WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. November 7, 2005: A member of the Citizens Plan Committee, formed last spring that preceded the city review of the 1997 Comprehensive Plan, comments on the county newspaper endorsement:
November 7, 2005
The Journal News endorsement of Mayor Joseph Delfino failed to dig
beneath the outrageous claims he has been making about the so-called
“White Plains renaissance.”
(More)
According to Delfino, $2 billion in development (more likely less than
half that) has been instrumental in making White Plains the greatest
downtown ever. To hear him tell it, we are experiencing a veritable
re-birth.
Delusional nonsense. The truth is that ours is an uncomfortable
downtown; it embodies the antithesis of enlightened urban design.
People sense the absence of quality––even if they can’t explain it.
Whatever it was that we had, we’ve lost, White Plains is becoming a
place to avoid––or to get into and out of fast.
There has been no plan, no conception of an orderly progression of
spaces, no system of civic elements We have, rather, a bunch of stingy,
mediocre projects which have no coherence––motley additions to the
scene.
All this, sorry to say, stems from a defensive city administration
lacking the confidence to deal with the whole, on a comprehensive
basis–– with qualified outside planning and design professionals.
What can we do about it? We can see to it that the City undertakes a
proper and professional Comprehensive Plan––incorporating enlightened
functional and visual urban design standards, with realistic budgets
and schedules–– with full and transparent community participation,
forthwith.
A well-designed downtown doesn’t appear to be a priority of the
developers or of the Mayor. Dennis Power and his supporters understand
these important ideas and can make them happen.
Robert H. Levine
