Weekly Link Round Up

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The weekly link roundup is a collection of links related to Newburgh, revitalization, urban planning and anything else that might inspire change or create dialogue. Photo by NR flickr user Steven Rosas

Old Windows Find a Following [NYT]
Say NO to the Mid-Broadway project [GFM]
Traditional cities are having a big decade [CNU]
How Buffalo Got Its Waterfront Back [Next City]
Ann Patchett’s Guide for Bookstore Pilgrims [NYT]
Newburgh holds off on ShotSpotter program [MHN]
Can You Get A Mortgage On a Condemned House? [SC]
For restaurateurs, there’s strength in clusters [Boston Globe]
Newly created Empire Corps to fight poverty in Newburgh [MHN]
How I Started My Own Construction Company in Detroit [Glamour]
DEC accepting comments on cleanup for contaminated Newburgh site [THR]

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6 Comment

  • Continue to be appalled at the terms of the Broadway project. I’ve seen the petitions on change.org etc, doesn’t look like it’s gathering much steam. Are there any plans to go house to house in the city to inform homeowners of how this affects them and to sign the petition? I can’t imagine why homeowners won’t be up in arms over this.
    I get the part about raising funds for legal fees but how exactly does a signed petition help? Any info for the ignorant like me will help. I’m interested in participating in any way I can although I’m not a resident, just a landlord up there.

    Peter

  • Isn’t the real cry about how a minority is subsidizing the cost to educate the majority in Newburgh? The Broadway Project just consolidates that issue, pushing it front and center. Demographics are exasperating the imbalance, but no one want’s to go there. Fact is, if the BP didn’t get its PILOT the taxes paid will still fall far short of the educational expense associated with its residents. At this point I say bring it, the more ‘affordable’ housing the Burgh’s takes on the quicker the system will implode from its own weight and summon a reset. Then the assessor will be forced to abandon its ‘mark to fantasy’ model.

    • Yes, what you mention is the war – the “affordable housing” nonsense! This Broadway project is a battle within that war. Focus on a single battle at a time and the war will take care of itself. When I hear “affordable housing” and “Newburgh” in the same sentence I laugh. The whole damn place is “affordable housing” for the most part, ain’t it? Grown, able bodied men roaming the downtown area, playing dominoes and cards during the day in broad daylight while earning tax free income from nefarious activities. Yes, let’s make it more “affordable’ for them and stack them into prime real estate on Broadway at our expense. When will the city wake up?

      • No, the ‘conflict’ I’m referring to is the one of interest…separation of property and school taxes. The “affordable nonsense” makes a good strawman, though. The demographics I’m referring to are the aging population juxtaposed on a decreasing birthrate of ‘creditable’ young people (the ‘Traditional Cities’ article ignored this dynamic as well, along with historical content). I’ve commented previously on the math behind this. Historically, by and large Newburgh’s south/ s.e. districts have seen assessments lowered while the north/ n.w. districts have increased. Now that assessment valuations are increasing in the former districts, it’s an issue? The current City Council is Not “limited in their ability” to re-evaluate the current model of property and school tax collection. It will not cost a dime. However, when council members are also members of the edu tribe don’t expect them to push for austerity measures. Instead, there is an attempt to ‘channel stuff’ the system with students to gain a few more years of ‘expansion’. It’s the old retail joke…”don’t worry about losing money, we’ll make it up in volume”. Any way, rumor is tptb will label ‘domino playing’ an industry along with “agritourism” and set them up in billion $ “medical villages”. …https://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2016/December/19/hsng_gap-19Dec16.html
        fwiw, the 25 ‘traditional’ cities having a big decade’ account for almost a third of the 180 u.s. immigration/refugee processing centers.
        http://www.wrapsnet.org/Portals/1/Affiliate%20Directory%20Posting/FY%202014%20Affiliate%20Directory/Public%20Affiliate%20Directory%209-09-15.pdf

        • Gotcha. If you haven’t already, please read Mr. Stansberry’s write up on Detroit, the grand experiment that FAILED and the carnage evident to everyone. Lots of parallels to the city of Newburgh. When the greatest and grandest idea the city can come up with for prime real estate in the middle of the city is “affordable housing” and a giant parking lot then I know the party’s over. The bankrupt policies of the city are here to stay and the results will be the same.