The Committee on A Regional Plan of New York and its Environs was formed in 1922 to address the needs of a growing metropolis and published its landmark Plan in 1929. At that time, Regional Plan Association was incorporated as a permanent body to implement the proposals outlined in the Plan and to prepare new regional plans as they became necessary. The Second Regional Plan in the 1960s and now the Third Regional Plan, released in 1996, offered proposals on land-use transportation, open space preservation, economic development and social issues. The following partial list of achievements is based directly upon recommendations in these plans and interim studies.

Cornell University holds a collection of Regional Plan Association's materials from 1919-1997.  Those materials are available for research by contacting the university library.

2000  |  1990  |  1980  |  1970  |  1960  |  1950  |  1940  |  1930  |  1920

2000

RPA's recent activities and accomplishments have been shaped by the Third Regional Plan and by history. Most notably, shortly after September 11, RPA convened the Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York, a coalition of more than 75 business, community and environmental groups representing a cross-section of New York and the Region that is providing a broad "umbrella" for civic planning and advocacy efforts in support of the rebuilding process. The Alliance has helped the civic community play a crucial role in the process, hosting the historic Listening to the City forums and working closely with rebuilding officials on development principles and project ideas.

In Open Space, RPA is proud to have played a prominent role in two recent milestones for the Region: acquisition of the Keyspan property on Long Island Sound and the return of Governors Island to the people of New York.

In Transportation,RPA convened and continues to work with the Empire State Transportation Alliance to secure funding for vital transportation projects. Efforts were originally organized around the last MTA capital plan - which successfully provided funding for Second Avenue Subway and East Side Access. After 9/11, the Governor called upon ESTA to provide recommendations for reviving Lower Manhattan's transit system, most of which were adopted. ESTA is currently pursuing funding for New York in the reauthorization of federal transportation legislation.

In Community Design, RPA kicked off the highly successful New Jersey Mayors' Institute, which has already been held five times. The Institute has provided dozens of ambitious NJ mayors with the resources they need to tackle difficult smart growth issues and plan for the future. RPA also participated in the creation of a Comprehensive Plan for the City of Stamford, Connecticut, completed in 2002.

In Workforce & the Economy, the Civic Alliance published Reports from the Economic Development Working Group, which included an analysis of the Manhattan and regional office market, an examination of the future of Lower Manhattan as a creative center for the region, and economic development recommendations for the district. RPA also organized a Community Design Workshop for East Harlem, completed the New York region's Area-Wide Job Access and Reverse Commute Transportation Plan, and developed recommendations for a new central business district in Long Island City for Senator Charles Schumer's Group of 35.

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1990

In 1996, RPA released its Third Regional Plan, "A Region at Risk: The Third Regional Plan for the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut Metropolitan Region." It issued an urgent call to public and private sector leaders in the 31-county Tri-state area to band together to harness the Region's superior human, economic and natural resources, and presented programs to improve the Region's cornerstones: its economy, environment and social equity.

RPA helped form the Empire State Transportation Alliance (ESTA), a coalition of over 40 civic, business, labor and environmental groups, to promote sound investment in transportation infrastructure.

The centerpiece of RPA's new transportation program is MetroLink, a proposal for a modern rapid transit subway system that builds upon the Second Avenue and Downtown Rx proposals from the Third Regional Plan. MetroLink will serve Manhattan's East Side, Queens, Brooklyn and The Bronx. It will also provide major new service to Lower Manhattan, and a one-seat ride from Manhattan and Brooklyn to JFK Airport.

Ground was broken in 1999 on the Port Authority project scheduled to begin operation in 2003 to link JFK to the subway and Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica. As RPA has vigorously recommended, the new rail link will be compatible with existing rail technology to preserve the future of a "one-seat ride" to the airport.

* As proposed in RPA's Third Plan, $353 million have been included in federal transportation legislation to advance the construction of the LIRR's connection to Grand Central Terminal, also part of the MTA Capital Program.

RPA formed the Governors Island Group (a coalition of civic, preservation and business groups) and released a report which recommended that Governors Island become a great new public park and that commercial development be in keeping with the historic structures that exist there.

RPA released a feasibility analysis advocating construction of a Gowanus Tunnel as an alternative to a re-built Gowanus Expressway. The report concluded that a Gowanus Tunnel was technically feasible and would also have lower total lifecycle costs than an elevated highway. Once the tunnel is completed, the elevated Gowanus Expressway could be torn down, sparking revitalization along the entire South Brooklyn waterfront.

Construction and operation was begun on the 20.5 mile light rail line along the west bank of the Hudson River in New Jersey. Based directly on RPA studies in 1966 and 1985 to create a new urban landscape for the area from Bayonne to the George Washington Bridge, this new rail will be the first in the Region since the Newark subway was completed in the 1930's.

RPA played a major role in securing federal, state and private funding to purchase the 15,700-acre Sterling Forest property for preservation as a State park.

RPA helped create the Newark Downtown Special Improvement District (SID) for the area between Penn and Broad Street stations. Designed to capitalize on the momentum produced by the opening of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and a new Connection Newark street signage program, the SID will coordinate and maintain improvements to the area's parks, streetscape, amenity and quality of life.

RPA has outlined redevelopment plans for major suburban centers. At the Nassau Hub, Nassau County's primary activity center, RPA described how a new kind of suburban center could be created by applying transit- and pedestrian-friendly design principles.

In Somerset County, NJ, RPA brought together renown urban designers and landscape architects to illustrate new strategies for retrofitting "edge city" sprawl.

RPA's Metropolitan Brownfields Initiative provided impetus for important new legislation that was signed by Governor Whitman in January, 1998. RPA convened a national brownfields conference to review New Jersey's experience in reclaiming contaminated sites and to promote and expedite brownfields redevelopment throughout the Region.

RPA, together with Environmental Action Coalition, developed an action plan for improving the health and stewardship of New York City's urban forest.

A coalition consisting of RPA and several other environmental, community and civic groups prepared an alternative to Donald Trump's proposal for Manhattan's largest development parcel. This plan, called Riverside South included provisions for relocation of the elevated Miller to allow for development of a major new riverfront park, affordable housing, improvement of the 72nd Street IRT subway station and design controls for residential buildings. RPA joined the Riverside South Planning Corporation to help implement this plan.

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1980

RPA supported the MTA as it negotiated a capital budgeting program to rehabilitate buses, subways and commuter rail systems. RPA also advocated a one-mile extension of Newark Airport's people-mover to connect the airport to the Northeast Corridor commuter line.

RPA helped establish New Jersey Future to campaign for the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan, which was adopted in 1992.

RPA produced a report for Downtown Brooklyn that proposed a new development complex: Metrotech Center.

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1970

In Paterson, New Jersey, RPA helped preserve an historic factory district by proposing that a new highway circumvent it.

In plans for the New Jersey Meadowlands, RPA increased housing densities and reduced office development that would have further drained surrounding cities.

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1960

Between 1961 and 1973, local governments in the Region acquired 210 square miles of additional parkland, including $2 million in federal funds for acquisition directly conforming to RPA proposals. Significant acquisitions included Fire Island, Sandy Hook and Breezy Point, much of which were later incorporated into Gateway National Recreation Center.

RPA led the effort to create Gateway, which in 1972 became the first major federal recreation area in an urban setting

RPA helped foster the creation of NJ TRANSIT and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Mass Transit Act of 1964 adopted RPA's principle of federal assumption of capital costs for urban mass transit. RPA convinced New Jersey officials to establish the Capital Needs Commission, which recommended a bond program that generated almost a billion dollars for critical infrastructure and capital investments.

RPA lobbied for limited automobile access to the region's core: convincing the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to route new highway lanes to the George Washington Bridge, instead of to the Lincoln Tunnel; challenging a proposal to add a third tube to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel; and opposing a bridge across the Long Island Sound from Rye to Oyster Bay.

RPA examined economic and demographic projections on which the need for a fourth major airport in Hunterdon County was based and built a successful campaign against the plan.

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1950

The Verrazano Narrows Bridge, begun by the Port Authority in 1955, effectively completed the regional highway system that had been proposed by RPA in 1929.

Development around Newark Bay, including the seaport and Newark Airport, followed RPA's recommendation that more Port Authority industrial activities should locate outside Manhattan.

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1940

RPA opposed Robert Moses' proposal to build a bridge from Manhattan's Battery Park to Brooklyn, favoring the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel that was eventually built.

In 1949, New York Life Insurance Company completed Fresh Meadows, a residential development in Queens that embodied many of RPA's neighborhood unit principles-mixed-level residences, nearby schools and shopping, open spaces and pedestrian connections.

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1930

Recommended in the First Regional Plan, the New Jersey skyway from Elizabeth to the Holland Tunnel was completed in 1932; the Whitestone Bridge connecting the Long Island highway system with the Bronx arterial system was completed in 1939; and the Henry Hudson Parkway was built between 1935 and 1938.

RPA identified specific natural areas that could be acquired for public use and persuaded various public agencies to purchase land, doubling the Region's park space. Early acquisitions were made in Nassau, Suffolk, Putnam and Dutchess counties, and in Flushing Meadows, Orchard Beach Park and the Palisades.

RPA assisted local governments to establish planning boards, including a city planning commission for New York City. From 1929 to 1939, the number of planning boards in the Region increased from 61 to 204.

RPA suggested the location of regional airports, endorsing the city's proposal for expanded operations at Idlewild Airport, now JFK. Later, RPA was instrumental in putting the administration of the three regional airports-Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark-together under the Port Authority.

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1920

The Port Authority agreed to move the proposed George Washington Bridge-only the second crossing of the Hudson River from 57th Street up to 178th Street, to better conform with the regional highway system envisioned in the First Regional