What Should Economic, and Real Estate, Development Look Like Upstate?

  |  June 12, 2013
from belleayreresort.com

from belleayreresort.com

The consensus among Upstater readers seems to be that the proposed Belleayre resort is too big. Critics say it’s too much and too contained–the dollars spent there will benefit developers but not make their way down the mountain and into surrounding towns. “There is not much good that will come from this for the local economy,” says one commenter. “If you want to benefit locals ensure there are gaps in necessities, like food. This ensures visitors have to leave the resort facility.

Not to mention, as the reader pointed out, investing millions of state dollars in a ski resort might not make sense what with all the global warming making snow so scarce. “How much snow has the Catskills received year over year? Downward sloping trend?” the commenter says. And then there’s the potential environmental impact of carving so much into the mountain.

And yet we know that the area needs jobs, jobs and more jobs. It needs closed down farms to start growing again, and abandoned bungalow colonies to return (we’re working on that, really). It needs some infrastructural improvements (cell towers, internet, even if you feel conflicted about those things). So what kind of development could nurture the things we need in upstate New York, without fundamentally remaking the landscape, endangering our environment, and disrupting our way of life? That’s no easy combo, but if you have the magic formula — or even part of the magic formula — do tell.

 

 

Read On, Reader...