Regional Plan Association works toward a better future for the tri-state region
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Featured Report

New York's Next Comeback
History tells us that New York will recover from its current crises — but how? Here’s what the evidence tells us so far.
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Recent News

Curbed

Where Could the City Squeeze New Housing Into Soho?

Spectrum NY1

New Report Lays Out Path for ​‘New York’s Next Comeback’

Gothamist

Report: NYC Not Dead Yet, But Leaders Must Do More To Keep It Alive

AM New York

Regional Plan sorts fact from fiction in threats New York City’s recovery

Crain's New York Business

Rethinking Penn Station is long overdue

WNYC

How Trump Squandered Progress on Gateway

Curbed

Can Balconies, Bigger Lobbies, and Package Rooms Help Save Public Housing?

City Limits

Opinion: Post-COVID NYC Needs Bike Lanes and Electric Microbility

The Economist

America’s biggest transit system is in trouble

New York Daily News

Mayor de Blasio slammed by members of his own transportation advisory panel

Gotham Gazette

Statements Aren’t Enough; We Must Center Racial Equity in the City Planning Process Now

Politico New Jersey

New York, New Jersey hesitant on offshore grid planning amid federal uncertainty

Real Estate Weekly

RPA releases plan to create 500,000 apartments from single family homes

Spectrum NY 1

Study: NYCHA Living Conditions Affects Residents’ Mental & Physical Health

The New York Times

New York as a Biking City? It Could Happen. And It Should.

Our Region

RPA operates in the interconnected 31-county New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region.

Map of the Region RPA works in

Region at a Glance

3

States

31

Counties

782

Municipalities

23 million

Residents

13 thousand

Square Miles

read about our region

Our Areas of Expertise

  • Energy & Environment

    Energy & Environment

    RPA’s Energy & Environment program helps the region to rise to the challenge of climate change through proactive regional planning, smart policy development, and advocacy for sustainable land use practices.

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  • Housing & Neighborhood Planning

    Housing & Neighborhood Planning

    RPA’s Housing & Neighborhood Planning program explores how to make the region affordable for everyone and builds collaborative local plans focused on healthy, inclusive, and well-designed communities.

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  • Transportation

    Transportation

    RPA’s Transportation program helps shape and strengthen the network of railways, roads, airports and ports that binds the region together and connect us to the rest of the world.

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  • Governance

    Governance

    RPA works to fix the institutions that are failing us by assisting and reforming the governments and agencies responsible for investments and policies that cut across the region’s three states and 782 municipalities.

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Ongoing Campaigns

COVID-19 Recovery

We’re working to identify who’s vulnerable to COVID-19 impacts including homelessness and loss of income, how to navigate the rent crisis, rescue public transit systems, and ensure an equitable recovery for the region.

Congestion Pricing and Fixing the Subways

Congestion pricing offers an opportunity to unclog traffic, fund and improve public transit, reduce air pollution, and achieve better public health outcomes, and RPA is working to make sure we get this policy right.

Restore the Promise of Public Housing

RPA is proposing strategies to increase funding and improve management for NYCHA, and we’re building the political and civic will necessary to implement them.

Transition to a Decarbonized Region

RPA advocates for policies and investments that can help our region hit ambitious climate targets without triggering other crises of equity, affordability or economic decline.

Reducing Segregation & Inequality Across the Region

Our region is one of the most segregated parts of the United States and has some of the highest levels of income inequality. RPA analyzes the scope of these structural inequities and works with partners to address them.

The Nation’s Most Urgent Infrastructure Project

Build Gateway Now is a coalition of civic, labor and business leaders building support for the construction of a new rail tunnel to connect New York, New Jersey, and the entire Northeast Corridor.
B Jamaica Bay Flickr cisc1970

Event Highlight

A Green Way Forward: Can we lead with nature in addressing NYC’s climate crisis?

Through a panel discussion with local and international experts in the fields of ecology, engineering and design, RPA, Waterfront Alliance, and Rebuild by Design will explore how we can invite nature back into the urban fabric to adapt to climate change.

Speakers

Judah Asimov
Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability and Equity
Georganna Deas
Coney Island Beautification Project
Sarah Charlop-Powers
Natural Areas Conservancy
Jane Madgwick
Wetlands International
Henk Nieboer
Ecoshape
Kate Orff, SCAPE
Center for Resilient Cities & Landscapes, Columbia University
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Recent Reports

Oct 2020
in Housing & Neighborhood Planning
New York’s Next Comeback
Aug 2020
in Housing & Neighborhood Planning
Scalable Design Solutions for NYCHA Creating better living conditions for residents while ensuring NYCHA’s future
Jul 2020
in Housing & Neighborhood Planning
Be my Neighbor Untapped Housing Solutions: ADUs and Conversions
Jul 2020
in Housing & Neighborhood Planning
The Impacts of Living in NYCHA Needs for resident health in the Rockaways and beyond
Our region environment

Statement on the Passing of Cecil Corbin-Mark of WE ACT for Environmental Justice
The RPA family grieves for our friend and peer Cecil Corbin-Mark, a magnetic leader in the environmental justice movement.
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Trump Biden Debate Associated Press

RPA Lab

Where Do Biden & Trump Stand on RPA Issues?
We’re taking stock of where candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden stand on issues of great importance to Regional Plan Association.
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Indigenous People Street Art Brooklyn copy

RPA Lab

RPA Recognizes Indigenous Peoples' Day
As we recognize Indigenous People’s Day, RPA compiled educational resources and a summary of issues relating to Native American tribes in the tri-state area.
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The Latest

Oct 2020
in Testimony
Full Testimony to the Federal Aviation Administration on the Laguardia AirTrain
Oct 2020
in News Release
Statement on the Passing of Cecil Corbin-Mark of WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Oct 2020
in News Release
New Regional Plan Association Report Sorts Fact from Fiction for New York City Metropolitan Area, Outlines How Region Can Come Back Stronger, Fairer, More Resilient
Oct 2020
in RPA Lab
Where Do Biden & Trump Stand on RPA Issues?

New York has a strong history of coming back.”

Jones Chris

Christopher Jones

Senior Vice President & Chief Planner

read more from NJ.com view full bio
RPA Plan2 Urban Design Manhattan 34 Access Tree Diagram

From the Timeline

Urban Design Manhattan

1969
“Urban Design Manhattan” recommended design principles for central business districts. Major elements of the report included opening subway stations to light and air, as the Citicorp Plaza did in Manhattan, and concentrating development above and adjacent to subway stations.
view the timeline
Fourth regional plan cover
The Fourth Plan seeks to address issues including housing affordability, overburdened transportation infrastructure, and vulnerability to climate change — by addressing the underlying shortcomings in the region’s governance structures.
find out more
Image from i OS 1

From the Report Library

Urban Space for Pedestrians

1975
How do people walk in a city? That’s essentially the subject of this classic book, first published in 1975 and written by Boris Pushkarev with Jeffrey Zupan. It examines how people navigate a sidewalk or plaza, how much space they take up, and how much space they need.
read the report

Total Reports

385

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