Opportunities

Opportunities to link to local initiatives: Entering the 21^st century, the region is well positioned to demonstrate to the nation a successful balance of preservation and technological progress. This region possesses the livable, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods that boom areas of the nation are unlikely to reproduce. At the same time, there is an abundance of land -- both redevelopment space and new development space -- that is appropriate and available to support economic growth.

In the region's suburban areas, innovative land management and economic planning is taking root to an extent seldom seen -- the town of Colonie, which sits in the geographic center of the region, is a recognized national leader in the use of Generic Environmental Impact Statements to pre-plan development and identify mitigation efforts; in North Greenbush, the town has preserved a corridor within a stone's throw of the state capitol for the planned ITS test bed facility to serve the RPI Technology Park and other development; in Clifton Park, conservation and agricultural easements are used to focus development along I-87 while preserving open space, again at a critical location in the heart of the metropolitan area; further north in Saratoga County, the strategic geographic position of I-87 access points is leading to the county's emerging role as a distribution center for the northeast United States.

Of direct relevance to the REVEST initiative, the region's cities are actively pursuing revitalization efforts -- the city of Albany is implementing many aspects of its recent Capitalize Albany plan, with numerous office building and public works projects; Schenectady has leveraged its Schenectady 2000 grass-roots plan into a major downtown initiative; Troy is moving forward with downtown, riverfront and industrial initiatives; Saratoga Springs continues to enhance its national reputation for charm and style, recently becoming the first city in the nation to be honored by the American Heritage magazine.

The REVEST program builds upon the significant local time, finances and creativity invested in developing and implementing local grass-roots plans by knitting these initiatives together with regional policy as a regional enterprise which not only achieves local objectives but proves greater than the sum of its parts.

Opportunities to leverage the region's strategic location and existing high-speed service: The strategic location of New York's Capital Region offers unique opportunities. The region has a legitimate claim to many gateway titles: as a gateway to Canada to the north, as a gateway to New England to the east, as a gateway to Western New York, the Great Lakes and Canada to the west, and as a gateway to New York City to the south. Changes taking place with freight transportation will provide opportunities for the Capital Region to serve a greater role as a freight crossroads and distribution center. With prospects of increased economic ties to Quebec and Ontario in the wake of free trade agreements, this is a potentially significant shift in the region's role.

On the intercity passenger side, the region already holds an enviable position, with the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station ranking tenth nationally in passenger boardings. New York's Empire Service is among only a few true high-speed rail corridors in the nation. Empire Corridor ridership in fiscal year 1998 was 1,116,148 trips, the highest figure since Amtrak's creation in 1971. This represented a 10.3% jump from 1997. Overall, Northeast Corridor ridership grew 7.1%. Further, the Federal Railroad Administration, in its September 1997 report, High Speed Ground Transportation for America, ranks the upgrade of the Empire corridor to "Accelerail 125F" operation (125 mph speed) as potentially the most cost-effective high speed investment in the nation (when connected to a high speed Northeast corridor investment). Investments in these corridors will potentially double ridership by increasing train frequencies and decreasing running times.

These increased travel speeds and improved intermodal accom- modations hold the promise of restoring the Capital Region to a prominent role as a passenger gateway, strengthening its eco- nomic ties to the New York metropolitan area and beyond while building stronger economic connections with Canada and positioning the region to also serve New England markets.

The REVEST initiative capitalizes on the Empire corridor's high speed potential and the region's proximity to major markets in the Eastern United States, Quebec and Ontario by restoring the region's gateway function and linking intercity activity with local and regional economic growth.