>The real problem driving gentrification is not planning in the city but the
>lack of planning for the last few decades.
Do you really believe that? Did you ever look at the 1987 plan, New York Ascendant? A lot of what's happened over the last 20 years is in there. Moving the CBD westward in Manhattan and eastward into the coast of Queens, gentrifying Harlem, upscaling the Brooklyn waterfront. There's been plenty of planning - just the wrong kind.
Interesting footnote - NYC has had three major planning docs over the years - 1929, 1969, and 1987. Two were issued just before stock market crashes, and the 1969 plan, just as the market was entering its worst decade since the 1930s.
Doug