New York City and the world are very different places than when Columbia built its Morningside Heights campus more than a century ago. Today, an urban campus isn't defined by gates and walls, but by weaving the university into the fabric of city life. As a result, certain planning principles for Columbia's gradual growth in Manhattanville over the next quarter century have remained essential:
Existing view from West 130th Street and Twelfth Avenue looking east
A revitalized West 130th Street will provide access to an approximately one-acre public square that will add open space where none currently exists and provide an outdoor setting for University and community use.
West 129th Street and Broadway today
Proposed view of West 129th Street and Broadway: A centerpiece of the new facilities will be the Jerome L. Greene Science Center, pictured above. Research conducted here will play a key role in helping to fight diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
An open and welcoming environment
The 17-acre redevelopment will be a multiuse center for teaching, academic research and the arts
and will include new retail, cultural and community facilities along Twelfth Avenue, Broadway and
125th Street. The plan will transform what is now a largely isolated, underutilized streetscape of
garage openings, empty ground floors, roll-down metal gates and chain-link fences on the blocks
from West 125th to 133rd Streets into a cohesive, reanimated center for educational, commercial,
and community life.
Existing view from West 131st Street and Broadway looking south
As this sketch of Broadway and 131st Street illustrates, new buildings will provide space for retail businesses serving local consumers and bringing needed amenities to the area.
Revived street life and stores for local consumers and local business
Stores, restaurants, and other community amenities will fill the ground floors of buildings along
West 125th Street, Broadway, and Twelfth Avenue. In leasing these spaces, the University will
maintain its long-standing policy of favoring local entrepreneurs serving local consumer needs.
Existing view from West 131st Street and Broadway looking west
As planned, a view of West 131st Street and Broadway looking west
Every street will remain public and open to pedestrian and vehicular traffic
New buildings will be set back and sidewalks widened on cross streets
opening onto Twelfth Avenue, improving access to the new Hudson River
waterfront park. New trees, lighting, street furnishings, public art,
and publicly accessible open space will invite people to the entire
area.
Human-scale urban design that honors the past
New buildings will not only be open to the public but will also
look and feel open because of transparent glass at the street level.
They will be designed in consideration of the distinctive architectural
features of the historic Riverside Drive and Broadway viaducts.
The University will continue to promote responsible environmental
stewardship in construction and energy efficiency in new and
renovated buildings.
Existing view of Twelfth Avenue at 130th Street looking north
A reanimated Twelfth Avenue will have more light and space for sidewalks, with new shopping and dining beside the historic Riverside Drive Viaduct.