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Date Posted: 20:27:39 12/16/10 Thu
Author: Admin (per request from Archie Tecture)
Subject: Newburgh City Planning Board

Looking at Beacon, Fishkill, Hopewell, Cold Spring, Kingston, I see that the towns that made a comeback did it by restoring their Old World charm. They became attractive to people who are looking for a place they can call "home". Clean, safe streets, nice houses, front porches, little stores and markets, good quality of life. The things Newburgh used to have but demolished and never did anything to replace.

Newburgh offered some incentives to people who agreed to buy some old houses and restore them. But those houses are in the worst neighborhoods with the worst quality of life issues and nothing has been done to improve them. The streets are in disrepair making driving almost impossible. They're very dark at night. There's garbage all over the place. The criminal element has taken over and runs uncontrolled. It's impossible for law enforcement to travel through the area because of the condition of the streets so they can't get there quickly enough and that criminal element knows this and uses it to their advantage.

Infrastructure first. Use our local resources to repair and maintain the streets. Improve lighting. Make it so law enforcement can navigate freely. Using local resources keeps the money local, improves local business, creates local jobs. Step one.

Improve Quality Of Life. Homeowners need to be responsible for their property out to the edge of the sidewalk at least. Garbage needs to be contained properly or fines should be imposed. If the property owner fails to pay the fines add them to their property taxes with penalties and interest. If it's their tenants, let the owner add the fine to the rent. If the tenant fails to pay, goodbye. Undesirable tenants who create financial burdens to the landlord can be evicted on those grounds when the offense is repeated. Especially when the offense creates unsanitary conditions and poses a threat of vermin and health hazards to others.

Good streets, no garbage, better quality tenants and better residents means higher financial returns invested in property.
Better environments draw better people. Better people take pride in where they live and tend to participate in maintaining their environment. It becomes more personal to them. Property owners don't have to monitor their property as often.

But property owners must be responsible for their property. Codes must be enforced. If not, stiff penalties. Building inspectors (who cannot be paid off) are needed. This creates local jobs. Salaries can be offset by collected fines from offenders. This gives the inspectors the incentive to do their job. From bad roof to rotting porches and poor plumbing, it all matters. Repairs made using qualified, legitimate LOCAL contractors could make for eligible rebates or subsidies. This creates more jobs in local contracting business and keeps the cash at home. If owners opt for out of town contractors they carry full financial responsibility for repairs and an additional cost for local code enforcement oversight.

Newburgh boasts the largest "Historical District". Then be "Historical". Architecture must keep in the period of the history Newburgh uses as its fame. Our old houses had charm and beauty. That needs to be returned and maintained. Washington didn't pour concrete over aluminum studs to build his headquarters. Look at City Hall and the armory and the NSB, Columbus Trust buildings. Remember the Palatine Hotel. The old houses on Landers, Chambers, Liberty and the Heights. Class, charm, beauty, stability, comfort, a place to call "home". That needs to return.

Empty lots need to be cleaned up. They're in those neighborhoods that have been mentioned where quality of life issues have been addressed. So make the empty lots desirable. Use local resources to clean them up. Dept. of Sanitation and local youth, church and civic groups. Give school kids extra credits for civic involvement. Make it attractive to them to participate in city improvements. Those kids are Newburgh's future. In the past the kids left as soon as they could. Newburgh offered no reason to stay.

Our kids need a reason to stay, a place they can be proud of and a place they'll feel secure in. So if the empty lots look good, are in a good area somebody will want to build something nice on it.

Again, historical architecture come into the picture. Build something appropriate to the Newburgh period. Our current ARC is a circus of pandering, self-serving clowns who can be bought. Our zoning board isn't much better. And our local historians aren't very credible because they should be providing information and guidelines, pictorial and recorded information to see to it that our architecture maintains the true historical value we claim to have. More oversight is needed in this respect. More respect to our longtime residents is essential and those people need to take more active parts instead of sitting home bemoaning their fate of being out-priced and forced into assisted living communities in Florida (the state, not NY) or Myrtle Beach. We have wonderful resources right here for whatever we need to restore and maintain our own community. Keep it local. But participation is all important.

The Broadway Business Corridor. Let's face it, it's perfect. Wide enough to drive and park. It always was and still is. And with SOME of the empty lots, nice 2 or 3 story parking garages could be built. (Appropriate facades. No poured concrete.) Again, using local, legitimate contractors. More job creation and local money kept local. Improved lighting along the stretch at least from Robinson Ave. down to City Hall. At least one movie house and a place for 2 "anchor stores". Give incentives for larger chains to come back in. We used to have them. Stores that offer the things that households need. We had A&P, Grand Union, Sears, Woolworths. Bring back legitimate markets and home goods and clothing stores. Things people need in a convenient location. If the area is attractive AND SAFE, people will want to shop there. More businesses, more jobs, bigger tax base, better economy. The rest will follow.

Broadway has a beautiful view.

Broadway is so open and bright and airy. The view down to the river and across to Mt. Beacon is really unique. The original planners must have known so much even back when they laid the "8 Rod Rd." That's prime real estate. Imagine looking out your window on that view. So build a 3 or 4 story multiple dwelling and put a small terrace on it. A place where residents can sit and enjoy people watching or just take in the views of the river and mountain over a small summer dinner or relaxing after work. A few little nice restaurants along the way where people will want to come and enjoy a meal before going to the movie house or after doing some shopping (no McDonalds or KFC necessarily). And maybe a legitimate art gallery or 2 (Cornwall, Cold Spring, Kingston and Beacon did it and made good).

Public transportation. Regular busses from the city line, within the city. East-West routes on South St., Broadway and maybe one more to serve the south end/Heights area. North-South routes on West St., Robinson Ave., Grand St., keeping Liberty St. in its historic brick but using it to continue up to the Heights. More local jobs there. Regular schedules during prime hours for shopping and commuting for people who will work in the Broadway stores or commute on the trains.

OK. There's my start. My list can go on. But I give the floor (board) to somebody else. And wait to see if anybody else around here actually cares.

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