The New York Times columnist Ginia Bellafante documents the inherent disconnect between the haves and the have-nots who reside literally side-by-side where the Upper East Side meets East Harlem.
Bellafante writes, "Among the echelons of the upper middle class, there is a smug pride often taken in the edgy address, as if poor people existed to lend the better off a veneer of adventurous chic." That the City's lower-than-the-national-average unemployment statistics translate into a healthy and equitable profile of its 8 million plus residents is misleading.
"In the country, New York ranks third behind Washington and Atlanta as a city with a population over 250,000 with the highest income inequality. Manhattan on its own, however, leaves all of its competitors far behind. At $837,668, the average household income (a 2009 figure) of those Manhattanites in the top 5 percent is 81 times as much as the average income of those in the bottom 20 percent ($10,328). Among the lowest quintile living in the Bronx, the figure is even lower: $6,692," notes Bellafante.
"Park and 96th may have no equal in impact, but years of gentrification have given it many rivals."
FULL STORY: Steps Away but Worlds Apart

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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
EMC Planning Group, Inc.
Planetizen
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Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
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