Questions

• How can we reintroduce neighbors to one another and Nature while creating a safer, healthier, city and region along a more resilient tidal river?

• How can this reconnection also support the financial resilience of the City and of City residents?

• What do YOU need from ARC and from the processes underway to be able engage directly?

• How can you best use your power and your experiences/insights to move toward the future you seek and deserve?

Thoughts

• Reclaimed Land and Planning

787’s re-design will free up many acres of land (up to 90 acres, about 90% of this on the Albany side of the Hudson) for the community’s benefit and potential future development. It is vital that we clarify the needs of our communities and set up legal structures to inform and guide any development.

• Multi-Modal focus, with People-first Design

We cannot just add bike lanes onto traffic patterns designed for cars to move fast. We need to envision a fully working multi-modal system, meaning cars, buses, shared resources, walking, bicycling, personal mobility devices, and safety paramount for people. And yet, safety does not mean separate - it means co-designed for safety focused on respect. These aspects can include light rail and trolleys, structural connections to the Train Station in Rensselaer, water taxis and more.

• Create Connections

We can currently only get to Rensselaer via highway systems. Can we re-design the infrastructure to include lower the height of bridges and include walking and biking in the planning? Yes. And can we connect residents of Albany to Nature once again, so that more people can enjoy healthy air, exercise al all levels of exertion, access to the river and the life within and around it, and the emotional stress reduction that comes with communing with trees, local foods, neighbors, and places to wander and be.

•  Support Whole Humans

Create activity spaces, urban parks and tree-lined complete streets within a dense incremental development plan that creates generational wealth and a diverse tax base. Make sure that everyone in Albany can access fresh foods, health care, daycare, and otehr needed daily-life services.

Policies & Procedures to Implement

We must actively learn from others and iIncorporate proven policies and procedures to ensure equitable and sustainable outcomes

• Implement Environmental Justice Principles

The reimagining of I-787 provides this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to correct the destructive decisions of the past by centering the needs, wants, and VOICES of the communities that were negatively impacted. In this way the City will evolve and blossom from its heart and soul.

•  Establish a Community Benefits Ordinance and then a project specific Agreement

Ensure that development is informed by anti-displacement values and principles, so our residents will benefit from all future developments. 

Summary

A planning process reflects the priorities of a geographic place and a place in time. We now have about 2 years to inform and influence the work on I-787. Let’s discover and work for our vibrant future together, openly, respectfully, freely, and with faith in one another. Together, We Can!