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w b u r g h ~ n e w y o r k
"Newburgh, as you know
better than I, is home to some of the most renowned architectural
masterpieces of America—just look behind me and look
around you as you walk down these streets. Within these
city limits, we see so much of America’s history over
the past two, three centuries. A town settled long before
our revolutionary war, built by the sweat and ingenuity
of people from all backgrounds and walks of life. Graced
by the talent of leading architects it developed into a
thriving economic and cultural center. But like many cities,
particularly in the older part of our country, its fortunes
fell during the depression only to rise and fall again.
Today, while challenges still remain, this beautiful city
is again on the verge of a rebirth that will make it possible
once again to claim its rightful place in the life and history
of America." - First Lady Hillary Clinton, July
1998
Newburgh/Revealed is a Web site
that ultimately aims to encourage people to visit, start businesses
in, shop in, and move to Newburgh by revealing the rich architectural
and cultural history of the city, exploring the factors that
led to its decline, and showing off its enormous potential
and recent improvements.
Newburgh is one of many smaller
cities and communities that started wasting away because of
the death of the manufacturing sector in the United States,
the spread of regional shopping centers, the worship of economies
of scale, and the exodus into the suburbs.
Newburgh
can never be "restored," but it can be remade and
reconfigured for today's lifestyle. Judging from the city's
history, the most effective solutions will be economic, collaborative,
participatory, and only partially political. In other words,
strong citizen involvement and private investment, combined
with support from political leaders, will help resurrect the
city's core—just as they have done for the waterfront.
*this Web site was originally supposed to be
a final paper for a History of City Planning course in the
University of Pennsylvania's Master of City & Regional
Planning program. I had never really been to Newburgh until
summer of 2002, when I drove through it to get to a car dealership.
All of a sudden this rich, green park came out of nowhere.
It turned out to be Downing Park. A few months later, once
classes started, I selected Downing Park as a topic for the
final paper. Looking into the history of Downing Park led
me to the many other surprises that Newburgh revealed to me.
I visited a few times to take pictures and soon realized that
a paper wouldn't do justice to this city. Also, I felt that
if I'm going to spend hours researching and writing a paper,
why not use that time to produce something that might be useful.
After all, only the professor would read the final paper.
(Thanks to Prof. Birch for being open to the idea of an unconventional
final "paper.") So, here it is! -NEIL
DESAI
**this site is not the official city of newburgh
web site and does not represent the opinions of the city.
**throughout this site, move your cursor over the images to
see additional images
**if you have any comments, questions, or corrections, please
e-mail:
webmaster (the "at"
symbol) newburghrevealed.org
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©2002 DZZHA
photos by DZZHA
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