Olana_Support_Image.jpg

Left: Olana State Historic Park in Hudson, NY

TOURISM IN THE HUDSON VALLEY

Jonathan Marcos

The Hudson Valley is a region that is ripe for tourism. From Historical Estates, to National Parks, to Farmers Markets, millions of tourists visit the Hudson Valley for its' attractions.

The following maps will graphically display highlights of the Hudson Valley's attractions, along with tourist traffic, lodging and revenue.

Sources:

[1] NY Open Data: https://data.ny.gov/

[2] NYS Clearinghouse: http://gis.ny.gov/?nysgis=

[3] NYS Tax: https://www.tax.ny.gov/

[4] Kaggle (Food): https://www.kaggle.com/new-york-state/nys-retail-food-stores

[5] Kaggle (Hotel): https://www.kaggle.com/gdberrio/new-york-hotels

Retail Food Stores and Alcohol Vendors, 2021

Source: data.ny.gov
The Hudson Valley hosts a variety of food and alcohol retail. The Hudson valley is very notorious for certain eats, such as Stewart's Shops and Cider

A Stewart’s Shop in Ithaca NY. Stewart’s is notorious in the Hudson Valley, with at least 1-2 locations in most towns

A booth in the New York Cider Association’s annual Cider Week, displaying locally-made ciders

Food vendors
Alcohol vendors in New York State

Farmers Markets in the Hudson Valley, 2018

Whether local or County-wide, Farmers Markets are a popular seasonal attraction in New York State.

Format of Tag:

Location

County, Telephone #

Troy Farmers Market

 

Historical, DEC Lands and National Parks mapped in the Hudson Valley, 2019:

DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) Lands (Dark Green), National Parks (Intermediate Green) and Historical Parks (Light Green) are all mapped in this visual to display density of parks and proximity to major transportation routes.

Format of Tag:

Name of the Attraction

Type of Attraction, Location

Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, NY

Peebles Island in Cohoes, NY

Historical Parks Throughout the Hudson Valley
National and DEC Preserves in the Hudson Valley

Hotels Mapped in the Hudson Valley, 2018

Source: NYS Clearinghouse, Kaggle
Hotels are mapped based on their rate per night (smaller circles = smaller prices, bigger circles = bigger prices, etc.). Hover over the circles to access specifications of the hotel.

Format of Tag:

Name of the Hotel

Star Rating, Price, Location

Sales Tax Revenues of Sampled Cities, 2003-2019

Sales Tax is a determinant of which areas in the Hudson Valley receive the most business, whether that comes from sales, tourism, etc. This graphic describes the growth of sales tax over time in the Hudson Valley, comparing different Cities throughout the river's reach. Drag the slider to see the graphic change over time!

Format of Tag:

Name of the City

County, Revenue

Increasing Radius/Opacity = Greater Revenue

NYS State Park Attendance Figures Since 2003

State Parks have been a premiere highlight of the Hudson Valley's tourism scene. Drag the slider to see park traffic throughout different years!

Format of Tag:

Name of the Attraction

Type of Attraction, Location

PROXIMA:

Affordability, Business, Ecology, Proximity

The COVID-19 Pandemic caused many New Yorkers to move out of the City and into the Hudson Valley, due to rising rent prices and pandemic scares. The pandemic also gave rise to working from home, which was convenient for some during the pandemic’s peak. Most importantly, despite the pandemic brutally mauling a plethora of businesses, the tourism sector of New York State has benefitted greatly— record-breaking numbers of tourists visited Hudson Valley in 2020 alone compared to years prior.

However, the pandemic is (fortunately) waning and the re-integration of in-person jobs is progressively expanding. This leaves a financial crisis for some who may have to move back to New York City— rent is still fairly sky-high and cost of living has gotten more expensive.

Proxima, a node city on the side of the Hudson River, proposes to install affordable housing for a larger population sample that needs reasonable and accessible proximity to the City. This would allow for individuals who are hesitant to move to the City to have a place up in the Hudson Valley, while paying more affordable prices than those down at the southern end of the river. This Node City also aspires to continue the momentum of success that the Tourism industry in the Hudson Valley produces, by being in relatively close proximity to popular tourist attractions and transportation nodes.

A GREEN PROMISE:

It is exceptionally clear that the Earth is going through a global crisis— temperatures rising to unprecedented heights, weather more frequently becoming extreme and pollution that endangers the Earth’s health. Proxima pledges to practice eco-friendly policy, by promoting greener modes of transportation (buses, ferries and trains as opposed to cars), sustainable materials (i.e. CLT as opposed to Steel) and employing space reserved for eco-efficient energy sources.

GENERATING PROXIMA: A process of accumulated proximity

In order to find an established location for Proxima, a series of parameters must be established. These parameters prioritize proximity significant areas (non-commercial), such as NYC, the Hudson River and Tourist Landmarks
Proximity to popular cities, more points if further distinguished.

However, ratings will be higher for areas that are closer to NYC

Historic, DEC and Natural Landmarks in Hudson Valley, 1 point
Proximity to the Hudson River, more points if closer
Proximity to popular parks, more points if in range of heavily-toured areas
Conversely, commercial attributes (i.e. Hotels, Restaurants, etc.) are negative parameters in finding the optimal location of the Node City. That is, because places with dense commercial activity , for instance, those with many hotels and retail centres, have little opportunity for new businesses to rise, which would be detrimental for a new City.
Food vendors
Alcohol-based vendors
Farmers Markets and Agricultural Fairs
Hotels

Calculating the Ideal Location:

The location of Node City will ultimately depend the attributes listed above, and the locations that rally up the highest scores will ultimately be the prospective site.

There are two kinds of scores that will be considered: positive and negative. Positive scores will consider proximity to tourist attractions, accessibility to major transportation routes and proximity to New York City. Negative Scores will consider proximity towards already-existing commercial spaces and population displacement— the further away the sampled site is from other Hudson Valley Cities and businesses, less negative points would be accumulated. The net score is the sum of the positive and negative values, and the winning candidate will be that which has the greatest net score.

Programmatic Distribution:

The Sankey Diagram below describes what the potential distribution of Proxima’s program would look like. This city would mainly cater towards locals who want housing relatively close to NYC, but also at more affordable prices in comparison to the Big Apple. Proxima would also mainly cater towards promoting tourism and businesses, through local events such as Farmers Markets, branches for Local Retail, and access to neighboring tourist attractions, such as Bear Lake and Clarence Fahnestock State Park.

There is also a significant portion of the city dedicated to transportation, in order to easily circulate individuals in/out of the city. The transportation hubs planned in this proposal would promote carpool-esque methods of transport, such as ferries, trains and buses.

There is also space reserved for agriculture to introduce ideas of a sustainable city.

Sankey Diagram splitting potential program of the City

(Preliminary) Parti:

The city branches from the Transportation Hub, which carries the majority of urban circulation throughout the day. The Hub then splits off into two main axes (River Road and Main Street) reserved for businesses. There are also other auxiliary branches that are reserved for the Housing in Proxima.

CODE:


Magenta: Transportation-Based Parti

Yellow: Business-Based Parti

Cyan: Local/Residential-Based Parti

Vignettes:

Collaged-captures of what City Life may possibly look like in Proxima

Collage showing Farmers’ Market, Transportation and Housing

 

Future:

Proxima is a city that pioneers a system of node-based transportation throughout the Hudson Valley. There would eventually be other new cities that can possibly be built in the Hudson Valley in order to promote carpool-esque transportations of trains and ferries, and would ultimately connect to other notable cities throughout the Hudson Valley to create a system of eco-efficient transportation through the scope of the river.