Regional Plan Association

Regional Plan Association (RPA) is an independent, not-for-profit planning and policy organization focused on the long-term development of the New York metropolitan region. Its principal geographic remit covers 31 counties in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, an area whose transportation systems, housing markets, environmental resources, labor force, and economic activity are closely interconnected across state and municipal boundaries. RPA works through research, regional plans, public policy recommendations, coalition building, design initiatives, and engagement with government agencies and communities. The organization originated in 1922, when the Russell Sage Foundation convened the Committee on the Plan of New York and Its Environs. The committee brought together civic, business, philanthropic, and public figures to examine the region as an integrated metropolitan system rather than as a collection of independent municipalities. After publishing technical studies during the 1920s, the organization was incorporated as RPA in 1929 and issued the first Regional Plan that year. This was one of the earliest comprehensive metropolitan plans in the United States. RPA's early work addressed transportation infrastructure, parks, urban form, housing, industrial distribution, airports, and the relationship between New York City and its suburbs. Its ideas influenced or accompanied the development of major roads, bridges, parkways, regional centers, protected open spaces, and transportation facilities. The organization also opposed or modified some large infrastructure proposals when it believed they would damage neighborhoods, waterfronts, parks, or the broader regional structure. Its influence has generally operated through analysis and advocacy rather than through direct ownership or construction of infrastructure. The association's second Regional Plan, published in 1968, responded to suburbanization, racial and economic inequality, automobile dependence, and the loss of open space. It promoted more compact development, improved public transportation, stronger regional centers outside Manhattan, and greater public investment in underserved communities. During the following decades, RPA supported transit expansion, park and waterfront protection, pedestrian improvements, brownfield redevelopment, and the creation of institutions such as New Jersey Transit. It also participated in public education through projects including the CHOICES for '76 televised town-hall series. The third Regional Plan, released in 1996, emphasized a seamless mass-transit network, a connected system of protected natural resources, and the continued strength of urban employment centers. Related RPA work helped shape discussion around the High Line, Hudson Yards, Moynihan Train Hall, regional express rail, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the Gateway rail program, transit-oriented development, and pedestrianization initiatives. The association has also worked on climate resilience, affordable housing, bicycle and walking networks, airport and freight systems, and the modernization of aging transit infrastructure. RPA is a policy and planning institution rather than a consumer-facing commercial brand. Its principal offerings are regional research, strategic plans, technical reports, public-policy advocacy, convening, design guidance, and planning assistance. It maintains its headquarters in New York City and offices in Princeton, New Jersey, and Stamford, Connecticut. Its work remains centered on improving quality of life, economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability, equity, and resilience across the tri-state metropolitan region.

Regional Plan Association was established in 1922 following the Russell Sage Foundation's creation of the Committee on the Plan of New York and Its Environs. The committee sought to understand the metropolitan area as an interconnected economic, social, and physical system. It commissioned technical work on manufacturing, transportation, housing, and community planning, publishing ten volumes between 1927 and 1929. The organization was incorporated in 1929 and published the first Regional Plan in the same year, generally recognized as the first comprehensive regional plan in the United States. The first plan proposed coordinated transportation, new regional centers, expanded parks, improved neighborhood design, and more deliberate metropolitan growth. Its recommendations influenced the placement and development of major roads, bridges, parkways, airports, and public open spaces. RPA also promoted parks and natural-resource protection, including work associated with the Palisades, Staten Island, the New Jersey Meadowlands, and other regional landscapes. During the 1930s and 1940s it participated in debates over bridges, highways, parking, housing, airports, and postwar suburban growth. It advocated transit-oriented development and neighborhood planning principles while warning against uncontrolled outward expansion. In the postwar period, RPA increasingly focused on the effects of suburbanization and automobile dependence. Its 1960 open-space research helped support new parks and federal attention to land preservation. A 1961 commuter study argued that public transportation and railroad investment were essential to the region. During the 1960s, RPA worked on a successor to the original plan, using surveys and public meetings to assess regional priorities. The Second Regional Plan, published in 1968, called for compact development, stronger regional centers, improved transit, protection of open land, and more equitable investment in low-income communities and communities of color. RPA's mid-century and later advocacy covered the Port Authority, regional rail and bus systems, New Jersey transportation institutions, waterfront redevelopment, pedestrian planning, and the relationship between highways and neighborhoods. It opposed some highway expansions and supported alternatives emphasizing transit, walking, and coordinated land use. Its public-education work included CHOICES for '76, a televised town-hall and documentary series that asked residents to consider choices involving housing, transportation, environment, poverty, and urban development. During the 1980s and 1990s, RPA produced county and city development strategies and contributed to debates about Downtown Brooklyn, the New Jersey Hudson River waterfront, brownfields, the Meadowlands, Governor's Island, and regional open-space systems. In 1996 it published the Third Regional Plan, which connected economic competitiveness with transit, environmental protection, and urban concentration. Subsequent studies and partnerships addressed the High Line, Hudson Yards, Moynihan Train Hall, regional express rail, Long Island Rail Road capacity, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, the Gateway rail program, transit signaling, affordable housing, and bicycle and walking infrastructure. RPA continues to operate as a nonprofit regional planning and policy organization. Its work combines original research, planning frameworks, coalition activity, design and implementation guidance, and advocacy directed at public agencies and elected officials. The association's enduring purpose is to improve the livability, resilience, equity, environmental condition, and economic performance of the tri-state metropolitan region.

• 2017

  Regional active-transportation network proposal

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  RPA proposed an integrated network of approximately 1,650 miles of trails for walking, cycling, and hiking.

• 2007

  Support for Farley Post Office transportation hub

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  RPA advocated conversion of the James A. Farley Post Office into a major rail and transit facility, later realized as Moynihan Train Hall.

• 1999

  High Line reuse study

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  RPA was asked to examine reuse options for the former elevated freight line that later became a public park.

• 1996

  Third Regional Plan

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The plan emphasized integrated transit, protected natural systems, and urban employment centers.

• 1979

  Support for New Jersey Transit

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  RPA supported the formation of a statewide New Jersey agency for bus and rail operations.

• 1968

  Second Regional Plan

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The plan promoted compact growth, better transit, open-space preservation, regional centers, and more equitable public services.

• 1960

  The Race for Open Space

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The study helped build support for regional park creation and early federal open-space assistance.

• 1929

  First Regional Plan published

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  RPA was incorporated and released the first comprehensive regional plan for the metropolitan area.

• 1922

  Metropolitan planning committee established

  [1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  The Russell Sage Foundation created the Committee on the Plan of New York and Its Environs, the institutional predecessor of RPA.

An independent, cross-border metropolitan policy organization that connects research, planning, design, and advocacy to address shared problems across the New York–New Jersey–Connecticut region.

• Regional planning · 1929

  Regional Plan series

  RPA's central body of metropolitan planning work. The plans establish long-range recommendations for transportation, housing, land use, economic development, environmental protection, public space, and regional governance. The first plan appeared in 1929, followed by major plans in 1968 and 1996.

• Policy research

  Transportation and infrastructure research

  Studies covering commuter rail, subway expansion, highways, airports, bus networks, transit funding, signaling, cross-Hudson capacity, and multimodal access. These reports are intended to inform public agencies and regional investment decisions rather than function as commercial engineering products.

• Environmental planning · 1960

  Open-space and environmental planning

  Research and advocacy supporting parks, protected landscapes, waterfront access, the Meadowlands, the Highlands, the Pine Barrens, greenways, and broader regional ecological networks.

• 2012Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway advocacy

  New York City

  RPA advocated for a connected waterfront route supporting walking and cycling along Brooklyn's shoreline.

  Outcome. The Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway initiative advanced as a major public-realm and active-transportation project.

  Source
• 1995Governor's Island urban-park initiative

  New York City

  RPA led an effort to consider how the former Coast Guard base could be transformed into a public urban asset.

  Outcome. The island subsequently moved toward public-park and civic reuse.

  Source
• 1976CHOICES for '76

  New York metropolitan region

  RPA produced televised town halls and documentaries on regional choices involving housing, transportation, environmental protection, poverty, and the relationship between cities and suburbs.

  Outcome. The series received an Emmy and extended RPA's planning education work to a broad regional television audience.

  Source

• 2010

  Support increased Hudson River rail capacityStrategy

  Background

  The Access to the Region's Core project was intended to add rail capacity beneath the Hudson River but was cancelled by New Jersey's governor.

  Action taken

  RPA continued advocating a cross-Hudson rail solution and supported the policy direction that became the Gateway Program.

  Aftermath

  Gateway became the successor framework for expanding and rehabilitating the region's Hudson River rail crossing.

  Source

• 1999

  Promote regional express railStrategy

  Background

  RPA identified fragmented rail infrastructure and limited cross-regional capacity as constraints on metropolitan growth.

  Action taken

  It proposed combining new construction with underused or abandoned rights-of-way and outlined projects including subway expansion, improved cross-Hudson service, East Side Access, and a Triboro connection.

  Aftermath

  The proposal helped frame later debates about regional rail capacity and network integration.

  Source

• 1968

  Adopt compact, transit-oriented regional growthStrategy

  Background

  Postwar suburbanization, automobile dependence, inequality, and open-space loss had made the first Regional Plan inadequate.

  Action taken

  RPA's second plan recommended stronger regional centers, more public transportation, compact development, open-space protection, and increased public investment in underserved communities.

  Aftermath

  The framework influenced later transit, land-use, conservation, and urban-center initiatives across the tri-state region.

  Source

• 2010

  RPA supports the Gateway rail concept after ARC cancellation[1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  After New Jersey terminated the Access to the Region's Core project, RPA continued advocating increased Hudson River rail capacity, contributing to the policy environment for the Gateway Program.

• 1996

  RPA publishes the Third Regional Plan[1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The third plan proposed integrated transit, protected natural resources, and a stronger network of urban employment centers.

• 1968

  RPA releases the Second Regional Plan[1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The second plan addressed suburban sprawl, public transportation, open-space protection, regional centers, and unequal public investment.

• 1929

  Regional Plan Association publishes the First Regional Plan[1]Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  RPA issued the first comprehensive regional plan for the New York metropolitan area, establishing its long-term role in metropolitan planning.

1. 1Regional Plan Associationen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Regional Plan Association official websiterpa.org