New York is a city made famous as a cultural melting pot. It is estimated that some 170 languages are spoken in the five boroughs that make up the greater urban center. While the largest concentration of immigration took place in the nineteenth century, New York remains an important port of entry for new residents wishing to relocate to the United States.
The city is also an important financial epicenter and home to both the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. Additionally, many of the major US-based television, radio and media publishing companies have offices in one of the giant skyscrapers that tower the midtown section of Manhattan. This heterogeneous mix of people from different cultures and backgrounds adds to the vibrancy of the city and its never-ending pulse.
But from an urban planning perspective, New York offers many challenges. Some 1.5 million people live in Manhattan, an island that is only 21.6 kilometers long (13.4 miles) and 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles) wide at its widest point. An additional 6.7 million commute each weekday into Manhattan for work. Crowded streets, honking horns, bumper-to-bumper traffic and the piercing sounds of drilling (there’s always a new building rising somewhere) are all part of living in this great metropolis.
And the city is growing. The New York City Department of City Planning estimates that Manhattan’s population will grow by 289,000 people between 2000 and 2030, an increase of 18.8 percent over the period. Anyone who has tried to enter or exit Manhattan during rush hour knows all too well that the smooth movement of people in this famous city is not always optimal.
A vast system of subway, bus and commuter rail lines help to alleviate some of the congestion. New York City plans to spend $11.2 billion in the coming years on a comprehensive plan that includes buying low-emission buses and new subway cars. In February, the city lowered tunnel boring machines into an excavation site in hopes of starting tunneling that will extend the number 7 subway line to include two new stations on the far West Side of Manhattan. The city also plans to open a new subway line on Second Avenue in 2014 that is estimated to carry 560,000 people per day.