The town is made up of a mosaic of neighborhoods, an incorporated village, and six distinct hamlets. From mid-century subdivisions to newly built developments, Wappinger balances heritage and growth with ease.“We are the second most densely populated town in Dutchess County, one of the largest in the region, and yet we still maintain that small town feel. When you go into the local restaurants, or the local deli or the store, you know your neighbors, they know your name. It’s a close knit community,” he describes. SMART GROWTH AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT With over 1,000 acres of preserved parkland and open space, the town carefully protects its green assets and is instead transforming underutilized and even contaminated areas into thriving community assets. “We’ve been able to focus on redeveloping sites across this town that were previously developed and reimagine them,” Cavaccini explains.“We’re fostering development to the tune of $100 million. That is innovative, that is not clear-cutting open space.That is reimagining former contaminated sites, former developed sites.” The town’s development strategy is about creating a functional, livable community, by investing in critical infrastructure like water and sewer that will carry Wappinger well into the future. “The reason why people want to live here is very important to us,” notes Cavaccini. “We’re not really big on pushing housing and high density residential as we really have our fair share. Being the second most densely populated town in this county, we’re also the smallest geographical town.” Reporting that Wappinger’s housing stock consists of 60% single family and 40% multi family, he stresses, “We take a different approach. We’re trying to sustain what we have for the residents who live here and preserve what makes Wappinger so attractive.” When it comes to fiber, Cavaccini says the town took a proactive approach in the early 2000s, bringing in two providers, Optimum and Verizon. “That ‘competition’, that free enterprise capitalism allowed for the town of Wappinger to get the best fiber optic and high 51 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 05 WAPPINGER, NY
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