The City of Watervliet, situated on the west bank of the Hudson River, is strategically located in the heart of the Capital District. Nineteenth Street, the major east-west, mixed-use corridor, serves as a local shopping district and as a main arterial for commuters. Since the street had lost its vitality over time, the City decided that a major revitalization program was needed for the corridor and engaged Laberge Group to assist.

The City appointed a Planning Advisory Committee (PAC) to study the corridor, and develop strategic goals and recommendations for immediate action. The resulting plan focuses on 19 th Street and 2nd Avenue as the primary target area, as well as the surrounding residential neighborhoods as a secondary target area.

Based on information gathered from public meetings, business surveys, and an inventory and analysis of the corridor's natural and economic existing conditions and resources, the PAC, with assistance from Laberge Group, developed goals and an action plan to revitalize the Nineteenth Street Corridor. The goals are:

• Foster Economic Development on 19th Street and 2nd Avenue.
• Provide safe, quality housing to all residents in the Corridor.
• Develop 19th Street and 2nd Avenue as an attractive, vital mixed-use district.
• Improve and maintain the capacity and efficiency of the transportation infrastructure.
• Enhance the existing parks and recreational facilities create new venues
• Consider revisions to the Zoning Regulations to create new commercial districts along 19th Street and 2nd Avenue.
• Create a 19th Street Corridor Management Program.
• Create a Marketing Program for the target area. 

An action matrix was developed that specified recommended actions to implement these goals, as well as identify responsible parties, time frames and possible funding sources. The City, with assistance from Laberge Group, is currently aggressively seeking funding to carry out a variety of the recommended activities including a façade improvement program, a housing rehabilitation program, a microenterprise program and a street improvement program. In the next few years, the City of Watervliet plans to revitalize one of the most important and highly visible corridors in the Capital District.

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