Approaching the Historic Promenade
This past Tuesday, the consultants working on the two city DRI projects that now seem to be moving forward--Hudson Connects and the redesign of the plaza at the entrance to Promenade Hill--held an open house to give the community the opportunity to respond to design concepts.
Starr Whitehouse, the landscape architecture and planning firm working on redesigning the entrance to Promenade Hill, presented two design concepts, which they called "The Meander" and "The Terrace."
Since universal access to the historic promenade and its scenic vistas is a principal goal to be achieved by the re-imagined plaza, the path that brings wheelchairs and baby strollers up to the level of the promenade is a central element of each design. In "The Meander," the path takes a curving route; in "The Terrace," it takes a route that zigzags.
Starr Whitehouse is seeking input from the community on these two design concepts. The entire presentation of the two concepts can be found here. They are asking the community to study the design materials and then share their thoughts in a survey that can be found here. The survey will be available to be completed online until Tuesday, September 8.
Wow, each one is superb. Whichever design wins, Starr Whitehouse should be commended for both plans.
ReplyDeleteI suppose I'd choose the one which is best at baffling the incredibly loud "music" and marijuana smoke which typically eminate from the adjoining parking lot whenever Hudson residents and visitors to the city are trying to enjoy sunsets at the Promenade.
Perhaps everyone else loves the experience, but I don't. Consequently, I rarely visit the Promenade anymore.
Now if we could just get the owners of the adjacent apartment complex to not allow their tenants hanging out in the parking lot to BLARE music from their cars, which lately has gotten more frequent and louder. Yesterday at 4 pm it was much louder than it ever has been -loud and clear from the overlook fence. I had no idea a car stereo system could be so loud. So ridiculous and inappropriate and unpeaceful.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely, so obnoxiously loud.
Delete@BB- I find your comments classist and a matter-of-opinion. Generations of families have lived in those “apartment complexes” and I never cared about how loud their music was or what they did on PRIVATE PROPERTY at 4 pm. It’s none of my business to judge others on how they live their lives, especially if It doesn’t affect me because I don’t live there. If people are offended by it, then they don’t need to go to Promenade Hill, simply put.
ReplyDeleteI strongly disagree. I was actually walking down to Promenade Hill around the time BB mentioned, I had another look at the BLM painting on the street and I thought I would take a look at the David Hammons flag and while I was there enjoy a view of the river and the mountains. I only stayed a minute because the obnoxious music was SO FREAKING LOUD!!! No lie, it was brutal. It was frankly illegal, there are laws about such things. I left immediately and I think that the loud music chases MANY people away as per other comments here. Yes, it’s a cultural difference.
DeleteAm I correct then, A Gomez, that you do not respect our local laws?
Delete§210-5(D)(1): "No person shall operate or use or cause to be operated or used any sound reproduction device in such a manner as to create unreasonable noise."
- City of Hudson Code
When you say “If people are offended by it then they don’t need to go to Promenade Hill”, do you see a problem with that idea?
DeleteHudson doesn’t have noise ordinances at all and one cannot be fined, just a simple warning and that it usually implemented past 9 pm by people who live within the house complaint area. How one would look to call the police on tenants in that complex at 4 pm? My grandmother lived in those apartments in the early 1990s and the parking lot you’re speaking of I am very familiar with. It’s been going on FOREVER, prior to the gentrification of Hudson and I never cared as a child or grown up about the music. It is a matter of taste and opinion.
DeleteA Gomez, before you go cancelling people calling them [anything]-ists, as you have above, it might help to know what you're talking about first. Hudson has extensive noise statutes which come with penalties:
Delete"§ 210-9 Penalties for [noise] offenses.
"Any person committing any act in violation of any provision of this chapter shall be subject to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 15 days or by a fine not exceeding $250, or by both such a fine and imprisonment. The continuation of an offense against the provisions of this chapter shall constitute, for each day the offense is continued, a separate and distinct offense hereunder."
Learn the Code. Respect your neighbors. Reject cancel culture.
I, as a property owner on state street have never been able to have the Hudson police enforce this code, which I have referenced several times myself. They do not have a noise decibel reader to enforce said code and have found it “unconstitutional”. Also it has to be after the hours of 10 pm I believe. Do your research please before you bark.
DeleteClassist? Opinion? Please. The fact is that the music was, and often is, a code violation. I don't care if it's wealthy white preppies from Connecticut or locals, blaring music or any noise is not allowed in Hudson. All communities have decibel limits. And yes, it is my opinion that the noise is especially inappropriate adjacent to our most public park. So what? Isn't that what this valuable forum is for?
DeleteThe police do ask folks to lower the noise level at night when in clear excess of the permissible decibel levels, but I am told (and have been told more than once), that the local courts essentially are loathe to levy fines for violations, toss those cases out. Perhaps the judges buy into the notion that a lower decibel environment is "classist." I think personally it is classist" not to enforce such ordinances, because working folks who need to get up early in the morning to go to work need to get their sleep. The leisure class can just sleep in, or repair to their lake cottage, etc.
DeleteA Gomez, you made the mistake of accusing someone of “elitism,” and that is cancel culture.
DeleteCancel culture will only be defeated by decent people working together to share the ever-implied risk involved.
Because cancel culture is so destructive to honest dialogue, we must extend this courtesy, this sharing, to friend and foe alike.
Rather than accept culpability, you're now making new claims which you also cannot substantiate.
First you said there are no noise laws, and then that there are no penalties.
Now you claim that the HPD won’t enforce the laws you claimed earlier do not exist, and even that these suddenly existing laws are not constitutional.
(Incidentally, §210-4, “Unreasonable Noise Prohibited,” is not limited to times of day.)
But now I’m the one who must do his research?! What an absurd attempt at silencing your critics, which is ironic when what you’re trying to defend is a fabricated “right” to make noise.
Decent people must come together to defend one and all against the cowardly smears and low standards which are ruining debate everywhere. Let's stand up to these people by sharing the risk.
"local courts essentially are loathe to levy fines for violations, toss those cases out"
DeleteWe the people are "the government." If we want the HPD and local courts to honor our local noise statutes, then acting together we can make that happen whether through elections or some other means of petition.
To A Gomez who has no problem calling in noise complaints for his own neighborhood, I'd respectfully say that if she doesn't like Hudson's laws then the laws can always be amended. That's the proper way, but in Hudson too many - and evidently the courts too - are accustomed to simply ignoring the laws they find inconvenient.
How is that a good society?
Amphitheater seating in #1 is sweet but prefer the direct run from Warren to the Promenade in #2.
ReplyDeleteIt's the grand culmination of eight blocks of the main street that should continue uninterrupted to that spectacular river view.
Well I think both are beautiful in concept. What type of security is being considered? Police cameras? Emergency response boxes? Sorry, but given the isolated location we cannot assume some Utopian paradise - as these appear - won't come with risks and possible consequences. Let's take a realistic approach to keep everyone safe while they enjoy the space.
ReplyDeleteI much prefer the curves. Very elegant, and leavens the balance of the more rectangular shaped framing of the overall space. For public safety purposes at night, however, there will need to be some visibility preserved through the foliage, and proper lighting, so there are not dark secluded spaces where mischief might transpire.
ReplyDeleteI'll be asking Starr Whitehouse if they can combine the inviting arabesques and meanders of design #1 with the #2 design for an uninterrupted and culminating view to the Promenade from Warren Street (per Vincent, above).
ReplyDeleteThe zigzagging ramp in #2 is so much less inviting to pedestrians that it will become a permanent hangout for mischief-makers.
For both designs the same hazard applies to the southeast corner of the layout. To encourage general use there, why not provide access to the sidewalk on Front Street as there is now?
I don't see a bike rack. Where can I park my bicycle when I ride to the promenade?
ReplyDeleteA Gomez,
ReplyDeleteApparently you don't believe that concern for others is part of living in a community. I'm frequently on the waterfront, and the noise coming from that parking lot is beyond obnoxious. There is nothing "classist" about wanting to enjoy life in our town without being bombarded by blaring music. It wouldn't matter if the music was classical, jazz, rock, rap, or anything else-- it's an intrusion into a public space by people who don't give a rat's ass about the well being of others.