FUTURE HUDSON is an ongoing experiment in civic engagement & advocacy.

It began as an event series in 2019 that sought to create new conversations around the future of the City of Hudson.

The series was organized by an informal group of 12 urban planners, designers and activists in Hudson to advocate for more participatory and creative forms of urban planning and design. We were planning a second series when the virus hit.

Since then, we have remained active.

In May, 
Alison Matheny, Jonathan Lerner and Peter Spear developed the civic health campaign, Hudson Safe to promote safe, physical distancing.

This was done in partnership with the City of Hudson and the support of the Berkshire Taconic Emergency Fund.

And in June, Peter Spear and Kaja Kuhl of Design for Six Feet partnered with Hudson Hall to develop a plan for Hudson to re-open safely. This was with the financial support of the Columbia Economic Development Corporation and The Spark of Hudson.

The Hudson Shared Streets program has evolved into the Warren Street Seasonal Usage program managed by the Tourism Board and Hudson Business Coalition.

Please join us on Instagram.

The 2019 FUTURE HUDSON Event Series

“What makes Hudson Great?”

“How can Hudson Grow?”

“Where does Hudson gather?”

“To preserve or not to preserve?”

“Who are the streets for?” (sadly, no video!)

“Can we talk about Housing?”

The 2019 series was funded in part by Humanities New York with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities