I walked The High Line park and all my office got was this stupid blog post.

While walking The High Line in Manhattan, one of my strolling companions said she was shocked to discover the cost to construct the park. Most sources cite it at about $172 million dollars, with $130 million coming from the city of New York and another $20 million from federal sources. The non-profit Friends of the High Line organization raised an additional $44 million dollars and still encourages supporters of the park to become members or donate to fund its upkeep. The yearly maintenance of the park is estimated at $4.5 million, with $1 million of that coming from the city and the remainder to be contributed by the the Friends of the High Line. Indeed, we saw a swarm of employees or volunteers cleaning the walkway and tending to the plantings. Another in our group criticized the Chelsea neighborhood adjacent to The High Line as "bourge-tasia," only to later admit that, yes, he would love to have one of the stylish modern lofts hovering over the park. 

Say what you like about the cost to build and maintain the park, the gentrifying effect on the neighborhood, the tripping danger of the elegantly raised curbs in the walkway design, or perhaps even incoherence in the plan. So far the park has generated $2 billion in private investment, attracting major architectural talent like Jean Nouvel. An added 2.5 million square feet of condominiums, hotels and office buildings are in the planning stages and that investment number is expected to double. The park is also expected to bring in $900 million in tax revenues.

Good design really is good business. Or as we say at Venture Architecture, "Smart design. Successful venture." The High Line would not be so successful if there were not something uniquely compelling in the design created by Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Of the over 4 million visitors to the park, only 30% of them are tourists. Over 150 public events have taken place or are planned for 2011 and 14 works of art have been installed on the park. Ultimately, The High Line has encouraged visitors and neighbors of the park 

to interact with their             

environment in a new way     

...and isn't that worth something?

Sarah Size, Still Life With Landscape (Model for a Habitat)