Land Preservation Is Good For Hudson Valley Real Estate!
We believe that what draws people to the Hudson Valley is its exquisite natural environment enabling people to live the lifestyle they have always dreamed of, while living a manageable distance from New York City. We believe that a community has a right to choose its own destiny. It can do so by preserving its open space, and curbing rampant development, through socially responsible property ownership that benefits the community and not just the property owner.
We believe that it is the responsibility of the real estate business to act responsibly to preserve open space, trails and our natural resources. To that end, we wish to educate and encourage local and state government to purchase important open space in private ownership whenever possible, for fair market value. This would enable these spaces to be forever wild, while giving the property owner just compensation. We believe the funds can be raised for these purchases from imposing a real estate transfer tax that would be specifically used for the purchase of open space. This has been an extremely successful method of preservation in Martha's Vineyard, and the five east end towns of Long Island, among others. Additionally, it has been proven that increasing open space and farm preservation has only increased property values in these areas by up to 300% in a period of two years. This was done by decreasing the supply of available land to develop, and preserving the natural beauty and sense of place that attracts the tourist economy to these areas.