Canalside Pocket Neighborhood wins $1.5 Million

The Reimagine the Canals initiative was announced in 2018 by Governor Cuomo and a call was put out for a Reimagine the Canals Competition to seek out and reward the best ideas to further adapt the Erie Canal as a 21st century engine of economic development and magnet for tourism and recreation.  The Reimagine the Canals competition, led by New York Power Authority (NYPA) and New York State Canal Corporation (NYS Canals), was highly publicized and inspired a worldwide response: over 145 applicants including from 8 different countries applied.  The Madison County Planning Department was one of the applicants and submitted a proposal for “Canal-side Pocket Neighborhoods on the Erie Canal.”

An expert panel of jurors, NYPA, and NYS Canals selected seven project submissions that stood out from the 145 proposals received. These seven finalist teams were awarded $50,000 each to take their ideas to the next level.  As one of the seven finalists, Madison County Planning Department used this funding to hire Stream Collaborative, an Ithaca-based architecture firm, to explore the canal-side pocket neighborhood concept and develop an implementation plan for the project.  

All seven finalists submitted implementation plans to compete for the final cash prize.  NYPA and NYS Canals heavily marketed all seven of the ideas through numerous media outlets and press events.  To determine the final winners, they also engaged the public through social media and exciting promotional videos. 

With much celebration, the final announcement came on October 3, 2018 that canal-side pocket neighborhoods was selected as the first prize winner and Madison County became the recipient of a $1.5 Million grant to directly assist with the implementation of a pilot canal-side pocket neighborhood project.   Madison County will put out a RFQ to select a developer to leverage these incentives to construct the project.

More can be found about the NYS Reimagine the Canals initiative and competition at www.ny.gov/programs/reimagine-canals-initiative