Editing White Plains, New York (section)

===Modern history===
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2014}}
[[File: Main Street in the City of White Plains.JPG|thumb|Main Street in White Plains]]
After [[World War II]], White Plains' downtown area developed into a shopping district featuring branches of many famous New York-based department and specialty stores. Some of these retail locations were the first large-scale suburban stores built in the United States.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} In 1949, [[Macy's]] launched a grand White Plains store on Main Street across from City Hall. Other prestigious stores followed, such as [[B. Altman and Co.]], [[Rogers Peet]], [[Saks Fifth Avenue]], [[Lord & Taylor]], [[Alexander's]], [[Wallachs (clothiers)|Wallachs]], and a short-lived branch of [[Bergdorf Goodman]], which was converted to sister chain [[Neiman Marcus]] in 1981. Construction of nearby parkways and expressways in the 1940s through the 1970s brought shoppers from elsewhere.

During the late 1960s, the city of White Plains developed an extensive urban renewal plan for residential, commercial and mixed-use redevelopment that called for the demolition of its entire central business district from the [[Bronx River Parkway]] east to Mamaroneck Avenue. By 1978, the [[urban renewal]] program centered around the construction of the Westchester County Courthouse (1974), the Westchester One office building (1975), the [[Galleria at White Plains]] mall (1978), and a number of other office towers, retail centers and smaller commercial buildings.{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}} At the time of its construction, the Westchester One building was the largest office building between New York City and [[Albany, New York|Albany]], and east to [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2008}}

Beginning in the 1950s, many major corporations based in New York City moved operations to White Plains and other suburban locations. These included [[General Foods]], [[PepsiCo]], [[Hitachi, Ltd.|Hitachi]] USA, [[IBM]], [[Nestlé]], [[Snapple]], and [[Heineken USA]]. In the 1980s, at least 50 [[Fortune 500]] corporations had their headquarters in Westchester County and nearby [[Fairfield County, Connecticut]], but with the corporate mergers and downsizing of the 1990s, many of these companies reduced their operations in White Plains or left the area completely.

[[File:New York Power Authority and Main Street in White Plains.JPG|thumb|left|New York Power Authority and Main Street]]

White Plains is home to the Arts Exchange Building, which serves as the headquarters of the Westchester Arts Council. Since March 1999, visual and performing artists, emerging cultural organizations and new creative businesses have had studios and offices in the building. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The construction of the Galleria at White Plains mall in the 1970s ushered in a new era of downtown retail and office development, but by the early 1990s, economic development had stagnated, hampered by a deep recession and the overbuilding of the commercial real estate markets.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}} For a time, White Plains had one of the highest office vacancy rates in the northeastern United States. Consolidation within the retail industry led to the closing of many of downtown's department and specialty stores. After its bankruptcy, the B. Altman store closed in 1989 and was demolished to make way for [[The Westchester]], an upscale mall that opened in 1995 with anchors Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. A freestanding branch of Macy's, one of downtown's original retail [[anchor store]]s, was moved two blocks away to The Galleria mall by its parent company, [[Federated Department Stores]], replacing sister retailer [[Abraham & Straus]] when these two store divisions were merged in 1995
[[File: City Center in the City of White Plains.JPG|thumb|City Center on Mamaroneck Avenue]]

A new courthouse for the [[United States District Court for the Southern District of New York|Southern District of New York]] was opened in 1998 and several large-scale office properties in and near downtown, including the former General Foods headquarters building, were retrofitted and leased to accommodate smaller businesses.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=September 16, 1998 |title=Commercial Real Estate; General Foods' Old Office Is Repackaged for Multiple Tenants |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B03E0D61031F935A2575AC0A96E958260 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930090233/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/16/nyregion/commercial-real-estate-general-foods-old-office-repackaged-for-multiple-tenants.html |archive-date=September 30, 2023 |access-date=September 18, 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> The Macy's store on Main Street remained vacant for several years until it was also later demolished to make way for the massive [[City Center at White Plains]] complex.<ref>{{Cite web |date=July 17, 2001 |title=Front Page |url=http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/old/frontpage/frontpage-0718.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716103324/http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/old/frontpage/frontpage-0718.html |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |access-date=April 4, 2011 |publisher=Whiteplainscnr.com}}</ref> This large mixed-use development features [[Trump Tower (White Plains)|two 35-story apartment and condominium towers]], {{convert|600000|sqft|m2|-4|adj=on}} of retail, restaurant and entertainment space and new parking facilities.

Beginning in 2000, the city's permanent population experienced a growth spurt as additional apartment buildings were constructed. The city is 31 minutes by express train from [[Midtown Manhattan]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome To VTTS |url=http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625105336/http://as0.mta.info/mnr/schedules/ |archive-date=June 25, 2014 |access-date=April 4, 2011 |publisher=As0.mta.info}}</ref> and this has attracted new residents who commute to New York City for work. In early 2003, the Saks Fifth Avenue location was closed and demolished; it was replaced in 2004 with the large retail complex called [[The Source at White Plains]]. In 2007, construction was completed on Renaissance Square, a downtown parcel that includes the luxury [[Ritz-Carlton]] hotel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Today |first=Meetings |title=Westchester County: History in the Making |url=http://www.meetingstoday.com/ArticleDetails/tabid/136/RegionID/0/ArticleID/23965/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601135615/http://www.meetingstoday.com/ArticleDetails/tabid/136/RegionID/0/ArticleID/23965/Default.aspx |archive-date=June 1, 2016 |access-date=September 18, 2016 |website=www.meetingstoday.com}}</ref>