Sunday, October 18th, 2020
If you haven’t been to the City of Middletown recently, do yourself a favor and make it your next weekend destination. Recognizing the importance of a thriving main street, for the past couple of years, Middletown has been making significant investments in its downtown. If you visit Middletown today, you will see for yourself that these investments are paying off in a big way.
In 2016, Middletown successfully secured $10 million in state funding through the first round of the New York State program known as the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). Middletown has been using this money to encourage small business growth, improve parking, boost job creation, and improve building facades, all while successfully integrating other local efforts for improving the downtown business district.
The DRI funded the Rail Trail Commons, one of the most transformative projects in the City. What was once a vacant storefront has been completely renovated into new business space with a covered pedestrian walkway that will soon connect to the Heritage Trail.
BEFORE
AFTER
Middletown’s successful revitalization efforts would not be possible without the tireless efforts of Middletown’s Mayor, Joe DeStefano, and the City’s Director of Economic and Community Development, Maria Bruni. Pattern for Progress is proud to work with the leadership in Middletown and support the City in any way we can. Along with Mayor DeStefano, Pattern served as co-chair of the DRI Local Advisory Committee in 2016. Some of Pattern’s other recent work in Middletown includes: assisting in the development of a Main Street Façade Program, creating the Race for Space contest to award business development grants for the Rail Trail Commons building, creating Community and Housing Profiles for the City, and drafting a number of strategic plans for redevelopment in the City.
The right project can change the trajectory of a community for the better, which is why we are excited to premier the Pattern for Progress Community RE-Builders program next week. In fact, the Rail Trail Common project was part of the 2016 Community Builders program. As detailed in last week’s blog post, the Community RE-Builders program will provide educational resources and technical assistance to help participants advance their local community development projects.
The Community RE-Builders program and Pattern’s recent projects in Middletown are illustrative of the type of work Pattern does in communities throughout the Hudson Valley. Although our work is often done behind the scenes, it is nonetheless impactful. But don’t just take our word for it, see for yourself why Pattern matters.
