Suburbia, once considered the urbanite”™s utopia, has come back to bite New Yorkers with a vengeance.
Post World War II families who flocked to planned communities beyond the cities”™ limits to escape the confines of urban living, now have been replaced by families who still want good neighborhoods, but also want to walk to the store.
Peter Fleischer, executive director of Empire State Future in Albany, said the state”™s new Public Infrastructure Policy Act is going to force more municipalities to think twice when it comes to planning infrastructure projects within their borders.
Fleischer spoke to more than 20 municipal planners Feb. 10 at the Orange County Citizen Foundation in Sugar Loaf, outlining what the new law will do to help increase municipalities”™Â desire to think “smart” in order to qualify for funding.
The new legislation directs 10 state agencies, authorities and public corporations ”“ from the Department of Transportation to the Department of Environmental Conservation ”“Â to screen infrastructure programs to stop sprawl and to rate, on the basis of benefit, whether a project is considered a smart investment or one that will contribute to the problem.
While Fleischer said some areas of the mid-Hudson region would remain rural by nature, towns and villages that are growing in population must find ways to make those expanding communities more pedestrian and public transportation friendly. Shunning commercial ratables is not likely to score any brownie points under the new law.
The Public Infrastructure Policy Act will require municipal planners to justify to the state agencies encompassed by the legislation to deem them worthy of funding based on their planning.
The law was signed in September, but in the waning days of Gov. David Paterson”™s administration attention to elections and what was ahead for 2011 was at the forefront. Fleischer said Gov. Andrew Cuomo is on board with the legislation ”“ “but right now, he”™s dealing with the state”™s budget crisis. However, he”™s made it a priority, and funding from the state for new projects is going to look at whether it is helping to create sustainable communities,” Fleischer said. “The more ”˜community friendly”™ plans are, the more likely they will be to be considered for funding.”
David Church, Orange County”™s Planning Commissioner, said New Yorkers”™ “abysmally low trust in Albany is well known: “Until there is clarity in where this is going, everyone is going to want to know if this law is going to become just another excessive burden or actually help.” The Citizens Foundation will be holding a conference Friday, March 11, called “Making Great Places,” focusing on biking, walking and other nonmotorized ways to get around the county and region. It will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and take place in Hudson Hall on Mount St. Mary”™s campus in Newburgh. The fee is $60 for members and $75 for nonmembers. For more information, contact occf-ny.org.
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