and the redevelopment of cities like Newark, Bridgeport and Yonkers as future sources of housing, among other steps.

The report calls for mixed-income development around the region’s 300 transit stations (areas known as "transit villages"); the opening of rental housing in town centers to invigorate local shopping districts and add life to main streets after hours; and the creation of programs that link open-space preservation initiatives, popular with voters, to the development of higher-density, lower-cost housing in other areas.

They call for strong financial support for several proposed regional transportation projects that could create opportunities for "transit-oriented housing." They said the region’s major transit agencies should also have "stable, sufficient operating and capital subsidies."