Social Capital
Every town in the region has had to wrestle with development pressures, and New Paltz is no different. What makes the town such an inviting place to live has also led to a mini construction boom in recent years. (Or what passes for one in New Paltz.) The town’s citizens, however, are actively engaged in how the town will grow and what type of growth is in keeping with the character of their community. Dave Porter, a professor of sociology and a board member of the Association for Intelligent Rural Management, dates the birth of New Paltz’s self-awareness to the mid-1990s, when a Wal-Mart was proposed in a development abutting the Thruway exit. Porter and Chet Mirsky wrote about the town’s tussle over that proposal in Megamall on the Hudson: Planning, Wal-Mart, and Grassroots Resistance (Trafford, 2003). That development never happened—a local group, led by Porter, waged a two-year campaign and convinced the planning board that allowing a Wal-Mart to be built on the outskirts of town was not in the best environmental, social, or economic interests of New Paltz. “It really changed the politics of the town,” says Porter. “There’s been good momentum since then.”
Ten years later, and another developer is now trying to build a mixed-use project on the same site, though the development, The Crossroads at New Paltz, is on hold, a fact Porter believes has to do with the economic downturn. But if the developer ramps up the project again, Porter is inclined to believe that New Paltzians will be up to the challenge. “There’s really an astonishing percentage of people who get involved on any issue. And there are so many younger people that are getting involved as well, to carry the torch.”
The reason Porter is optimistic about the future of New Paltz has to do with the tremendous social capital the town has accumulated. “There really is a very strong interest in participating in the community in all kinds of ways—Little League, school activities, the fire department, volunteer work,” says Porter. “People take an interest in the fate of the community.”
RESOURCES
AFFIRM www.stopcrossroads.org
G. Steve Jordan www.mohonkimages.com
Historic Huguenot Street www.huguenotstreet.org
Minnewaska State Park www.nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/127/details.aspx
Mohonk Mountain House www.mohonk.com
Rock and Snow www.rockandsnow.com
SUNY New Paltz www.newpaltz.edu
Town of New Paltz www.townofnewpaltz.org
Unison Arts Center www.unisonarts.org
Village of New Paltz www.villageofnewpaltz.org
Water Street Market www.waterstreetmarket.info
