The Decisions We Make Today Will Determine Long Island’s Future

by guest columnists Amy Hagedorn, president, board of directors and Sarah Lansdale, executive director, Sustainable Long Island

Life, as they say, has a way of interfering with our plans––and right now, economic events beyond our control are definitely part of life.

Surely, you’ve felt our crumbling economy. The signs are everywhere, as prices of basic necessities like food and home heating oil skyrocket and joblessness climbs. Many of us are experiencing new insecurities about what the future holds, for ourselves and our children. And in the face of these escalating costs of living, just about all of us are rethinking some everyday basics and asking questions like: Can we use our cars less? Should we forego family vacations? Change our eating habits? Will this holiday season be light on gifts and on celebrating? Even more are asking: Which bill can I pay this month? How can I squeeze another job into my already packed work week? How much longer will I be able to pay my mortgage?

While it feels like these problems emerged overnight, in fact, our current state is a result of hundreds of national and local decisions made over the past several decades. The decisions made then have brought us here.

Because our region developed without adequate planning, the consequences we are left with inhibit many of us from easily adapting. We’re all recognizing the challenges of living on Long Island now more than ever: we rely on our cars for every errand; too often the stores we shop in are owned by outside groups, so the dollars we spend locally immediately leave the region; we face astronomical property taxes; we eat food trucked in from other regions and we lack housing and transportation options.

Because we do live with the repercussions of our actions from the past, our actions now will determine our future. Now, more than ever, we need to act sustainably to develop a region where our communities are diverse and the resources are distributed more equally; where we won’t need a car trip for every destination; where we will have plenty of diverse jobs right here on Long Island; where we will take advantage of our local goods and a single-family home in a residential neighborhood isn’t the only option we have.

So, ask yourself, what do you want our future to look like? Where should we direct our resources? What sacrifices can we not afford to make? Let’s look forward and make sure that we are protecting Long Island’s future including what is most important to us right now.

Our air, water and land
There is no doubt that Long Island’s natural environment is one of our greatest assets. We have some of the most beautiful parks and beaches. Yet, our natural environment continues to be threatened. Some communities have even had contaminated drinking water in recent years.

At Sustainable Long Island, we are working to protect our environment through our brownfield revitalization program. Brownfields are contaminated, often abandoned properties that are a blight to our communities and seep pollutants into our land and water. There are some 6,800 of them on Long Island. Through our efforts, New York State has created incentive programs to clean and reuse these properties, which creates jobs and expands our tax base; a win-win-win proposition.

Our communities
Just this year, Baldwin was listed as one of the nation’s best places to live by cnn.money.com because of its integrated community, exceptional school district and family centered activities. Long Island is home to many fabulous communities just like Baldwin.

But not all of our towns are making the top lists. In fact, some are struggling with high crime rates, blighted properties and struggling business districts. It’s the most distressed communities – the ones that have been intentionally ignored for far too long – that fall quicker and harder during economic downturns.

Our people
Long Island is made up of more than just bricks and mortar. We are home to some of the most creative, hard working and compassionate people with rich cultural diversity. We need to make sure that Long Island is a place people want to live.

While there are obvious indicators of economic decline: stock market slumps, layoffs in nearly every sector, bankruptcies, and foreclosures, there are also some not so obvious signs and consequences that we are in crisis, like hate crimes that intend to place blame. In recent weeks we’ve seen hate crimes and intolerant behaviors in many of our own communities: teens fatally stabbing a man because he was Hispanic; parked cars graffiti’d with racial slurs; newsletters from the Ku Klux Klan distributed on doorsteps and on car windshields. Long Island is among the most segregated suburbs in the country and our actions and policies of the past have paved the way for this intolerance.

It is more important now than ever that we continue to empower distressed communities to have a meaningful say in the future of their community and in the future of the region. Sustainable Long Island is working to create opportunities for all to thrive in this region with a range of housing options, energy efficient buildings, and public transportation—downtowns where people of all ages and backgrounds will want to live.

These rough times have magnified the problems we Long Islanders face and with our leaders warning us of tougher times to come, thinking regionally and acting locally is urgent. We know that just getting through this crisis is on the forefront of everyone’s mind, but it’s in all of our best interest to become engaged problem solvers. The decisions we make today will determine not only the future of our region, but also how well we can handle our next economic downturn. Together, we can ensure a stable and sustainable future for all Long Islanders.