By Peter B. Fleischer
Over the past
five weeks, beginning in late January, I have made several visits across the
state to meet with community and civic leaders and Empire State Future coalition
members. In each case, I learned a great
deal about distant parts of the state and new matters of policy.
Mohawk Valley Visit
In Fonda I met
with Doug Greene, chief planner for Montgomery County. Doug is also a key player in the
American Planning Association's Upstate Chapter. He showed me GIS maps of how Montgomery County (population 47,000) is trying to
build around its town centers using the Mohawk River as both a theme and a connector
of much of the county's population. He is also leading efforts to develop the
town of Fonda around a state-supported waterfront revitalization
effort. I met Doug in the County offices, which are located in a wonderful,
1840's classical-revival building which unfortunately is cut-off from the rest
of Fonda by the fences and tracks of the Albany to Buffalo rail line. The train, btw, does
not stop in Fonda.
Sullivan County
On a very cold
and snowy day, I addressed the economic development advisory council for Sullivan County (population 75,000), at the restored barn that was
the beating heart of Yasgar's farm in Bethel Woods. Yes, I went to "Woodstock."
I toured an exceptionally well-done museum dedicated to that seminal
event of 40 years ago. The displays were excellent, as was the music, by the
way. Bethel Woods is now both an outdoor, seasonal concert venue and a
state-of-the-art conference center. Luiz
Aragon, formerly a housing and
transportation official in New York City, has relocated to the area. He is attempting to bring smart planning,
sophisticated GIS, and his characteristic high energy to the task of growth in
the Monticello/Delaware River area. Monticello has a struggling main street, and is to some
extent dominated by the "Racino" at the edge of town.
Southern Tier
In Binghamton (population 47,000), a city I had never previously
seen, I crisscrossed several bridges to observe the swollen Susquehanna River, a source of serious recent
flooding. Binghamton's Downtown has great old stone
buildings and pre-war architecture. The City of Binghamton, which once had thousands of IBM
manufacturing jobs nearby, has lost population over the past few decades to
suburban Vestal, Endicott and Johnson City (aggregate population 55,000).
I was there to
meet with state leaders including Paul
Beyer of the Smart Growth Office
and Commissioner Burgess of the New York State Office for the Aging. We were joined by city officials including
the heads of the planning, housing and economic development agencies, as well
as several Broome County (population
190,000) public health officials. Also in attendance was Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo.
The meeting
focused on NYSOFA initiatives to empower communities and plan for the needs of
the aging, while addressing the increasingly serious issues of juvenile
diabetes, obesity, and lack of exercise opportunities amongst people of all
ages. I note that as New York ages -- and Upstate is already an
older than average place -- we will be challenged as a society to afford the
needs of an unhealthy and aging population.
Sprawl, so characteristic of all these places, will make the provision
of social services harder because of the distances involved, the lack of
density, and the unique problems caused by isolation. As the Baby Boom generation
continues to age, this challenge will increase dramatically.
Hudson River Valley
On March 3rd,
as part of a follow up to the 2009 Quadricentennial celebrations, a Hudson Valley land use and environment task
force was formed under the leadership of Ned
Sullivan at Scenic Hudson and Alex Mattheisen, the RiverKeeper. The meeting took place in Poughkeepsie.
ESF joined a dozen participants who looked at a vision for the Hudson valley over the next 100
years. A key initial finding suggested
that a new, more flexible form of regulation linked to Smart Growth concepts,
is needed to allow for the right balance of economic growth and environmental
protection. A second meeting of this
task force will take place in Tarrytown on March 17.
Central New York
I attended the
Onondaga County (population 462,000)
Planning Federation's day-long focus on the future of Syracuse and this Central New York county. Attendees included William P. Fisher, Deputy County Executive
and Robert Antonacci, the County Comptroller.
There were also over 300 county planners, planning board members, and Syracuse area officials. While I could
never get to such meetings in all 62 counties, I picked Onondaga because I am impressed by the County Executive's commitment to sustainability,
planning, and working with Syracuse, the County's largest city
(population 146,000). I was not disappointed. I learned a great deal about New York's geology, the Marcellus Shale,
natural gas, and the process for extraction dubbed "hydrofracking."
There was much
discussion of the prospects and perils associated with natural gas in the
state. Honestly, with the obvious risk to water supplies in four states, all I
could think about was distant tales of civilizations that fouled their nest are
now no longer around. I attended useful sessions regarding the State Environmental
Quality Review Act and on zoning.
I also heard Chris Eastman of the New York Department of State
intelligently present a Smart Growth talk to the planners, many of whom get
their required state planning credit by attending such sessions. A smart and
well-meaning man, I was very much surprised by how many of his slides relied on
images dating from the Pataki Administration, and not his third term. I think
that the reductions to state government agencies have cut very deep. Perhaps I
should have wondered at the fact that the DOS budget even allowed Chris to
travel at all.
Back Home Again
The trip back
to Nassau, in Rensselear County where I live, was an easy 180 miles or so. Even
at "rush hour" the New York State Thruway
on this core route is lightly traveled, at least to my New York
City-trained eyes. The Thruway, in
impeccable condition even in pothole season, always looks to me like it was
just broom-swept -- but with a toothbrush. I can only wish that the Authority's
excess resources were shared with all the rutted local roads, and with such
future needs as higher-speed rail or additional transit opportunities.
