Aaron Donovan
Before he began blogging about land use and transportation, Aaron Donovan wrote The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund's annual fundraising appeal for three years and earned a master's degree in urban planning from Columbia. Since then, he has worked for nonprofit organizations devoted to New York City economic development. He lives and works in the Financial District, and sees New York's pre-automobile built form as an asset that makes New York unique in the United States, and as a strategic advantage that should be capitalized upon.
Recent Posts
Panel: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York: The Oversuccessful City, Part 1: Developers’ Realities
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There are economic realities that underlie development and change in the city, all the more so in flush times. In facing the challenges of the growing city, New Yorkers need to consider these truths and their implications. This, the first of two panels on what Jane Jacobs called "oversuccess," will consider these issues primarily from […]
Panel: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York: When the Big Get Bigger: New York Universities and Their Neighbors
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More than 40 years ago, Jane Jacobs opposed the construction of New York University’s monolithic Bobst Library on Washington Square South. The world has changed since then, but institutional expansion remains a major force in cities. Plans by Columbia University, New York University, Cooper Union and the United Nations have all met with considerable controversy. […]
Panel: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York: Can One Woman (Still) Make a Difference?
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This panel will explore the social and historical context in which Jane Jacobs emerged, while examining the ways in which she has influenced urban design and planning today. What factors contributed to the paradigm shift she abetted? Are her principles still applicable and efficacious? To what extent has the world changed to match her vision, […]
Panel: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York: A Civic Activist Boot Camp: Working Within and Without the System
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Jane Jacobs was not beholden to any strategy for making change happen. And today, the complexity of the city and its needs are such that activists also employ a diversity of approaches. While some embrace the protest and resistance models that Jacobs used to oppose the Lower Manhattan Expressway, others focus on effecting social, cultural […]
Panel: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York: Jane Jacobs and an Activist Press
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Jane Jacobs and other activists were canny media strategists, and they worked both mainstream and alternative outlets to spread their messages, affect public perception and try to create both community and change. Today, blogging and other virtual forms of journalism are being used to greater and lesser effect by activists, developers and others trying to […]
Panel: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York: Is New York Losing Its Soul?
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Today’s New York City is safer and more economically robust than anyone could have imagined in the gritty 1970s, or even the early 1990s. But there is more to city life than economic success. As blocks and neighborhoods begin to respond to success, some have lost elements of the character that made them distinctive. National […]
Tri-State Transportation Campaign 2007 Gala
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The annual gala to benefit the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. Guest speaker: Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City Transportation Commissioner Honoring: Jon Orcutt, Senior Policy Advisor, New York City Department of Transportation More information will be forthcoming.
Exhibit Opening and Book Launch: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York
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The Municipal Art Society, through sponsorship from the Rockefeller Foundation, has launched a multi-faceted project to highlight the relevance of activist and author Jane Jacobs and the urban design principles presented in her classic text, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. The project, titled “Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York,” applies […]
Conference: ‘Thinking Bigger: New York and Transportation in the Northeast Megaregion’
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Building on several successful conferences held by NYMTC and the NYU Wagner Rudin Center, and recent events on the Northeast Corridor held by the Regional Plan Association and the University of Delaware, this event will address the key transportation issues affecting the Northeast Megaregion. Recognizing that what happens to the Northeast Corridor beyond the boundaries […]
Forum: The Future of Transportation on the Upper East Side
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The East Side Democratic Club invites you to . . . The Future of Transportation on the Upper East Side Among the issues to be discussed are congestion pricing, infrastructure issues, the Second Avenue subway, accessibility, bus rapid transit, gridlock, bicycles, and fare hikes. The forum will be followed by conversation and cookies. Speakers: Assembly Member […]