WEST POINT - The future of Beacon, Poughkeepsie and other Hudson Valley riverfront communities may revolve around their train stations.
On Wednesday, at a conference that focused on the future of the riverfront, speakers at The Thayer Hotel discussed mixed-use and transit-oriented developments so the neighborhoods of the future can sustain waterfront areas.
Roger Akeley, commissioner of the Dutchess County Department of Planning, guided conference attendees through the benefits of these developments, which would create high-density housing near Metro-North railroad stations.
Akeley showed aerial photos of the City of Poughkeepsie from 1968, demonstrating the contrast between the east and west sides of Route 9 and the railroad tracks. While the east side was home to dense residential and business areas, the corridor between the tracks and the Hudson River was far less bustling. This area has the most potential for a transit-oriented development, where residents can easily walk to the train station and nearby retail and commercial districts, he said.
"We didn't start with the idea that this is leftover land," he said. "It has to be a neighborhood."
Akeley pointed to Yonkers as an example of a place where transit-oriented development is being created successfully.
Beacon's geography makes the transit-oriented development concept more difficult to implement. The railroad station is farther from the downtown area than Poughkeepsie's is, and pedestrians face a long uphill walk to get there.
John Nolon, a professor at Pace University School of Law, extolled the environmental values of such developments. In transit-oriented developments, per capita energy usage, water usage, stormwater runoff and pollution are all decreased when compared to other kinds of developments.
"In order to lighten our footprint," Nolon said, "we're going to have to shift where people live."
Nolon cited census figures showing demand for urban housing is rising in relation to demand for suburban housing.
Worried about traffic
Sara Pasti, municipal arts consultant for the City of Beacon, expressed concern such development would bring more traffic to already high-congestion areas.
"The public, in general, is not opposed to what the mixed use development will look like," Pasti said. "People are afraid of the increased traffic."
Akeley acknowledged developments could bring more cars, but said residents in these neighborhoods typically don't use them as much as residents in other parts of the cities. Also, he said, their traffic patterns would be going in the opposite direction of most morning traffic near the Beacon train station.
"A lot of the traffic will counter the prevailing traffic going into the station," Akeley said.
Reach Greg Marano at gmarano@poughkeepsiejournal.com or 845-437-4809.
