Poughkeepsie - On Wednesday, June 10th about 25 people gathered at the Public Safety Building on Main Street in Poughkeepsie to share their concerns about the Main Street area and brainstorm ways in which the neighborhood could be improved through community involvement. The meeting was part of a new initiative called Middle Main Revitalization, which focuses on the section of Main Street between Academy Street and Pershing Avenue. The group included local business owners, leaders from area community organizations, and concerned citizens. "The goal this evening was to bring people together in a very grassroots way to talk about how we can bring some revitalization energy to the area," said Elizabeth Celaya of Hudson River Housing, which organized the meeting. "We wanted to introduce people to each other, encourage some positive discussion, and send people away with some tangible things they can do to contribute, and we accomplished that this evening."
Middle Main Revitalization was conceived based on the observation that the area of Main Street commonly known as the 500 Block is still in vital need of assistance to make it a thriving residential and commercial neighborhood. "A lot of resources and energy have been invested in the former Main Mall and lower Main Street areas of Poughkeepsie," said Ed Murphy, Associate Executive Director at Hudson River Housing. "We want to push those revitalization efforts further up Main Street, and see if we can make some improvements in the Middle Main area." Hudson River Housing has already undertaken a very successful neighborhood revitalization effort in the Garden, Conklin and Catharine Street area of Poughkeepsie, which resulted in improvements to 19 homeowner properties and over 40 apartments, including rehabilitation of some severely blighted buildings.
As this week is also National NeighborWorks Week, Hudson River Housing encouraged participants to think about the several thousand volunteers that have gathered this week to work on similar initiatives in communities across the country, as well as President Obama’s strong promotion of community service. National NeighborWorks Week is an initiative of NeighborWorks America, an umbrella organization for community development groups across the United States, of which Hudson River Housing is a chartered member.
At the Middle Main Revitalization meeting, participants worked together to map the area’s assets and problem areas, and shared their views on how things can be improved. "We need to think about proactive solutions, not reactive ones," said Dan Hubbell, who participated in the meeting. "People need to see this area as a garden that things can grow from." Participants were also introduced to middlemain.ning.com, a social networking site designed to give residents and others a way to connect and share information. Anyone with an interest in contributing positively to the Middle Main Revitalization efforts is welcome to join the site. Hudson River Housing is also working to develop a Middle Main Revitalization Advisory Committee that will meet regularly with the organization, and begin to forge ahead with ways to create a positive change. "This is only the very beginning," said Ms. Celaya. "It took us ten years to achieve what we did in the Garden, Conklin and Catharine Street area, and we except that this will take at least as long."
