
Long Island is at a tipping point, possessing tremendous innovation potential but hamstrung by a shortage of affordable housing, limited downtown development and gaps in science education, new research suggests.
Three studies issued by the Long Island Index, a 10-year-old research initiative, describe the opportunities and challenges facing the Island. Long Island Profile 2012, written by Regional Plan Association, documents the region's progression from America's poster child of postwar optimism to a place experiencing a midlife crisis of uncertainty. A new poll conducted by the Center for Survey Research at Stony Brook shows Long Islanders concerned about the future but more open to new ways to grow, such as building more apartments in Long Island's downtowns. And the Innovation Index, written by Collaborative Economics, points the urgency of connecting Long Island's research institutions, skilled work force and other assets to restore a high-wage, dynamic economy.
Long Island's economic competitiveness will be on the agenda at a town hall meeting in Hauppauge in Suffolk County on Jan. 31. Everyone is welcome.
The Metropolitan Greensward is RPA's vision of a system of protected landscape and water bodies that distinguish the cities and suburbs of the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut metropolitan region. These region-shaping open spaces harbor the region's most critical natural resource systems, its recreational opportunities and its working landscapes of farms, forests, and waterways. Together, these protected open lands will help shape future patterns of growth in the tri-state region by limiting development at its periphery and enhancing the quality of life in its cities and suburbs.


On Thursday, October 27, 2011 Mayor Michael Bloomberg and US Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar signed an agreement to jointly manage over 10,000 acres of federal and city land in and around Jamaica Bay improving parks and water quality throughout the Bay, including Floyd Bennett Field. This collaboration was the key recommendation of the RPA-staffed
On July 30th RPA and the Jamaica Bay Greenway Coalition will release the Jamaica Bay Greenway Users Guide at the 3rd annual Brooklyn Waterfront Epic Ride. The Jamaica Bay Greenway Coalition, staffed by RPA, advocates for improved and expanded greenway infrastructure around Jamaica Bay to create a cohesive and user-friendly route. The Coalition also works to promote use of the greenway by both encouraging cycling among residents near Jamaica Bay and bringing people from outside the area to visit this unique resource.












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