Appropriate, affordable assessment of geoenvironmental factors constraining suburban expansion at the northeastern margin of the Capital District, New York state

Rural municipalities directly northeast of the New York State Capital District are experiencing a high percentage increase in housing starts connected with a rapid transition from rural to suburban mode. These changes are placing a severe strain on the physical environment. Municipalities need understandable information about those limiting factors within the natural environment which must be given careful consideration in determining optimum use for various sectors of the county, town or village in question. They need the information now and, since they have low tax bases, they need it at an affordable cost. In some respects this information transfer is comparable to the appropriate technology needed by developing countries. An example of one of these municipalities is the Town of Pittstown, a predominantly agricultural area of some 62 square miles in northern Rensselaer County. During the period 1975-1992, initially under a Ford Foundation grant, the Skidmore College Natural Resource Inventory Group compiled data, maps and analyses, on topography, surficial geology, bedrock geology, water resources, sand and gravel resources, wetlands, wildlife, agricultural patterns, recreational land-use and cultural history in order to help officials and citizens in the town visualize ways in which they can make optimum use of the land, whilemore » at the same time improving and enhancing it for those who will follow. Currently the town is using the resource data in order to generate creative development strategies.« less