This River is a Place: Activating a City's Waterfront

Name: This River is a Place: Activating a City's Waterfront — Future of Small Cities Institute
Start: 2022-09-27T18:00:00-0400
End: 2022-09-27T19:30:00-0400
Location: FOCUS Lab

Tuesday, September 27, 2022
6:00 PM 7:30 PM

FOCUS Lab 21 3rd Street Troy, NY, 12180 United States (map)

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*Waterfront Wednesdays in Hudson, NY (Photo by* *David McIntyre*)

This River is a Place:

Activating a City’s Waterfront

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(This event will be held in person (live stream available to registrants). Presented in conjunction with the current exhibition “To Flow Both Ways: The Past, Present, and Future of Hudson Waterfronts” at the FOCUS Lab in Troy, NY. )

Cities across the country are engaged in cleaning up their waterfronts, developing abandoned spaces, and reconnecting their downtowns with their waterways. Long neglected and often deeply damaged by a legacy of pollution, waterfronts have suddenly turned into valuable land. But the development of waterfront space is only the first step—cities are discovering that in order to truly transform a place, they must activate it through programing, community partnerships, jobs, arts, culture, and commerce. People must have a reason to come to the water.

*Kingston’s* *Weaving the Waterfront* *plans on display in Kingston Point Park*

In this event, we will explore three Hudson Riverfront cities and hear about their journeys to activate their waterfronts, how they formed public and private partnerships, what has worked and what has not worked, and what steps cities just starting on the process should take.

Jeff Anzevino, Director of Land Use Advocacy at Scenic Hudson, will talk about overall waterfront activation strategies as outlined in the Revitalizing Hudson Waterfronts Plan, and then explore the case study of Beacon's waterfront, where he was deeply involved in the development of Long Dock Park. From Hudson, Adam Weinert, founder of the Hudson Arts Coalition, will tell us about the organization of Waterfront Wednesdays, a hugely successful weekly community festival along Hudson’s waterfront. And from Kingston, NY, Julie Noble, Sustainability Coordinator for the City of Kingston, will narrate her role in the city’s Weaving the Waterfront project and how they are developing Kingston Point Park into both a place of climate resilience and a community nexus.

The event will take place live at the FOCUS Lab. A live stream will be made available to those who register for the event. Light food and drink will be served.

TICKETS: $10 GA/$5 students. Scholarship opportunities are available.