In the 1970s, New York’s Bryant Park in Midtown was called “needle park” for the enormous drug trade in the park. Residents and tourists steered clear. Today, it is a jewel of an urban park, packed with people eating lunch on every nice weekday, jammed for Monday night summer movies, and a pleasant and safe place year round. What changed? Architecture and private investment, both central to a 1992 renovation that replaced Robert Moses’ isolating layout with an “eyes on the street” open, welcoming, and well maintained public space.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.