Americans have a love-hate relationship with airports.
John Kasarda puts it succinctly: “In the U.S., we tend to view our airports more as necessities, but nuisances.”
Kasarda is an authority on aviation infrastructure, urban development and a major promoter of the aerotropolis or airport city concept. The aerotropolis is similar in setup to a traditional city and suburbs; the airport is its core and the outlying area is made up of clusters of businesses built along highway corridors.
Around the world, from China to South Korea to Amsterdam and now Dubai, other countries embrace their airports as strategic assets for economic development. In the United States it”™s another story.
Here, people ”“ including shortsighted politicians ”“ would rather bellyache about a change in flight plans that might send a jet over their community. Forget NIMBY, we now have NIMBS ”“ Not In My Blue Sky.
The Hudson Valley region is on the cusp of having a catalyst for major economic development present itself in the form of Stewart International Airport.
Westchester County Airport, because of its inability to grow due to its location, cannot be what can be envisioned for Stewart. Westchester serves business travelers well enough, well, except for the lack of parking. But as far as presenting itself as an economic force to be reckoned with, it”™s not going to happen.
What is about to happen is the arrival of the proverbial political 800-pound Gorilla in the form of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Whether your local representatives or development chiefs can get a call through to the governor is problematic; not so with the PA, which will arrive in October a fully formed political behemoth in no need of a learning curve about getting things done. This will reveal foundations of clay for some local fiefdoms that count on good-old-boy networks to sustain the status quo.
Stewart was designed to be the region”™s fourth international airport and it is now, finally, heading there. Yes, there will be increased noise from flights, but there also will be benefits: fewer trucks on the roads between Stewart and the other New York and all the benefits that go with lessened traffic. A lot of cargo now blows by Stewart for points south that will now divert to Stewart.
Developing a first-class major airport with easy accessibility will prove an asset to Westchester and the Hudson Valley.
Orange County has been on board with developing the airport for the past 20 years or so. The lack of development ”“ on and off the airport property ”“ may work in its favor, according to Kasarda. Many airports in Asia have the luxury of being built on greenfield sites where planners can lay out an entire urban complex around the airport.
At Stewart, “it”™s not a complete blank canvas, but it”™s enough of an open canvas that they (Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) can paint a pretty good picture on it.”
The Port Authority is expected to take over the remaining 93 years of a 99-year lease at Stewart in October.
And while the Port Authority says publicly it has not developed any specific plans yet, one can probably be safe to bet they do have strong ideas as to how to develop the airport, after all they have been running JFK, LaGuardia and Newark with much success for the past several decades.
In announcing the purchase plan, Port Authority Executive Director Anthony Shorris said: “We can turn that sleepy, underutilized facility into a dynamic transportation hub that will, along with our other investments in our regional airport system, allow us to meet the incredible growth in demand for air travel.”
The creation of a second access road ”“ which was held up in the courts due to community opposition ”“ will only add to the airport”™s attractiveness to other carriers.
The Federal Aviation Administration predicts a 50 percent increase in passenger flights by 2020, which translates into about 1 billion passengers annually. Will that mean more flights into Stewart? Of course. Will it mean more opposition from certain NIMBYists? Of course.
Kasarda stresses that in order for an airport city model to work, airport planning has to be integrated with urban planning and business strategy, “with an emphasis on the business side.”
And you have to take into consideration the NIMBYists, perhaps better categorized as anti-capitalists. Compromises are always made. “You need to work with the community and educate them and have them understand that development of the airport is in the long-term interest of the region in which they”™re in,” Kasarda said.
We hope that the local politicians are paying attention so as not to compromise the future of our region. Take in the world view; look beyond your county”™s borders. Take a look at how the former Third World countries are kicking us in the butt.
Don”™t let NIMBYists lead you into believing that growth and development are bad.
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