For years, prisons and jails across the country and in New York have closed, prompting urban planners, government officials and community groups to reinvent spaces of confinement into solutions for housing, manufacturing and green space.

Locally, Ulster County is planning to transform its former county jail site into a new neighborhood of mixed-income, intergenerational and workforce housing.

The project aims to solve two issues: transfer a vacant building lingering on the county’s books as the prison population declines, while addressing the ever-increasing demand for affordable housing across the entire Hudson Valley.

“We’ve had the perfect storm around housing,” said Kevin O’Connor, CEO of Kingston-based RUPCO, a community organization that aims to make affordable housing accessible in Ulster County. “It’s created an absolute housing crisis.

“The phone rings every day at RUPCO,” he continued. “People are in desperate need of housing, and we have little to no resources.”

To read the full article, CLICK HERE.