Replicating the High Line

Crosscut argues that it's time for Seattle and other cities to learn from NYC's example and start turning old elevated structures into parks and other good uses (pointer via Planetizen).

[T]hink a bit about the advantages of elevated linear parks. They can provide remarkable views, often through the slots of the cityscape. They open up access to back-door and upper-level spaces. They make connections with gritty urban history. The design experience is not the usual bland blend but instead has the visual excitement and tension of green spaces set amid rusting iron forms. The Seattle aesthetic has been to make open space as green and pastoral as possible, as if blotting out the city. Time for a richer palate, a more dissonant and beautiful chord.

(Image from thehighline.org)