The Highline project has taken New York by storm. If you're not in New York, you might have never heard of it - it's a plan to turn an abandoned elevated railway into a linear park of sorts, and it was the dream project of practically every architect and urban planner in existence last summer. Here's a very cool flash demonstration of what it might ultimately look like.

It's also gained incredible amounts of local support and enthusiasm - I went to the unveiling of the 4 finalist designs last summer at the AIA and there were so many people there you couldn't get in the door - I've never seen anything like it. To me, this alone is confirmation that the project is a really good idea. Still, critics have pointed out that linear parks can be problematic (Galbraith) and in the case of the highline, there is the added dark and potentially dreary underside of the rail line to come to grips with.

But New York is such a unique city that it's almost impossible to predict what will "work" and what "wont". Given the fast adapting nature of Manhattan these days, I find it hard to belive the project will fail, or fall into obscurity.

And anyway, what's wrong with linear parks? They're not necesarily supposed to mimic the same function as other green gathering places. They can function fantastically as transportation cooridors for walkers and bikers, away from traffic and the negatives of the city, and that alone makes them awesome.

There's no guarantee that the project will ever see the kind of grandiouse plans currently laid out for it. If anything, there's a risk of it being "over-designed" to the point of brain paralysis (watch the flash demo). But either way, it's sure to attract instant fans when people see it for the first time (as Kottke points out).

The Promenade Plantee in Paris - the closest thing to a high-line that currently exists (though I've never actually seen it) has been around for a long time and is apparantly well loved. If the highline is half as popular, it'll be a huge success in my book!