UCPB - Planning Resources - Off-Site Links

www.ulstercountyny.gov

Planning Resources

The following is a collection of links to off-site resources that staff has compiled to help the public, officials, businesses, and researchers to faciliate research of Ulster County.

Demographics and Statistical Resources

Economic Development Resources

Environmental Resources

GIS and Mapping Resources

Housing Resources

Local Planning-Related Agencies

Planning References

Regional Planning-Related Organizations

Transportation Resources

Demographic and Statistical Resources
Nationwide, Statewide, and Independent

U.S. Bureau of the Census - American Factfinder - The number one portal and starter point for all demographic research. It includes a variety of options for research for everyone. Contains options for very basic end-users to detailed tables.

U.S. Bureau of the Census - Fact Sheets - A quick way to get profiles of individual County's and municipalities for both the 2000 Census and the latest American Community Survey.

U.S. Bureau of the Census - Local Employment Dynamics - An array of data tools aimed at getting information and analysis of local labor markets.

U.S. Bureau of the Census - Address Look-Up Tool - Excellent for finding demographic for specific locations. Also helpful for SONYMA Census Tract look-up. Contains both Census 2000 and American Community Survey information.

U.S. Census Bureau's Main Site - Originating Point for all of the U.S. Census Bureau's activities.

U.S. Bureau of the Census - County Business Patterns - County Business Patterns is an annual series that provides subnational economic data by industry. The series is useful for studying the economic activity of small areas; analyzing economic changes over time; and as a benchmark for statistical series, surveys, and databases between economic censuses. Businesses use the data for analyzing market potential, measuring the effectiveness of sales and advertising programs, setting sales quotas, and developing budgets. Government agencies use the data for administration and planning.

U.S. Bureau of the Census - Transportation Planning Package - Special Data Compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau at the request of the United States Department of Transportation.

U.S. Bureau of the Census - Population Estimates

U.S. Bureau of the Census - American Community Survey Homepage - Major survey conducted annually that has replaced the Census Long Form.

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Hud User - HUD USER is the definitive source for research and data that offers an in-depth view of housing in the United States.

National Center for Education Statistics - The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education.

U.S. Office of Industry Analysis

New York State Data Center - New York State's Affiliate with the Census Bureau. Great starting point for NYS research.

New York State Department of Education - Cotains Demographic information on individual schoools and their districts.

New York State Department of Labor - Main Statistics Page

Wage Data
Industrial Employment and Jobs in Demand Projections
Employment
Unemployment

Catalog of Administrative Data Sources for Neighborhood Indicators - PDF - Good starting point for finding demographic information.

Columbia Ready Reference - Another good starting point for demopgraphic research.

Cornell New York Statistical Information Services - NYSIS - Projection Data

IPUMS - IPUMS-USA is an integrated series of representative samples drawn from the U.S. censuses of 1850 to 2000 and the Puerto Rican censuses of 1910 to 2000. IPUMS-USA also includes American Community Survey (ACS) data from 2000 to 2006.

Marist College Bureau of Economic Research

NYSAR - NY State Association of Realtors - Data on Real Estate Sales

University of Virginia Historical Census Look-Up Tool - From 1870 to the 1960 Census.

Economic Development Resources

In Ulster County | New York State/Regional

Federal | Elsewhere | Additional Links

In Ulster County:

Ulster County Business Resource Center – a one-stop shop for business development, education, and training to the area.

Ulster County Development Corporation - UCDC - Provides comprehensive business services including financing, incentives, and site selection. (845) 338-8840.

Ulster County Industrial Development Agency - Provides access to low cost financing and tax abatement for industrial projects. (845) 338-8840.

Ulster County Bank Consortium's Credit for Success Program - Provides pre-application review of projects and serves as a conduit agency to economic development grant and loan funding through state and federal agencies. (845) 339-0025.

Ulster Works One Stop - Provides edfucation and training resources such as its manufacturing readiness program as well as Green Talent Specialist assistance recruiting skilled works for emerging and expanding renewable energy and green manufacturing businesses. (845) 340-170.

Kingston-Ulster Empire Zone - Provides access to Empire Zone benefits such as the wage tax credit, investment tax credit, tax reduction tax credit, real property tax credit, and sales tax abatement. (845) 334-3962

Ulster County Tourism - This website is the portal for all recreational and vacation resources for Ulster County.

Chamber of Commerce Ulster County - The Chamber of Commerce of Ulster County is a not-for-profit membership corporation that provides services and advocacy on behalf of its membership and the community at large to advance the economic health and vitality of Ulster County.

Southern Ulster Chamber of Commerce - The Southern Ulster Chamber of Commerce mission is clear: Create a strong voice for local business. Improve the local economy. Help our neighbors network. Promote our area’s high quality of life. Serve as a Tourist Information Center. Identify and create resources for commerce.

City of Kingston Department of Economic Development - City of Kingston's Economic Development Office with links to the Kingston-Ulster EZ, which coordinates the City's efforts to retain private sector jobs and tax base and works to attract new investment into the City.

Kingston Midtown Business Association - Represents Kingston's Midtown area, which follows Broadway from Albany Avenue to the intersection of Broadway and McIntee Street. We actively promote the interests of our members' businesses and institutions.

Kingston Uptown Business Association (KUBA)- Kuba's mission statement is: To provide leadership, foster trade and commerce and interface actively with the local government in efforts to promote Uptown Kingston as a viable place to visit, work and live. KUBA (Kingston Uptown Business Association) is a wholly voluntary, not-for-profit organization.

Rondout Business Association - The Rondout Business Assocation serves the businesses located in the City of Kingston's downtown waterfront area.

New Paltz Regional Chamber - The New Paltz Regional Chamber of Commerce is organized for the purpose of advancing the business, industrial, agricultural and civic interests of New Paltz and the surrounding areas.

Rondout Valley Business Assocation - The mission of the Rondout Valley Business Association is to improve the economic health and general well-being of the greater Rondout Valley.

Rosendale Chamber of Commerce - The Chamber of Commerce is organized to promote business activity and economic development in every area of the Town of Rosendale.

Saugerties Area Chamber of Commerce - The Saugerties Area Chamber of Commerce (SACC) is a not-for-profit organization devoted to improving the business climate in the Saugerties Area. Businesses serving the Saugerties community, regardless of location, are welcome to join.

Ellenville-Wawarsing Chamber of Commerce - The Ellenville - Wawarsing Chamber of Commerce promotes economic development, tourism, community betterment, legislative action, and programs to make the Town of Wawarsing a better place in which to live and make a living.

Woodstock Chamber of Commerce and Arts - The Woodstock Chamber of Commerce and Art's develops, encourages, promotes and protects the commercial, professional, financial, artistic and general business interests of the Town of Woodstock, New York.

New York State and Regional:

Catskill Watershed Corporation - Administers the Catskill Fund for the Future, a revolving loan fund to support watershed businesses, as well as a commercial septic and microloan program. (845) 586-1400

Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation - Provides market data, including economic indicators, workforce information, industrial and commercial real estate information and other information relevant to business location decisions in the Hudson Valley Region. (845) 220-2244

Hudson Valley Technology Development Center - Provides cost-beneficial technical and management services to medium-sized manufacturers, businesses, inventors, and entrepreneurs in the seven-county Hudson Valley area. (845) 896-6934.

New York State Empire State Development - Provides access to state business assistance programs including grants, loans and technical assistance. NYSESD Regional Office (845)- 567-4882.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)- Provides incentives and assistance in the development and use of innovative technologies for energy conservation, research and development.
(866)NYSERDA www.nyserda.org

Small Business Development Center - Provides one-on-one counseling and technical assistance with business planning, financial and market analysis, and strategic planning. (845) 339-0025.

The Solar Energy Consortium - Brings together technology, manufacturing, financial, and research communities to commercialize photovoltaic technologies. (845) 336-0100.

Federal:

United States Small Business Administration – an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns.

Elsewhere:

CaRDI Community & Economic Development Toolbox - Provides accessible tools to local community and economic development (CED) practitioners. The Tool Box is a joint collaboration between Cornell University and Penn State University and is maintained by the Community and Rural Development Institute (CaRDI) located at Cornell University

Center for Community and Economic Development – CCED University of Wisconsin Extension creates, applies and transfers multidisciplinary knowledge to help people understand community change and identify opportunities.

Corporation for Enterprise Development - Promotes asset-building and Economic opportunity strategies, primarily in low-income and distressed communities

Downtown Research & Development Center - Resources for downtown development and revitalization

Economic Development Administration - U.S. Department of Commerce

Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington - Provides information on what Washington local governments can do to foster and promote economic development, on strategies some local governments are using in their communities, and on available funding sources.

National Association of Development Organizations - Resource for regional development organizations in small metropolitan and rural America

National Main Street Center, National Trust for Historic Preservation - Commercial revitalization through historic preservation and Economic development

National Rural Development Partnership (NRDP) - Acts as a non-partisan forum for identifying, discussing, and acting on issues affecting rural America.

Additional Economic Development Resource Links

UCDC Resource Links – This link will take you to the Ulster County Development Corporation’s “Resource Links” page

Environmental Resources

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - EPA leads the nation's environmental science, research, education and assessment efforts. The mission of the Environmental Protection Agency is to protect human health and the environment. Since 1970, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.

National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency that provides information to the public on the extent and status of the Nation's wetlands.

New York City Department of Enviromental Protection (DEP) - Main Site

NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation (DEC) - Main Site

Ulster County Water System Information (EPA) - List of Water Systems for Ulster County and beyond

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) - Main Site

GIS and Mapping Resources

Cornell University Geospatial Information Repository (CUGIR) - CUGIR is an active online repository in the National Spatial Data Clearinghouse program. CUGIR provides geospatial data and metadata for New York State, with special emphasis on those natural features relevant to agriculture, ecology, natural resources, and human-environment interactions.

NYS Data Center GIS - The New York State Data Center's Geography and Mapping site provides interactive query access to geographic boundary files, Census attribute data for various levels of statistical and political geography, and predefined thematic maps illustrating various economic and demographic characteristics of the population.

NYS GIS Clearinghouse - New York State's Central Repository for GIS Mapping Data.

Google Maps - Google's mapping tool which includes street level, 360 degree photography for County, State, and Federal Routes.

Bing Maps - Mapping tool that starts at your current location, and includes oblique (45 degree angle) photography for the North, South, East, and West for select locations (and coming soon for county-wide). Also incorporating street level photography like Google maps, but not yet available in Ulster County.

Geographic Resource Solutions - List of links to a variety of GIS resources.

Housing

Affordable Housing Design Advisor - If you're part of the solution to America's critical affordable housing challenge, this site is for you. The Affordable Housing Design Advisor brings together experience and ideas from successful affordable housing projects all over the country, and the people who developed, designed and built them.

Ginnie Mae - Ginnie Mae makes affordable housing a reality for millions of low- and moderate-income households across America by channeling global capital into the nation's housing markets. Specifically, the Ginnie Mae guaranty allows mortgage lenders to obtain a better price for their mortgage loans in the secondary market. The lenders can then use the proceeds to make new mortgage loans available.

Housing Assistance Council - Improves housing conditions for the rural poor, with an emphasis on the poorest of the poor in the most rural places in the United States. It also offers services to public, nonprofit, and private organizations throughout the rural United States. And it maintains a special focus on high-need groups and regions: Indian country, the Mississippi Delta, farmworkers, the Southwest border colonias, and Appalachia.

Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - Main Site

Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access - The Visitability Initiative is just one of IDeA's projects. The IDeA Center is dedicated to making environments and products more usable, safer and healthier in response to the needs of an increasingly diverse population.

National Low Income Housing Coalition (LIHIS) - The National Low Income Housing Coalition is dedicated solely to achieving socially just public policy that assures people with the lowest incomes in the United States have affordable and decent homes.

NYS Association of Realtors (NYSAR) - Includes statistics on home sales and home prices.

NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) - The Division of Housing and Community Renewal is responsible for the supervision, maintenance and development of affordable low- and moderate-income housing in New York State.

Rural Ulster Preservation Company (RUPCO) - Organization whose mission is to create and develop affordable homeownership and rental opportunities, create understanding and acceptance of affordable housing initiatives, and to foster development and revitalization for a diverse community within Ulster County.

Virginia Center for Housing Research - Housing Policy and research center.

Local Planning-Related Agencies

Town of Denning
Main Website | Planning Board | Current Comprehensive Plan and Laws | Land Use Code Update Project

Village of Ellenville
Main Website | Planning Board | Zoning Board of Appeals | Village Code and Forms

Town of Esopus
Main Website | Planning Board | Zoning Board of Appeals | Land Use Laws

Town of Gardiner
Main Website | Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals | Land Use Plans and Laws | Forms

Town of Hardenburgh
Main Website | Zoning Documents | Forms | Other Land Use Documents

Town of Hurley
Main Website | Planning Board | Zoning Board of Appeals | Land Use Laws

City of Kingston
Main Website | Planning Department | Forms | Land Use Laws

Town of Kingston
Main Website | Land Use Laws

Town of Marbletown
Main Website | Planning and Zoning | Town Plans | Land Use Laws

Town of Marlborough
Main Website | Building Department and Forms | Town Code