AN INSPIRATION FOR COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION

AN INSPIRATION FOR COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION National Parks Conservation Association Recognizes Hurleyville by John Conway
WASHINGTON, DC—The National Parks Conservation Association has singled out the hamlet of Hurleyville for its recent rebirth in a report prepared for the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River.
The praise, contained in a report prepared this fall, comes despite the fact that Hurleyville is “outside the river corridor.” Hurleyville was the only community not in the river corridor included in the 18-page report.
The report cites the Milk Train Trail, the Hurleyville Arts Centre, the Maker’s Lab (since renamed the Technology Hub and Incubator), The Hurleyville Sentinel, and especially The Center for Discovery as important factors in the revitalization of the hamlet, which the report says “is emerging as a model for inclusive and sustainable living.”
“Though it is outside the river corridor, it is an inspiration for community revitalization,” the report concludes.
According to Theresa Pierno, President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, the organization commissioned the report “to spotlight some of the exciting, inspirational efforts underway by community leaders, and their recommendations to shape the Upper Delaware River region’s future vitality.”
“Many build on the region’s history of offering ‘pure air, pure water, pure milk’ as promoted in the late 19th to mid-20th centuries,” she writes. “Others leverage ‘a sharing economy’ for the shared benefits it provides. And some are rethinking traditional activities to be more compatible with the fresh air and clean water residents and park visitors alike cherish.”
The report singles out The Center for Discovery for its $200 million annual economic impact, and notes that more than 200 of The Center’s roughly 1600 employees live in the Upper Delaware River corridor, which benefits from their purchases, sales and property taxes. The report cites The Center’s “community is our future” vision with remaking Hurleyville as an replicable example of how small towns everywhere can be re-invented by establishing that sense of place that has become a rare entity in modern America.
The National Parks Conservation Association, founded in 1919, is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization devoted exclusively to advocacy on behalf of the National Parks System. According to its website, the organization boasts 1.3 million members, and is “the voice of America’s national parks, working to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for present and future generations. “
The report on the Upper Delaware was funded by the William Penn Foundation and prepared with the assistance of The Harbinger Consultancy. The full report, entitled “Making Connections: Roots of
Prosperity in New York and Pennsylvania’s Upper Delaware River Region,” can be downloaded at www.npca.org/upperdelaware.