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Psych Centers Masks Populations - Census Misses Dover Growth
06.10.2001
by Elizabeth Lynch
Poughkeepsie Journal
Census numbers released this spring belie the grown of communities such as Dover.
Like two other Dutchess town, Dover lost population during the early 1990s when state institutions that serve the mentally ill and the developmentally disabled were downsized or closed. Census figures for 1990 and 2000 include those changes, which mask Dover's growth in another area - traditional households.
"The demographics have really changed," Town of Dover Supervisor Jill Way said. "The kinds of services that are needed are distinctly different."
Dover was home to the Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center, which was closed in 1994. The closure reflected a national trend to accommodate patients in community-based settings when possible. Locally, across the state and around the country, the move meant the closure or downsizing of institutions.
The Hudson River Psychiatric Center in the Town of Poughkeepsie was downsized, and so was the Taconic Developmental Disabilities Services Office in the Town of Amenia.
20,000 clients housed
At the peak, the three institutions housed more than 20,000 people.
In 1990, there were 848 institutionalized people living at Hudson River. There were 957 people at Harlem Valley and 1,207 people were at the Taconic center, according to 1990 census statistics.
Now there are only about 160 patients at Hudson River, 200 at the Taconic facility and fewer than 150 juveniles at a detention facility on the grounds of Harlem Valley.
When the populations of Poughkeepsie, Dover and Amenia are adjusted by the institutionalized populations, the growth in Dover more than doubles, while in Amenia the rate of population decline is sharply reduced. In the Town of Poughkeepsie, the increase rises slightly.
"That makes more sense," said Kathy Schibanoff, executive director of the Harlem Valley Partnership. "It was difficult to get a true picture."
The official census numbers belied the growth the Dover community could see - increase in school enrollments and new construction - said Schibanoff, who also is a member of the Dover school board.
The population shift away from the institutions into the community has changed the demand for government services, Way said.
"There is a need for additional schools, more highway department services, additional administrative services at the town hall, recreation services," Way said, ticking off the changes.
The state is in the process of selling or has sold part of all of its property of the three sites.
The Harlem Valley Psychiatric Center was a self-contained community that had little impact on town services, Way said. For example, it had its own police and fire services and maintained its roads.
The hidden population shifts also posed an additional hurdle when writing grants, said Schibanoff. "We just always had to explain it," she said. "It's hard when you're trying to write a grant and you can't use the official numbers."
Several towns growing
Dover's growth, said Schibanoff is similar to that in other southern Dutchess communities. East Fishkill, Pawling and Beekman, for example have seen growth from families moving here from Westchester County and New York City.
"I think the area is going to continue to grow," she said.
Karen M. Finnerty, president of the Dover-Wingdale Chamber of Commerce, said she sees few "for sale" signs in the region. "People don't even want to move out of here now," said Finnerty, who moved to the region about 13 years ago from Queens.
"I know there's been a lot of growth in the town. I think its people coming up, buying affordable housing. The train stations are packed."
Tony Robustelli, a member of the Town of Amenia Planning Board and the owner of two cafes, one in Dover and the other in Amenia, said he too has seen the area grow.
When the institutions downsized, his business took a hit, Robustelli said. But not, "everything's kind of evened out."
He said he joined the Amenia planning board because he could se the growth coming and wanted to help balance it - instead of complaining about it. Development is pushing north, and the next logical place it would flow is into Amenia, he said.
The opening of two new train stations on Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line will help fuel the growth, said Richard Birch, Dutchess County's assistant commissioner for the Department of Planning and Development.
The Interstate 684 and Route 22 corridor is a growth corridor for people looking to work in Westchester and New York city, as is the Taconic Parkway corridor. "The area is attractive and has a lot to offer," Birch said. "The Harlem Valley also is within easy reach of employment in Connecticut."
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