The Capital South Plan is a revitalization plan for the city of Albany’s South End created in July of 2007. As a member of the South End Action Committee, and the AIA 150 Committee, South End Improvement Corporation has been heavily involved with the Capital South Plan. The plan has a timeline of ten years, dispersed along three main steps. The plan focuses on the area of space located within the triangle that is bound by Morton Avenue and Lincoln Square.
Three key reasons in which the plan wishes to focus on this area are:
(1) This area was the only community in the South End without an active neighborhood association;
(2) The area is located in the heart of the South End, surrounded by many important community assets such as Lincoln Square, Griffen Memorial Elementary School, several civic buildings, the historic Schuyler Mansion, and numerous churches;
(3) Planners recognized that the revitalization of the South End must start at a small scale where immediate efforts could be recognized.
The three steps toward revitalization; Stabilize, Energize, and Grow, are reflected in the acronym SEG found in the plan’s subtitle “SEGway to the Future.”
Stabilize:
The main goal of stabilizing the neighborhood involves providing a foundation for market renewal. This step involves attempts to reduce crime, and increase home-ownership. It also addresses the need for employment for many of the lower-skilled members of the community. These key elements should help increase property values, and perhaps more importantly, provide residents with a reason to stay in the South End. Furthermore, it will help to attract new members to the community. These initiatives to stabilize the neighborhood are to be achieved within the first two years of the plan.
Energize:
The second stage of the plan is to energize the neighborhood, while ensuring resident participation and equity in market renewal. Attracting new investment and making the area a “community of choice” are actions that will be taken to energize the area. This includes housing development and revitalization, rebuilding or replacing aged public housing, and building a community center. The Capital South Plan furthermore wishes to promote education and workforce development, better access to employment centers, and more quality of life improvements such as planning for a community center, upgrading parks, and improving the neighborhood’s overall image and desirability. This stage is targeted to be implemented during the first five years of the plan.
Grow:
The final stage of the Capital South Plan is to grow the neighborhood. This will benefit the future residents of the neighborhood, and incorporate the community’s growth within the entire South End and the city of Albany as a whole. This involves the long-term goals of the plan, such as fully redeveloping Lincoln Square as either an educational campus or a mixed-income housing development, continuing block-by-block improvements, and creating commercial development along South Pearl Street. This plan will also create the South End Guild, a redeveloped mixed-use DMV site with a grocery store, a new civic space called the Capital South Square, and the SEGway (also known as the South End Greenway). The SEGway is a continuous, safe, and transit-friendly green-space connection between the Capital South communities, downtown, University Heights, the port, the Hudson River, and the greater region. The timeline for these goals are between years four and ten years, overlapping with the energize phase.
The full plan can be viewed at the following website:
