In December, the Tourism Board agreed to use $17,500 of its money to fund a parking study. There's been no word of the status of that study, if consultants have been chosen to do the study or even if an RFP has been issued. But last night, at the Basilica Conversation "Hudson Waterfront: Public Space Ideas for the Future," a team of students from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University, who presented a plan to make Hudson walkable and car free, shared this remarkable information regarding parking: there are 8,000 parking spaces in Hudson, and there are 2,400 cars registered to Hudson residents.
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Hopefully city appointed and electeds don't continue to harp on providing parking in a city that has an abundance of spaces and no requirement!
ReplyDeleteOnly think I'd criticize is the knee-jerk default to permeable pavers, which is absolutely justified, but just doesn't make sense in Hudson with the Clay soil.
Just curious...why can't you have permeable surfaces if you have clay soil?
DeleteThe idea behind permeable surfaces is that it facilitates drainage. Clay soil is not very porous, but rather, is quite dense, so putting a permeable surface as a first layer wouldn't really do much. Functionally, in hudson, to facilitate drainage you would need to engineer the soil by excavating and then replacing clay with a more porous fill. I say this as someone who wanted to use permeable pavers in hudson and was told it wasn't worth it by a civil engineer. Though maybe for surfaces that do not need to be particularly durable (not vehicular surfaces) it does make sense.
DeleteThe students got it right with the car being the main culprit of pollution. the so called "car culture" of the 20th century has hit a wall of congestion and gridlock.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes Hudson unique is that it is "walkable", and it has the infrastructure in place to allow people to live and walk or bike.
Once upon a time in the 19th century, Hudson and all of Columbia County was criss-crossed with electric trolleys and light rail. You could go from Hudson to Old Chatham on a train, powered by hydro energy from Stuyvesant Falls.
I doubt that the plans to eliminate the car are going to happen soon, but Hudson proves that there is life after the car.
The car manufacturers successfully lobbied for the removal of street cars throughout the US.
DeleteSame as the Columbia study years ago for Oakdale. Looks great, good ideas from people who don't live here, but sorry, you have wasted your time once again. Hudson City Hall does not function at the level necessary to make deep and necessary changes. Most of city hall is still stuck in 1974. Your work, school project, homework assignment, whatever it is, gets an A plus, but it does not apply to us. We are still trying to fix the sidewalk situation (then actually FIX THE SIDEWALKS), so try again in 30 years or so, maybe we will be ready for you.
ReplyDeleteThere are no doubt 8000 parking spaces in Hudson. Unfortunately, many of them are apparently too far from Warren to “count”: look at the uproar over the reduction in parking on Warren last summer and going in to this one. A parking space at the waterfront is not really useful for someone working retail on Warren. If the so called depot district fever dream happens, the retail workers in that area will have a very hard time finding a convenient parking space in that neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteHow many of these spots are metered Mon-Sat? It is $4 per day and requires feeding the meter 4 times throughout the day. Not too convenient, if you are working or not home
ReplyDeleteA well meaning effort with focus on environmental and health concerns is impactful looking forward and must be taken seriously. Saving Earth is #1. Perhaps it's the youth of the presenters that there's no addressing issues for those aging and those of any age who may be disabled. Although once a favorite activity, I for one, will not be bicycling anywhere. Walking at the moment is generally OK unless my knee acts up or it's insufferably hot/cold for my AFIB. Likewise, embarking and disembarking public transportation will be quite challenging if not impossible. Muddy, broken parking lots around the Basilica aren't navigational if you are visiting points north and as mentioned not young and spry anymore. The very few pocket parking lots are always packed. When the city is flooded with tourists, the thousands of spaces in awkward areas, do not account for much. Let's try again...
ReplyDeleteIf you missed the meeting, you meet the authors of some of three of the presented projects during this online event on Friday morning. Free and open to the public.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/2286-opening-reception-the-climate-crisis-studio
If you live in Hudson on or near a block with apartments and I have opposite side of street rules, there is a serious problem. Finding a parking space close to home and moving a car every day is not fun and is not a game and is a fact of life. Just in the blocks around me, there are more residents w cars living in each block and at night only 50 percent are available because of the opposite side rules. Please, typical of a study that didn’t have clear objectives or understanding of the situation or people applying the wrong answer to a problem. Yes, you can visit here and walk but if you live and need Lowe’s or groceries or garden supplies, you must have a car.
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