City planners focused on rezoning the area around the Gowanus Canal are finding out the hard way (as if they didn’t already know) that you can’t please all the people all the time. Like Red Hook to its west, Gowanus has a largely industrial past, though with plenty of residential patches. Given the prices for housing (and the lack of vacant land) in the surrounding areas, property owners are understandably salivating over the potential for canal-side living. In its effort to balance residential and retail development with existing commercial uses, City Planning has divided the area in five zones. Don’t hold your breath though: As Purnima Kapur, the director of the Department of City Planning’s Brooklyn office, said, “It will not be an easy or short process. It seems to us that everyone may be getting a little ahead of themselves. The area has a long way to go environmentally before residential development can begin, no?
Gowanus Overhaul – Affordable Housing Included in Rezoning [Courier]
Board Briefed on Gowanus Cleanup [Downtown Star]
CB6 Residents Sick of Industry, Pollution [Green Brooklyn]