A regional transportation consortium is needed to push for Hudson Valley transportation initiatives, said Jonathan Drapkin, president and CEO of the nonprofit Hudson Valley Patterns for Progress in a wide ranging informal talk before a group of hi-tech entrepreneurs at the Hudson Valley Center for Innovation.
The April 24 breakfast at the Lake Katrine offices of the nonprofit business incubator Hudson Valley Center for Innovation (HVCFI) also provided a glimpse of a possible future of technical interconnectivity in the region as well as hope that renewable energy products manufactured locally can help improve both the economy and the environment.
Drapkin discussed balancing growth with conservation when prospects for the economy are uncertain. “We are facing a multitude of critical and complex issues from growth at Stewart Airport to attempts to control growth near Belleayre Mountain,” said Drapkin, whose organization has tracked growth in the Hudson Valley for nearly 45 years.
While he extolled a free-market approach to meeting the needs of the valley in endeavors such as housing, he noted that Patterns is putting out a study later this spring highlighting fifteen priorities for a government-private partnership in meeting the area”™s increasingly pressing and complex transportation needs. Successful resolution of transportation issues is one way of controlling growth in desirable ways, potentially reducing sprawl and minimizing air pollution and other ills associated with commuting long distances by car.
Drapkin called for a regional transportation consortium and increased use of transit-oriented developments (TODs) ”“ also called hubs ”“ to design transportation options that serve the region economically and environmentally. He said the region should unite to garner funding and financing sources for upgrading the Tappan Zee Bridge and Stewart International Airport, both of which should include “multimodal” options, including planes to the train and trains from the airport to New York City.
Drapkin challenged his audience to find time to become more civically involved. “I don”™t understand the complacency,” he said, citing problems ranging from climate change to failing schools. “You must be engaged citizens, social entrepreneurs. It isn”™t good enough anymore to sit on the sidelines. You need to be involved, you need to say I can”™t accept the status quo.”
The breakfast meeting began with an announcement by HVCFI Executive Director Les Neumann that Aerocity, a small startup company being helped by HVCFI in Lake Katrine, will install a rooftop wind turbine at Sullivan County Community College to gather data prior to manufacturing such products for use in urban settings.
The announcement was made via video-link with Sullivan Community College President Mamie H. Golladay.
HVCFI is also set to open a satellite field office at the SCCC campus in Loch Sheldrake. The satellite office and wind turbine fit the college”™s move toward developing a “green” business park and curriculum to position the institution to help develop environmentally benign products and train students for jobs in so-called green industries.
“Opening a satellite office in Sullivan County is a win-win proposition for the region and the renewable energy industry,” said Neumann.
