News & INSIGHTS

Like many towns and cities across the Hudson Valley, Poughkeepsie is growing. But city officials want to ensure there is a clear plan and strategy for that growth over the next few years.

That's where the new “P-K-4 KEEPS” comprehensive plan comes into play.

On Monday, the city’s Common Council approved a new comprehensive plan for the city, one they say charts a new path for future development and growth. A comprehensive plan is often considered a guidebook for a community's future growth. It’s been a while since Poughkeepsie updated its comprehensive plan.

"The last time it was updated was in the 90s, 1998, I think, was the last time ours was updated," Poughkeepsie Development Director Natalie Quinn said.

A lot has changed since, so city leaders, including Quinn and Mayor Rob Rollison, say the city needed a new vision to fit modern times.

"We've done a lot of work and a lot of revitalization work in the past 10, 15 years, and I think the importance of updating the comprehensive plan now was kind of acknowledging that work and making sure that is memorialized, and that we continue to do that work," Quinn said.

"Future administrations and councils, the public and the development world will have something to look at and be able to make good decisions," Rollison said.

The three-part plan focuses on improving residential quality of life, including a strategy for improving roads and parks; expanding quality affordable housing within the city; and encouraging commercial vitality throughout the city.

A recent addition to the city, The Academy, fits in with plans to increase business. It opened almost two months ago and includes a food hall, event space, bar and grocery store, and will soon feature apartments and a co-working space.

"We really saw a foundation of a city that had a ton of potential and already was a spot that just people loved to be in," said Cam Palicuca, The Academy floor manager. "Obviously, ever since COVID, a lot of people are moving out of New York City."

Commercial activity brings jobs to the city. The Academy alone has created up to 70 jobs for local residents.

"We were thinking that we could really be a foundation for a new era in Poughkeepsie, a way that we could help jumpstart and revitalize the city, and really push forward the idea that Poughkeepsie can be what's happening in New York City, what's happening in Beacon," Palicuca said.

The city now plans on working on amending the city’s zoning code, a key component of the new comprehensive plan.