by Ishabela Lopez Across the United States, cities are investing in greener infrastructure. New parks, bike lanes, waterfront promenades, and tree-lined streets promise cleaner air and healthier communities. These projects are often celebrated as signs of urban progress. But in many cases, environmental improvements can also trigger higher housing costs, real estate speculation, and displacement. One of the most well-known examples of this dynamic can be found in New York City: the High Line. The High Line is an elevated park built on a former freight rail line on Manhattan’s West Side. Originally constructed in the 1930s to transport industrial goods, the rail line eventually fell into disuse. In the early 2000s, local advocates and city planners proposed converting the abandoned structure into a public park. The first section opened in 2009. Today, the High Line attracts millions of visitors every year and is widely considered one of the most innovative urban parks in the world. But ...
By Cheryl Lo In the years following World War II, a chemical hailed as a miracle began to spread across the American landscape. DDT was everywhere. It was sprayed across farmland and forests, and even over suburban neighborhoods, often released from planes that covered entire areas in a fine chemical mist. To many, it represented progress: science’s ability to control nature and eliminate threats that had once seemed unavoidable. At first, it seemed almost too simple. A single chemical appeared capable of solving problems that had long resisted control. That sense of certainty, however, did not last for long. Rachel Carson, a marine biologist whose writing fundamentally changed how people understood the natural world, was among the first to question the consequences of this widespread chemical use. By the late 1950s, tens of millions of pounds of DDT were being sprayed each year across the United States, under the assumption that these landscapes could absorb repeated exposure without ...