Living Routes

Overview

New York City must create new strategies to care for green streets and public spaces in every neighborhood.

Streets are the connective tissue of our city — yet they hold untapped potential as spaces for nature. Green streets can cool neighborhoods, reduce flooding, and make our city more livable. But they only fulfill their promise when nurtured and cared for over time. City-led initiatives, like the NYC Department of Transportation’s Open Streets and Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Infrastructure programs, have taken important steps in this direction. However, many city agencies lack the capacity and dedicated funding needed to maintain public green spaces, leaving some neighborhoods neglected and community groups stretched thin.

To build a healthier, more equitable city, New York must rethink how we fund, design, and account for the work to steward our streets — treating them not just as infrastructure, but as shared landscapes that require collective care. The city is investing big in resilience projects, but they need creative maintenance ideas to enable their success.

What role will government, residents, and associations need to play to bring nature into the streets and public spaces in every neighborhood?

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Events

11.10.25

Information Session: Living Routes

Event Living Routes

We invite you to join our information session for our 2026 Forefront Fellowship, Living Routes, which will explore how to transform public spaces into living, adaptive, and sustaining landscapes of care.

About Forefront

Forefront is an action lab for emerging urbanists. Through this nine-month, 84-hour leadership development program, Fellows will explore different kinds of leadership in New York City, connecting with changemakers who have made an impact at their organizations, neighborhoods, and in city government. Fellows will take what they learn and create change through research and creative projects.

Partners

We are pleased to partner with the NYC Department of Transportation for the 2026 Forefront Fellowship.

Support Our Work

Forefront is supported by the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. This program is also supported by our Board of Directors, Circle Members, and company and individual members. Our programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

To learn more about supporting Living Routes, please contact Miranda Bellizia, miranda@urbandesignforum.org.