On LI, planners favor urban development

In a bid to create worthwhile, sustainable growth on Long Island, urban planners are encouraging the development of downtown areas on the island, according to the New York Times. The 2010 indicator study from the Long Island Index released last week, which focuses on the commercial and residential development of the island, looked at 156 Long Island towns and neighborhoods, singling out 111 as easily-developable downtown regions. Nancy Douzinas, president of the Rauch Foundation, which helped fund the report, said that the study concluded developing more urban parts of Long Island was preferable to adding more homes and facilities in suburban sections of the area. She said that developers should look to build near public transit, such as the Long Island Rail Road, to attract younger residents — a move that would be “a boost to the local economy.” Jack Martins, the mayor of Mineola, one of the towns singled out in the report as being particularly ideal for downtown development, said he favors enhancing the town’s transit hub with more development. “In a community like ours it would be fantastic to have all of these dimensions,” Martins said, adding that building up the city’s downtown sector would help preserve existing suburban neighborhoods.