Paterson and On and On
Last week I lamented the ironic 'gentrification' of Paterson, NJ which a proposed State or National Park might portend.
This week, the underdogs have struck back. Nick Sunday, a "self-made student of Paterson history" has written an opinion piece for the New Jersey Herald News, asserting that "engagement from the ground up, from the populace who live in the city and care about it" is the only way to do justice to the history of the place.
He praises Field Operations' master plan for endowing "the historic district with the master plan that it has never been given". To the extent that he faults it, he finds the root of this fault not with Field Ops, but with the state government for repeatedly missing opportunities to create historical institutions to preserve and teach the history of the place.
His argument is nuanced and calls for a productive engagement of the populace with a master-planner/designer. Worth a read.