In From the Ground Up: Local Efforts to Create Resilient Cities, design expert Alison Sant focuses on the unique ways in which US cities are working to mitigate and adapt to climate change while creating equitable and livable communities. Sant presents 12 case studies, drawn from research and over 90 interviews with people who are working in these communities to make a difference. These efforts show how US cities are reclaiming their streets from cars, restoring watersheds, growing forests, and adapting shorelines to improve people's lives while addressing our changing climate. From the Ground Up is a call to action. When we make the places we live more climate resilient, we need to acknowledge and address the history of social and racial injustice. Advocates, non-profit organizations, community-based groups, and government officials will find examples of how to build alliances to support and embolden this vision together.

During the winter of 1776, in one of the most amazing logistical feats of the Revolutionary War, Henry Knox and his teamsters transported cannons from Fort Ticonderoga through the sparsely populated Berkshires to Boston to help drive British forces from the city. This history documents Knox's precise route--dubbed the Henry Knox Trail--and chronicles the evolution of an ordinary Indian path into a fur corridor, a settlement trail, and eventually a war road. By recounting the growth of this important but under appreciated thoroughfare, this study offers critical insight into a vital Revolutionary supply route.

ADVENTURES AROUND PUTNAM explores the beauty and history of Putnam County, NY and surrounding communities. Written from the perspective of a father with young children, this book offers a sampling of hikes, historic sites and family-friendly activities. For each adventure, the author provides a detailed description, directions, difficulty ratings, pictures, and where to find additional info. The book was inspired because the author heard too many times, I never knew that was there.

This book examines ways in which formerly prosperous regions can renew their economy during and after a period of industrial and economic recession. Using New York’s Capital Region (i.e., Albany, Troy, Schenectady, etc.) as a case study, the authors show how entrepreneurship, innovation, investment in education, research and political collaboration are critical to achieving regional success. In this way, the book provides other regions and nations with a real-life model for successful economic development. In the past half century, the United States and other nations have seen an economic decline of formerly prosperous regions as a result of new technology and globalization. One of the hardest-hit United States regions is Upstate New York or “the Capital Region”; it experienced a demoralizing hemorrhage of manufacturing companies, jobs and people to other regions and countries. To combat this, the region, with the help of state leaders, mounted a decades-long effort to renew and restore the region’s economy with a particular focus on nanotechnology. As a result, New York’s Capital Region successfully added thousands of well-paying, skill-intensive manufacturing jobs. New York’s success story serves as a model for economic development for policy makers that includes major public investments in educational institutions and research infrastructure; partnerships between academia, industry and government; and creation of frameworks for intra-regional collaboration by business, government, and academic actors. Featuring recommendations for best practices in regional development policy, this book is appropriate for scholars, students, researchers and policy makers in regional development, innovation, R&D policy, economic development and economic growth.

Now in its second edition, New York State: Peoples, Places, and Priorities is an accessibly written book that explores the ever-shifting dynamics of New York State history in a single volume. The text is organized both chronologically and topically, balancing political, economic, social, and cultural history. It discusses key figures, groups, movements, and controversies, upstate and downstate. Each chapter is divided into teachable, digestible sections that examine the major developments and challenges of that period, with timelines and lists of online resources to aid student understanding. The new edition brings New York State’s history into the present with coverage of recent political and economic developments, the Covid-19 pandemic, immigration, and global warming. Throughout the book, material was added concerning the American Revolution, the Civil War, women’s rights, and environmental justice. Artwork, maps, charts, and textboxes illuminate the state’s rich history. Analytical questions accompanying figures and texts encourage deeper engagement with the past. Designed for undergraduates, this book is a concise and updated account of New York State’s history over the centuries, with a wealth of resources to benefit students and instructors alike.

The Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail tells how a bold, imaginative investment by a public employee pension fund turned into a world-class tourist attraction that helped change the image and boost the economy of an entire state. The pension fund was the Retirement Systems of Alabama, and its alternative investment was in a string of golf courses and affiliated high-end hotels and spas. In business-speak, this was an "economically targeted investment" designed to diversify returns, create jobs, and increase tax revenue. Twenty-five years later, the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is known worldwide for the quality and beauty of its courses and the hospitality and elegance of its resorts. It has significantly increased Alabama's infrastructure for tourism and conventions, provided millions upon millions in new tax revenues, spurred construction of thousands of units of adjacent housing, and helped persuade other businesses to locate in the state. Making the Golf Trail a reality involved not only the initial vision of CEO David G. Bronner and his associates at RSA, but also the design genius and reputation of Robert Trent Jones Sr. and the hard work of many dedicated engineers and builders. It also required the cooperation of scores of local and state elected officials and economic developers. This book is the illustrated historical account of the financial, legal, political, and economic impact details of RSA's investment in the RTJ Golf Trail. Such a detailed history could not have been written without the years of economic analysis conducted by author Mark Fagan dating back to the earliest stages of the concept. Fagan's ongoing involvement with Dr. Bronner and those working to develop the Trail made possible the mammoth one-of-a-kind history that is presented in this book.