Mark Greene’s quickly evolving tech revolution right here in Kingston is gaining traction. His “tech friendly” branding proposal — supported by mayor Jim Sottile — was covered today in a report airing on Northeast Public Radio. To listen, click here.
We’re seeing a “tipping point” in action…
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
This proposal is short-sighted and pales in it’s scope of research, study and implications (never mind horrible precedents it may spawn) – a very ungrateful approach it is, to say the least.
Your ‘proposed’ transformation of a city in The Catskill Park: a mountainous region, into an urban tech environ…read on….
It appears respect is not in M.Greene’s mindful vocabulary or are you of the mindset that you would like to have your cake and eat it too at the expense of those who’ve lived in this region long before your quickly prepared proposal appeared. Beware the contrived lingo you set forth (sound-bites akin to Mr. Florida’s rehashed and borrowed ideas). So shall we revitalize/redevelop the city to be just as unoriginal as most recent Economic, Real Estate and Community Development projects across this nation have provided – all consumerism and no soul (and for a select ‘class’ of individuals)?
Are you an Urban Planner, an Environmentalist? — Any significant proposal requires addressing planning/development with a multidisciplinary approach including architectural, political, environmental, sociological and economical aspects. Long term planning that provides for any success on a progressive level is inclusive of understanding the depth and knowledge of the wide spectrum of components that comprise development / revitalization / urban planning, and sustainable planning.
‘Branding’ a city – seriously?, a concept that can be alluded to when one approaches an intelligent comprehensive, feasible approach to large scale community/regional development, yet, herein your ‘branding’ is so casual as if it’s a new sports drink.
Please consider, if you have not, the others, yes other people, because it seems you may have missed a few important points.
Brief Suggested Reading List:
‘Planetizen’s Contemporary Debates in Urban Planning’
by Abhijeet Chavan
‘The American City: What Works, What Doesn’t’
by Alexander Garvin
‘Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature’
by Douglas Farr
‘New Urbanism and American Planning: The Conflict of Cultures’ by E. Talen
‘The Economy of Cities’ by Jane Jacobs
‘Cities of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century’ by Peter Hall
‘Block by Block: Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York’
by Timothy Mennel
see also:
http://www.planetizen.org
http://www.uli.org (Urban Land Institute)
http://www.tpl.org (Trust for Public Land)
Niki,
Thank you for your thoughtful comments, and the reading list too. Do you live in Kingston? It’s a terrific city that has wonderful historical and cultural assets. It is also a city in need. Residents such as myself are saddened by empty storefronts, vacant lots and houses for sale. Mark’s plan is a marketing effort aimed at bringing people in. Perhaps they will visit, decide to stay and will fall in love with this great city too.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
Dear Niki,
I read with interest your comments regarding the re-brand of Kingston. I must admit, your critique seems to be less about what I am proposing, and more about the kind of person you perceive me to be.
Let me begin by noting that Kingston is not in the Catskill Park. Were you a resident of this part of the Hudson Valley you would know that. You would also know that Kingston has struggled economically for decades now to recover from the exit of IBM.
But let me address some of your more broad brush criticisms.
As a long time environmentalist, progressive advocate and engaged citizen, I feel confident that my proposal is not even remotely about “consumerism”. Nor is it about benefiting “a select ‘class’ of individuals.” Unless you consider the children of Kingston a “select class.” They are our future, and it’s time we offer them concrete skills and creative opportunity along with the “multi-disciplinary planning approaches” you might (or might not) be currently providing them.
As for your statement that my plan is “all consumerism and no soul…” I invite you to visit our website: http://www.kingstondigitalcorridor.org. You will see that we have a strong green advocacy component. We also have plans to support the Carnegie Learning Center, organize internships, distribute re-cycled computers to young people (and others) who want to break into the digital creative community, but don’t have the hardware cost of entry.
The bottom line though, is that our proposal will not determine what buildings are built, where bike paths will be placed, how mass transit is allocated or any other brick and mortar component of Kingston. What our plan will do, is invite people in other cities to join our digital creative community here in Kingston. And if they come, they will bring their economic vitality, progressive politics and their small carbon footprints with them. Check the demographic if you don’t believe me. Web Geeks 25-45.
I realize that many people have lived in Kingston all their lives. As a new arrival (I have been here five years), I understand how deep people’s roots go here. But I don’t think any citizen of Kingston, new or long term, would deny that we need all the new businesses and new jobs we can get.
My proposal is an effort to bring just that.
And finally, let me say this. You wrote the following:
“It appears respect is not in M.Greene’s mindful vocabulary or are you of the mindset that you would like to have your cake and eat it too at the expense of those who’ve lived in this region long before your quickly prepared proposal appeared.”
I take it that you are indicating by implication that I am a new arrival in “this region”. If so, than let me say this: It is wrong to define new arrivals in Kingston as somehow being less valid members of this community. It is a common tactic among members of less progressive political groups to try and drive wedges like this between members of communities in order to “divide and conquer.” Your choice to employ such a tactic here throws your progressive status and your real motives into question.
For the record. Most of the new arrivals I am acquainted with in Kingston are busy renovating and preserving old houses and advocating for the preservation of historic Kingston because we see Kingston as a beautiful soulful city. And we all feel we owe a debt of gratitude to the families that have been here for generations for creating such a remarkable city.
Sincerely,
Mark Greene