The Center for Housing Solutions & Community Initiatives
Pattern for Progress’ Center for Housing Solutions and Community Initiatives is the prime source for regional information and trends in housing in the Hudson Valley. Established in 2012, the Center conducts research, and produces analyses, drafts housing policy recommendations, provides technical assistance, strategic planning, and financial underwriting for public, private, and nonprofit organizations, to identify action items that can address the challenges and issues raised to chart a pathway for success.
The Center for Housing Solutions & Community Initiatives is supported by our Investors:
Hudson Valley Housing Forum
Presentations
The Hudson Valley People Shortage and Housing
Adam Bosch - President & CEO, Pattern for ProgressView this Presentation
Getting to the Bottom of Affordability
Elka Gotfryd- Executive Director, The Center for Housing Solutions and Community Initiatives-Pattern for ProgressView this Presentation
People, housing and the future in the US and in the Hudson Valley
Alan Mallach- Senior Fellow Center for Community ProgressView this Presentation
People, Housing and the Future in the U.S. and in the Hudson Valley
Increasing Equity, Access, and Affordability: A Developer’s Perspective
Christine Schudde-Executive Director Habitat for Humanity Capital DistrictView this Presentation
Increasing Equity, Access, and Affordability: A Developer’s Perspective
A NEW ROAD HOME:
The policies we need to support good, viable homes in the Hudson Valley
Annual Housing Forum 2023
With housing at the forefront of the state’s agenda, conference participants will help envision Housing Compact v2.0 and share their thoughts with state policy leaders. Special guests will also talk about alternate models of homeownership, zoning strategies to improve housing production and cost, and the connections between housing and population loss.
RuthAnne Visnauskas – Commissioner and CEO – NYS Homes & Community Renewal
Commissioner Visnauskas will join Pattern live at our annual housing conference. She will talk about the factors that have pushed housing to the top of the state’s agenda, and how leaders in Albany might tackle our housing crisis in the year ahead. Conference participants will work in groups to envision state-level policies, incentives and strategies for 2024, and share them with Commissioner Visnauskas.
Alan Mallach – Sr. Fellow – Center for Community Progress and noted author
In his latest book, Smaller Cities in a Shrinking World, Mallach examines how declining populations will affect our cities in the coming decades. He will explain the roles that housing and zoning play in our shrinking future, and share the housing policies that neighboring states have used to create a broader variety of housing and lure our neighbors to move out of New York.
Christine Schudde- Executive Director – Habitat for Humanity Capital District
Christine oversees and leads Habitat’s operations, a retail store and the construction or acquisition/ rehab of homes in Albany and Troy. Under her leadership, Habitat has built more than 60 homes. Christine will share her organization’s experience with housing development, community land trusts and ensuring equitable access to homeownership today and in the future.
Hudson Valley Regional Housing Market Report
ALICE in the Hudson Valley
The ALICE project by United Way is an effort to quantify and describe the number of households that are struggling financially but not typically captured by traditional measures of poverty. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. In other words, “ALICE households” represent working families who earn enough to be above the federal poverty line, but are still struggling to afford basic living essentials.
The most recent data from the ALICE project, released in August 2020, shows that many households in the Hudson Valley are struggling to make ends meet. In the nine-county region of the Hudson Valley, 39% of households are below the ALICE threshold including 10% that are below the federal poverty line. Within the Hudson Valley, the rural counties of Greene and Sullivan have the highest percentage of households below the ALICE threshold. In fact, among all counties in New York State, Greene County has the 5th highest percentage of households below the ALICE threshold, and Sullivan County has the 9th highest.
Community & Housing Profiles
In September, 2018, Pattern released the first edition of Housing Profiles for all 25 UAA communities. The Housing Profiles take a deep dive into rental and owner-occupied housing by providing analysis of affordability, existing conditions, and demographic changes. Shining a spotlight on housing in these 25 communities represents the next step in the UAA’s efforts to provide useful data to policymakers, residents, and business and community groups.
Bringing together data from a variety of sources in order to tell a compelling story about housing conditions and trends within each community, the profiles use charts, graphs, maps, and analysis to display information about population and demographic changes, home values, median rents, housing affordability, gentrification, public and affordable housing projects, and much more.
Funding for the housing profiles comes from Empire State Development and the NYS Department of State through the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.
SPECIAL DATA RELEASE: Out of Reach
Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress and its Center for Housing Solutions have been analyzing rental housing and wage data for many years and providing statistics and trends to help communities, developers, builders and non-profit agencies plan and construct housing that is affordable in the Hudson Valley region. These latest statistics show further proof of the need for additional affordable housing in every county in the Hudson Valley.
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Annual Housing Reports
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Hudson Valley Housing Forum
Presentations
Reflections on the State of Homeownership
Karen Hoskins - National Director for Home Ownership, NeighborWorks AmericaView this Presentation
The Hudson Valley's Housing Shortage
Mike Kingsella - Executive Director, Up For GrowthView this Presentation
The Gap
Diane Yentel - President & CEO, National Low Income Housing CoalitionView this Presentation
Housing Matters: Shelter from the Storm
Annual Housing Forum 2020
The Center for Housing Solutions & Community Initiatives is hosting its 13th annual Hudson Valley Housing Forum this November. The annual event gathers leaders and professionals from across the state to discuss trends and housing policy that impacts the Hudson Valley region.
The conference, titled “Housing Matters: Shelter from the Storm,” was held in a virtual format, hosted over five days November 16th – 20th, 2020, covering topics including:
- Chasing the American Dream of Home Ownership
- Multi-Family Development & Market Dynamics
- Gentrification with Balanced Development
- The Real Estate Market Rollercoaster
- Race, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion in Community Development & Housing
MONDAY
Chasing the American Dream of Home Ownership
Monday’s morning session focused on Home Ownership challenges in the complex and volatile 2020 market. Karen Hoskins, National Director for Home Ownership at NeighborWorks America, began our conversation with the State of Homeownership, discussing current challenges in homeownership, including first time buyers looking to enter the market and existing owners trying to hold onto their home.
Next a panel discussion exploring homeownership, with Kevin O’Connor, CEO of RUPCO, and Dina Levy, the Senior Vice President of Single Family and Community Development, NYS Housing and Community Renewal, Dina Levy, moderated by Pattern for Progress’ Joe Czajka.
Monday evening, The Center for Housing Solutions was honored to host Diane Yentel, CEO and President of The National Low Income Housing Coalition, to discuss housing and home ownership from a national perspective.
TUESDAY
Multi-Family Development & Market Dynamics
Ruthanne Visnauskas, Commissioner, New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, opened Tuesday’s discussions about market dynamics, finance, property management and design, and the impact of the moratorium on evictions. Followed by a panel discussion about these issues with developers, municipal leaders, property managers, and lenders, moderated by Sadie McKeown, Executive Vice President and Head of Construction Lending and Initiatives, CPC, and panelists Luiz Aragon, the Commissioner for Development at City of New Rochelle, Darren Scott, Upstate Development Director with NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal, Lisa Kaseman, ESQ., Regional Vice President at Conifer Realty, Jeffrey Nelson, Senior Vice President at RXR Realty, and Ken Kearney, the Founder & President of Kearney Group.
WEDNESDAY
Gentrification with Balanced Development
Investment and the revitalization of our urban centers without displacement has been a longstanding challenge in the Hudson Valley. While many view these improvements as an important evolution, others are finding themselves left behind — and wondering how they fit into changing communities and afford to remain. The region is facing the challenges with balancing demographic shifts, growth, and residents’ needs.
Ed Poteat, Founder and President of Carthage Advisors, Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, and Author of The Fiscal Cliff kicked off the day’s events as Keynote speaker. Graham Trelstad, AICP, Vice President and Director of Planning with WSP, facilitated a panel discussion about Gentrification with Ed Poteat, David Garten, Senior Vice President at RXR Realty, Guy Kempe, Vice President of Community Development at RUPCO, Mayor of Beacon, Lee Kyriacou, and Mayor of Kingston, Steve Noble.
THURSDAY
The Real Estate Market Rollercoaster
On Thursday, Hudson Valley Real Estate leaders provided a Real Estate Market update, discussing demand, supply, value, and lending in the residential market.
Mike Kingsella, Executive Director at Up For Growth opened Thursday’s program as the Keynote speaker looking at Real Estate supply across the nation. Next, Pattern for Progress’ Joe Czajka, moderated a panel of local Real Estate experts, Joe Rand, Executive Director for the Broker Public Portal and CCO at Howard Hanna Rand Realty, Paula Elaine Kay, Esq., Attorney at the Law Office of Paula Elaine Kay, William O’Keeffe, Esq., Attorney at O’Keeffe & McCann, LLP, and Bill Calderara, the President and CEO of Ulster Savings Bank. The panel discussed the local Hudson Valley real estate market and trends.
FRIDAY
Race, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion in Community Development & Housing
Friday’s program opened with a keynote address by Don Trahan, Jr., PhD., the Race, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Director at NeighborWorks America, followed by Q&A, moderated by Pattern for Progress’ Joe Czajka, about the implications of REDI in community development, housing, and on the organizations working in this industry.
Each day’s program was followed by The Solutions Lounge, setting the stage and move these conversations toward actionable steps – seeking to find the answer to the question: “So…what are we going to do about it?”
From Blight to Bright
Reclaiming Your Neighborhood – Annual Housing Forum 2019
Pattern for Progress’ Center for Housing Solutions and Urban Initiatives hosted its 12th annual housing conference that drew as many as 120 leaders and professionals in the fields of affordable housing, community development, municipal government, housing development, planning and engineering and community lending.
The conference, titled “From Blight to Bright: Reclaiming Your Neighborhood,” was held on Friday at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel and focused on reclaiming neighborhoods and rebuilding communities.
Lynne M. Patton, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey, delivered the keynote address. Patton, who oversees the largest public housing program in the country, stressed the importance of housing because, she said, it not only provided security and stability, but also hope and dignity.
“New York and New Jersey represent an extremely dense and high-cost area of the country where this administration recognizes that we cannot afford not to address blight and preserve our existing affordable and public housing, as in many cases, there is no place to build,” said Patton. “We are doing this through historic physical inspection reform, innovative programs like RAD (Rental Assistance Demonstration) and federal oversight of distressed public housing authorities.”
Earlier in the morning, Karen L. Black, principal of May 8 Consulting, spoke about tools to mitigate blight and revitalize communities through code enforcement. Blight was just a symptom of the underlying issue of weak demand, she told participants. When blight is eliminated, she said, crime is reduced, the health of area residents improves, surrounding property values go up by up to 30%, tax revenue goes up, thereby supporting school districts.
Adam Zaranko, president of the NYS Land Bank Association and executive director of the Albany County Land Bank Corporation, spoke about the benefits of land banks and best practices for their implementation. He predicted that as New York continues to lose population, the problem of vacant properties will spread to areas that currently do not face it.
Brian Pine, of Burlington Associates, discussed the benefits and best practices for community land trusts with a focus on affordable housing. Among its many benefits, land trusts prevent gentrification by redeveloping properties and preserving their values.
“Land banks and land trusts can – and should – work together,” Pine said.
Madeline Fletcher of New York State Homes and Community Renewal joined Black, Zaranko and Pine to moderate a panel discussion focusing on comprehensive community development, including code enforcement, Brownfield funds and naturally occurring retirement communities.
“Pattern was very pleased to bring together well over a hundred participants from the Hudson Valley to learn about valuable tools to revitalize our communities,” said Pattern senior vice president and executive director of the Center for Housing Solutions and Urban Initiatives Joe Czajka. “Lynne Patton, the regional administrator from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provided an inspirational talk about safe and affordable housing for our communities.”
HUD Community Planning and Development Specialist Joseph Baietti also gave a presentation about Opportunity Zones and Section 108, HUD’s loan guarantee program.
Presentations
From Blight to Bright: Tools to Mitigate Blight and Revitalize Communities Through Code Enforcement
Karen L. Black, Esq - Principal, May 8 ConsultingNew York State Land Banks Benefits, Impacts and Best Practices
Adam Zaranko - Albany County Land Bank CorporationView this Presentation
New York State Land Banks Benefits, Impacts and Best Practices
Community Land Trusts
Brian Pine - Burlington Associates in Community DevelopmentView this Presentation
Leveraging HUD Programs
Joseph Baietti - HUDView this Presentation
A Pathway for Urban Revitalization
Community Development Health & Housing – Annual Housing Forum 2018
The theme of urban revitalization and the intersection of housing, health, and community and economic development brought over 140 attendees to the 2018 Housing Forum held September 28 in Poughkeepsie. Pattern jumpstarted the event with an overview of synergies between housing and economic development, and a presentation about struggling households and the importance of increasing the supply of a wide range of housing options. Speakers from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, NeighborWorks America, the Center for Community Progress, and Lawrence Community Works presented valuable tools and techniques about revitalizing the urban centers.
The forum also included a panel discussion on the links between economic development and housing. The panel included Matt Rand from BHG Rand Realty, Sue Gerry from the Westchester Medical Center Health Network, Joe Bonura from the Bonura Hospitality Group, and Joe Apicella from MacQuesten Development and was moderated by Mike Oates, President & CEO of Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation. Panelists spoke about the need for additional rental housing serving households at all income levels. New housing developments with amenities are critical for economic development to advance and to attract and retain the workforce.
Pattern provided a snapshot of countywide data from the recently released report from the United Way known as ALICE, which stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. The data represents the growing number of individuals and families who are working, but are unable to afford the basic necessities of housing, child care, food, transportation and health care.
Presentations
An Overview
Joe Czajka - Senior Vice President for Research, Development, & Community Planning, Hudson Valley Pattern for ProgressView this Presentation
Urbanization and the Regional Economy
Jason Bram - Research Officer, Federal Reserve BankView this Presentation
A Network-Based Approach to Community Development
Jessica Andors-Lawrence - Community WorksView this Presentation
The Challenge of Revitalizing Small Cities
Alan Mallach - Center for Community ProgressView this Presentation
Working Together for Stronger Communities
Sarah Norman - NeighorWorks AmericaView this Presentation
Housing in Urban Centers
What It All Means – Annual Housing Forum 2017
The Hudson Valley’s urban centers are experiencing both changes and challenges. Some are experiencing a wave of development that is creating hundreds of new housing units but raising the possibility of driving up rents or displacing long-time residents. Others are still struggling to overcome the legacy of years of blight and disinvestment, and look to find new uses for vacant and abandoned properties.
How do we create housing, economic and educational opportunities for all, while preparing our urban centers for the challenges of the 21st century in the Hudson Valley? How can urban areas spur economic development and create a mix of housing options for residents of all income levels?
Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress has invited a number of nationally recognized leaders in the field of community development to help us answer these questions. These leaders will discuss tools, examples, and methods of successful urban revitalization strategies that can be utilized in small cities. In this solution-based forum, speakers will provide examples of best practices from other communities, and discuss successful community revitalization and affordable housing efforts from other communities.
An Overview
Pattern for ProgressView this Presentation
Gentrification
Finding a Balance – Annual Housing Forum 2016
The face of the Hudson Valley is changing due to population shifts, growth and residents’ needs. Many view those improvements as an important evolution. But others are finding themselves left behind — and wondering how they fit into communities once very familiar, but now different.
That issue, gentrification, has been a longstanding focus of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress. Its latest effort to provide a framework for the road ahead was a forum, “Gentrification: Finding a Balance,” Dec. 15 at the Lewis Tompkins Hose Firehouse in Beacon. An in-depth report now available from Pattern’s Center for Housing Solutions and Urban Initiatives tackles the issue, suggesting solutions and more.
Keynote speaker Ruben Diaz Jr., borough president of the Bronx, provided a roadmap regarding how his community has rocketed forward via “planning with a purpose” and always keeping residents and their needs and opportunities top of mind.
The result: A community that’s now safer than many of America’s major cities, including Philadelphia, Dallas and Boston. A community with an unemployment rate that’s been halved. A community where private investment is powering new housing, businesses and more. A community where tourism is surging. And a community where residents can still be part of the emerging landscape.
A panel discussion brought the issues home to the Hudson Valley. Beacon Mayor Randy Casale, developer Ken Kearney of Kearney Realty & Development, Dutchess County Planning Department expert Anne Saylor, and moderator Greg Maher of Leviticus 25:23 Alternative Fund, Inc., explained approaches, successes and opportunity.
The forum was held to assist elected officials see how to achieve balance in growth. It also attracted municipal planners, housing officials and community groups considering strategies to stake out the future. The program was sponsored by Orange & Rockland Utilities, the Community Preservation Corp. and Holt Construction.
Urban Pioneering in the Hudson Valley
Annual Housing Forum 2014
