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Alternative Futures |
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Change: Alternative Futures |
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Six possible Alternative Futures for Monroe County for the year 2020 were prepared. Two were derived by extending and extrapolating current development practices. Four proposals were designed by the class. The Monroe County Comprehensive Plan, which was created in the early 1980's, is the basis for the Plan-Trend Alternative. It shows Monroe County in the year 2020 if the intent of that plan is followed and current land use polices and practices are continued. The Build-Out Alternative presents a pessimistic outlook on the ability to manage development. It assumes that free-market forces will cause the sub-urbanization of the Poconos just as they have changed the once scenic parts of northern New Jersey and western Connecticut. The Township Alternative takes advantage of conserved open space and alternative technologies, and it maintains traditional local political control. At issue is the ability of the townships to move beyond a level of planning that already has been overwhelmed in many places by recent development. The Southern Alternative recognizes two distinct characters of Monroe County: the wilderness of the north, and the farms and suburbia of the south. It acknowledges this dichotomy with two geographically distinct sets of policies, offering each part the benefits of maintaining its uniqueness. |
The Spine Alternative recognizes the interdependencies of Monroe County with the metropolitan New York-Philadelphia areas and the new employment centers in the suburbs of New Jersey. The most efficient strategy to accommodate the County's anticipated growth, promote tourism, and protect the natural landscape is to concentrate new development in the corridor between Mount Pocono and Stroudsburg, and serve it with rail transportation. The Park Alternative advocates conserving all of the existing undeveloped land in Monroe County through the creation of a metropolitan corridor-scale landscape reserve. Because of the increasing development pressures this may be the last time to act on this possible future. The Alternative Futures for Monroe County will be described as follows: First will be the Landscape Design and the Infrastructure Design. The Landscape Design consists of land designated for conservation and recreational development. The Infrastructure Design shows roads, proposed road improvements, railroad service, and sewered areas. Next, the future land use pattern will be shown. This is the result of the combination of public and private actions described in the Landscape Design and Infrastructure Design. Then, a computer constructed aerial view in the future landscape will be shown. Lastly, there will be a map of the Alternative's impacts on the geologic, biologic, and visual landscapes. |