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Jan 2022

Regional Plan Association's 100-Year History in the Hudson Valley

RPA explores our 100-year history in the Hudson Valley through archival reports and photographs as we celebrate our Centennial.

Key RPA Contributions in the Hudson Valley

1

1920s - 1950s: Parkways and Parks

From the first Regional Plan: Civic Centers Proposed for Smaller Communities in the New York Region

RPA Hudson History 1 RP vol2 P555 town centers00004 RPA Hudson History 1 RP vol2 P555 town centers00003 RPA Hudson History 1 RP vol2 P555 town centers00002 RPA Hudson History 1 RP vol2 P555 town centers00001
Storm King RPA Plan1 v1 Page 348

First Regional Plan

2

1960s - 1980s: Comprehensive Planning and Public Engagement Campaigns

We have learned in planning matters to take the wind of public opinion at the full. While the public is alert to the need, let us plan the whole river.”

Hudson 2 RP Covers

As part of the Second Regional Plan, RPA created supplemental reports on the future of counties in the region.

3

1990s - 2020s: Preserving Open Space by Reinvesting in Cities and Transit Centers

Population in the region has grown only 13% in the last 30 years, but the amount of developed land has grown 60%. That means that, since 1962, development in the region has raced across 1 million acres… We have sacrificed our landscapes for high-cost sprawl and endless miles of traffic congestion”

The Third Regional Plan
Greensward Map

Regional Reserves

RPA’s Greensward Campaign proposed creating eleven regional reserves that would protect open space and function as an urban growth boundary. These included the Catskill Mountains, the Shawangunk-Kittatinny Mountain areas, the NY-NJ-CT Appalachian Highlands, the Hudson River, and active farmland throughout the region.

RPA 4 RP Render Flagship 02 Newburgh 3 After Annotated

The Fourth Regional Plan identified the city of Newburgh as a potential model for equitable and sustainable development in the Hudson Valley.

Acknowledgements

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