Hudson Valley Affordable Housing & Conservation Strategy

The Current Context

The Hudson River Valley region that we call home is becoming an increasingly unsustainable and inequitable place to live. A variety of factors have contributed to the present reality: single family sprawl over denser, smart growth development; the COVID-19 real estate boom; vulnerable existing rental housing, and the perception that affordable housing brings unwanted change to communities. These factors have contributed to untenable real estate appreciation, the displacement of low-income and Black and Brown communities, and dwindling housing stock for families with modest incomes. Natural assets such as the Hudson River and its tributaries, hunting and fishing areas, and informal community open spaces are increasingly at risk due to unfettered real estate development. Climate change is threatening the environment. The loss of biodiversity, threats to sustainable agriculture and local food supply, urban heat islands, storm surges, and flooding are impacting our residents, infrastructure and resources. These challenges affect us all.

Affordable housing and land conservation organizations have made progress addressing these issues within their own sectors. Yet, the problems we face are too urgent, massive and intertwined to be solved alone. The current siloed approach is not accomplishing enough.

Our Vision

The Hudson River Valley is a sustainable and inclusive home to an economically and racially diverse community. Our work helps the region develop a holistic, equitable and proactive approach to housing, climate change, and land conservation.

Our Work Together

We are banding together to take a holistic approach to these complex and urgent problems, and have a larger-scale impact. Collectively, we can better serve Hudson Valley residents and communities by meeting the need for affordable housing, conserving important lands for human and ecological benefit, and adapting to and mitigating the effects of climate change. This collaborative approach allows us to leverage and learn from each sector’s successes, resources, methods, and constituencies. We hope that our collaboration will drive progress, serve as a model for change within and across sectors, and result in increased collaboration among our organizations and stakeholders. Our network makes us more nimble, equitable and expansive in serving our collective constituencies and realizing our vision.

We expect our work to include:

• Learning about each sector’s best practices and outcomes;
• Identifying shared interests and opportunities for collaboration;
• Leveraging our collective strength to pilot new approaches;
• Advocating for changes in public policy; and
• Communicating our shared priorities to our respective organizations, constituents, policy makers, and the public.

We hope that our collaboration will contribute to a thriving Hudson River Valley region that is more welcoming, inclusive, affordable, accessible, and sustaining all who live here now and in the future.

Regional Plan Association staff provided technical capacity to identify locations where there is both suitability and receptivity towards land conservation and affordable housing initiatives. The sites listed below reflect a quantitative analysis based on smart growth and land conservation criteria, and a qualitative analysis of political receptivity based on feedback from HV AH&C partners. Through this process RPA identified 32 receptive localities, at least two per county within the study area. The identified locations are representative of urban, suburban, and rural conditions.

The Hudson Valley Affordable Housing & Conservation Strategy has been recognized at several forums outside the region:

• November 2022 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Colloquium on Community Land Trusts and Conservation Land Trusts, case study presented by co-conveners Rebecca Gillman Crimmins and Steve Rosenberg
• February 2023 Connecticut Affordable Housing and Land Conservation Summit, Keynote presented by co-conveners Rebecca Gillman Crimmins and Steve Rosenberg
• March 2023 Massachusetts Land Coalition Annual Conference, Keynote presented by convener Steve Rosenberg
• May 2023 New York Land Trust Conference, Workshop presented by co-conveners Rebecca Gillman Crimmins and Steve Rosenberg and Habitat for Humanity of Columbia County executive director Al Bellenchia
• May 2023 Annual Conference of New York State Affordable Housing Association, panel presentation by convener Rebecca Gillman Crimmins

The Consensus Building Institute (CBI), founded in 1993, improves the way that people collaborate to make organizational decisions, achieve agreements, and manage multi-party conflicts and planning efforts. A nationally and internationally recognized not-for-profit organization, CBI provides organizational development and high-skilled facilitation for state and federal agencies, non-profits, and international development agencies around the world.

Ona Ferguson is a senior mediator at the Consensus Building Institute. For 20 years, she has designed and facilitated committees and big public meetings with a focus on helping groups work constructively together on natural resource and public policy issues. Her subject areas include climate planning, land use, collaborative research and network building.

Sophie Carillo-Mandel is an associate at the Consensus Building Institute, with over a decade of combined work experience in facilitation services, on-the-ground natural resource management, and event planning. Sophie has extensive experience supporting public outreach and inter-organizational coordination to address complex natural resource management issues, including wildfire resilience planning, groundwater management, and water quality monitoring.

Abby Fullem is an associate at the Consensus Building Institute, where she supports the facilitation and mediation of environmental and public policy processes. She works on projects relating to natural resource management, land use, and renewable energy. Abby is from Columbia County and holds degrees in geology, and urban studies and planning.

RPA staff provided technical capacity to identify locations where there is both suitability and receptivity towards additional land conservation and affordable housing initiatives. The suitability of a place was determined based on the quantitative analysis of physical attributes of both built and natural conditions. Receptivity was determined based on qualitative documentation of local receptivity towards housing and conservation initiatives. The places highlighted on the map are considered to be both suitable and receptive to conservation and housing initiatives.