March 31, 2025 Jen(J), Amberly(A), Vanessa(V) by Maria(M)
M: Vanessa, what do you love about Rosendale?
V: So many things – its quirkiness, its uniqueness, its location within Ulster County, smack between Kingston and New Paltz, the outdoors. My husband and I live right near the trestle, so we’re on that rail trail all the time. We are so thankful and lucky to be on this section of trail because we get to go right into Mohonk property. We are trail runners, bikers, hikers, so the natural beauty, I would say, especially. Being outdoors is so important for mental health, the importance of being outside, fresh air, it’s so so important for mental and physical health. My husband and I are big runners, hikers, bikers, as I just said, and my life would not be nearly as good if I wasn’t physically active and physically fit. I think about it every time I’m on the rail trail – how lucky we are that out our back door there is a playground, a natural playground. Those are my highlights.
My husband is a Hudson Valley native, he’s from Beacon. We actually moved here from further upstate, which is not normal. It’s usually folks moving up from the city. We were in contract to buy a house in New Paltz and I was driving through Rosendale to go to my new job in Stone Ridge. I said to my husband, “we’ve made a terrible mistake buying in New Paltz.” (Anyone from New Paltz reading this, I love New Paltz dearly. However, I just knew that Rosendale was home.) The [NP] house deal fell through because of some issues, and I had never been more relieved, because then the [Rosendale] dream house came on the market. We were checking out Rosendale and we walked by our current house. It was not for sale at that point. And we said, why can’t something like that be for sale? And then it ended up coming up for sale! It was Kismet. While we were in negotiations we went to the Rosendale Theatre to the mushroom movie.
M: It was Fantastic Fungi!
V: And it sold out the theater! People came in costumes, like light up mushroom costumes. And I looked at Conor and I said, “we’re home.” This is where we’re supposed to live. And that’s how I met Jen and got this job and made a lot of really good friends and a lot of really good connections. And it’s home.
M: I love that story.
V: It’s home. I was enrolled in the Ulster Chamber of Commerce Leadership Academy when I first started my job in 2019 at SUNY Ulster. I met a lot of people through that, a lot of leaders in the local community. And I remember being quoted in the newspaper saying, “I’ve never felt part of a community before. I’ve never felt home before. And Ulster County and Rosendale is where I’m supposed to be.” So, yeah, it’s something very special. Something very special and worth doing what you’re doing for the future of Rosendale.
M: Amberly, how about you?
A: Oh boy, I love the people, I love my neighbors, that I can go to Stewarts or the Farmers Market and I know pretty much everybody, at least by face, and I have many conversations with total strangers. And it’s always so pleasant. I love where we are geographically. I love all the nature and the environment that we have. There’s really not much I don’t love about Rosendale. I think it’s my favorite place in Ulster County.
M: And why is that?
A: It’s so central to everything, but it’s also so kind of hidden and special. And it’s got the best of all worlds.
M: And Jen, what do you love about Rosendale?
J: I think Rosendale’s the center of the universe. I love our community. We moved here 24 years ago when my oldest son was about one year old. When I first visited I was driving down Main Street, and it instantly felt like home. I didn’t want to live anywhere else, I just felt like this immediate connection to the town. That initial instinct was 1000% accurate. It’s physically, incredibly beautiful. I love to be outdoors, I love to be out in nature, and I just think that we are incredibly fortunate to live in this beautiful place. And it’s all around us in Rosendale.
There is also a real sense of community in Rosendale, and a community spirit that I feel is really unique to the town. It just is that kind of place where everyone feels connected, everyone wants to pitch in, everyone wants to be a part of it. I think that in this day and age, that’s such a rarity and it’s so important to healthy communities–to be in the same physical space with fellow community members and working on things together. I love that about our town. The Rosendale Theatre is a perfect example of this community spirit — it was cherished by the community and when the Cacchio family could no longer run it, the community came together to save the theatre and run it as a community. That does not happen in every community.
The town is also very connected to its history as a working class town, a cement mining town. It’s also long been a destination for artists to settle, and we have great arts and cultural resources like the Women’s Studio Workshop, Redwing Blackbird Theater, and the Rosendale Theatre.
M: And so why is all this important to you?
J: I’m a very community-oriented person. I like to live in a place that’s like an extension of family. I also like to spend time outdoors. It just brings me so much joy, and I feel very lucky that I have the Shawangunk Ridge, the rail trail and Mohonk Preserve, and theRondout Creek a short walk away. .
M: My next question is, what are your concerns for Rosendale? Are there things that you think need to be protected or revived?
A: I won’t speak too much on this because I know that Jen probably will, but I, we are concerned for the walkability and safety of transportation and pedestrians and all that, and bicyclists. That is a concern of mine.
J: Similarly, making sure that our community is safe for people to walk, cycle, and get around is very important. Having walkable community is also extremely important for our local businesses to thrive. ,Another huge issue is housing. There’s not enough housing that our residents can afford. I’ve seen on my own road, houses that had been occupied by working people, working families, that are now Airbnbs and second homes. That not only puts a lot of pressure on housing costs for the people that live here, but also alters the sense that you are part of a neighborhood. It changes that community feeling. I do think that we have to rein in short term rentals that are not on owner occupied properties. I think that’s really important.
We also have to be willing to add housing, including multifamily housing that is affordable. And we’ve got an excellent opportunities, like the town property on Creek Locks, which is walkable to town, or the former St. Peters school. We need to be adding housingt in places where it makes sense, consistent with smart growth principles, encouraging housing close to downtown, where transit is, where there’s water and sewer infrastructure.
The Route 32 gateway has a lot of potential but is plagued with dilapidated properties like the former hardware store plaza and the closed Cumberland farm / gas station. Part of the Fann’s Plaza is condemned. This is the gateway to the village, and redevelopment of gateway is] a goal of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan.Ideally, we want to see the gateway mirror what it looks like on Main Street, with mixed-use buildings with businesses downstairs, apartments upstairs, and on-street parking. Rosendale has long had a shortage of rental housing. More people living downtown is also good for local businesses, and on-street parking is a great traffic-calming measure, as are tree-lined sidewalks.
V: I’d like to echo the safety that both Amberly and Jen brought up: because we are such a community of busy people walking babies, walking dogs, on bikes, going to and from the rail trail, up and down Joppenbergh. And then there’s the people that are just passing through, flying by in cars. Just trying to figure out how to marry, us being a pass-through area of people that might not be paying attention and all the people that are enjoying where they are. How to keep people safe? And also I would echo (about) businesses on Main Street. I moved here right before the pandemic, so I don’t have a real grasp of what Rosendale has been historically, but I know that even just the five years I’ve been here, there’s been a lot of turnover and businesses opening and closing.
J: And it’s true of High Falls too. We want to be supporting those other hamlet businesses too, including in Tillson. V: I love our small businesses and want to solely support small businesses. I just want them to survive and thrive.
M: And what are your ideas for Rosendale? Anything you’d like to see there?
V: That’s a great question. I love Rosendale as it is, I do love Rosendale as it is. And there is not a lot I would change, outside of the concerns that we’ve brought up, safer streets. But I know there are things that we can do to help that along.
I think an upgrade to Fann Plaza would be so necessary because, as Jen’s saying, it’s the gateway. If you’re driving on 32 and you don’t take a left down onto Main Street, you think that [plaza]’s Rosendale. It’s not! So I think a makeover there, safety in that area, that would be my big one right now.
Extending and improving the towpath parallel to Route 213, beginning across from the St. Peter’s Bridge and continuing through the municipal lot to Washington Ave. and potentially to Route 32, would be a great way to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety and enable rail trail users to safely connect to the downtown. Making those kinds of trail connections, that would really help.
M: There’s been a lot of talk about exactly that.
J: Adding a curb bump out (I’m getting really specific) at the crosswalk in front of Radwing Blackbird Theater would be another great a traffic- calming measure, and would improve visibility of pedestrians looking to cross the road. I would love to see the speed limits reduced on all local roads to 25 miles per hour, and we also need to reduce speed limits on state roads, including Main Street and the Route 32 gateway. M: Well, you’ve made some headway with that recently. We all have our fingers crossed.
J: We’re trying. Yeah, we’re trying. I think all those things could go a long way.
M: Vanessa, what would you like to see?
V: Like I already touched on: businesses. I want the businesses to thrive. I look at Postmark Books and I love local bookstores and I want them to thrive and do well and stay in the community. We’re getting some good restaurants. Some restaurants are coming back. I was really sad when Rosendale Cafe closed. I was bummed about that one – and I know we’ve missed a couple in the past. Businesses thriving is a big thing for me, because when you have people coming, you take pride in what your streets look like and what you’re offering. We live in the “Heart of Rosendale,” in the village. But up into High Falls, in Stone Ridge, too. M: Yeah, I’m in Bruceville, which is considered part of High Falls. That’s where I get my mail. But yeah, so it’s a hamlet. Yeah. Bruceville. V: I love it. But I guess, what about you?
A: This is Amberly. And I would love a few things. I would love a dog park. I would love to do yoga outside – to have outdoor yoga, I think would be super fun. And I would love a community garden. Even though we’re gonna, we’re doing too much gardening this year, probably for two people. I would still want to do a community garden so that I could do it with other people. Even if it was a small one, that would be just so great. I love Jen’s idea of planting fruit-bearing trees and whatnot everywhere. That would be so cool.
But also to go back to what we love about Rosendale, I have to give a shout out to Matt at the Rec Center and the youth program. He does such a good job. My daughter goes to Rosendale Camp every year, loves it so much. I love that she’s growing up with the same people. It’s just such a beautiful community, and he does such a great job. Have to give him a shout out.
To get back to a concern of Rosendale, I am concerned that the library has outgrown their building and that they can’t really expand the building because of its historicism and location. I want to make sure that the library thrives and that they can continue because they’ve already outgrown that building. I’d like to see them have a long-term sustainable plan.
V: This is Vanessa and I will echo what Amberly just said. When I heard that the Bell Tower was for sale, and that they were thinking about it for the library, I was just jazzed because you could just see that as like a local hangout, almost like a Rough Draft vibe where there’s more people sitting and reading and chatting – a destination, a cafe, kids programs, open mic nights. It’s right in the center of downtown and I was heartbroken when I found out that it wasn’t going to go through.
A: I do miss also the 1850 House because that was a great bar. That was a great hangout. I miss Red Brick, of course, too. But my main things I would like are the dog park, community garden, some outdoor yoga, and all the safety features that Jen mentioned.
