• Young Professionals Hold Roundtable with Astorino

  • JANUARY 19, 2012 | COUNTY GOV'T, YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

  • Housing, Cost of Living, Jobs on YP Radar Screen

  • At his exclusive roundtable discussion with WCA's Young Professionals Group, Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino laid out his agenda for fiscal reform and received intelligent feedback from our group of emerging business leaders...

    Hon. Rob Astorino speaks with WCA's Young Professionals Group
    What's on the mind of young professionals in the county?  Housing, placemaking, and lower taxes.  

    Housing:  Many in the audience who have small children, point to Westchester's lack of attracting young professionals age 25-34 as a significant weak spot.  Most also agreed that Westchester becomes attractive to young professionals who have started a family.  Siting the rise of high-end housing, another point that was made that unlike Brooklyn, Stamford, and Hoboken, there is a void of middle-income housing (apartments and condos) near train stations where young professionals can have easy access to Manhattan and other modes of transportation within Westchester.  

    Placemaking:  Westchester needs more "cool" places to attract young professionals in the 25-34 age bracket.  Having two or three bars isn't enough to attract this set out of New York City.  

    Taxes:  A great quality-of-life and having the nation's top schools come at a cost: Westchester is the nation's highest-taxed county in America, and the impact is keeping young professionals from living in the community they grew up in and love.  

    Leadership: The Young Professionals Group will continue to meet with CE Astorino to facilitate the cultivation of the next generation of business leaders in Westchester County. 

    • Reader Comments

    Phil Bronzi | January 20, 2012 | 04:31 pm

    Thanks to the YPG for a great event yesterday. I think CE Astorino did a good job outlining the steps the County has taken to start improving the overall business climate. I also think he made it abundantly clear that regardless of how frugal the County is with their budget, unfunded mandates from NYS will continue to drive taxes in an untenable direction. We need real reform at the top of the house.

    Kevin McCarthy | January 19, 2012 | 12:24 pm

    CE Astorino was great this morning and spoke to the real challenges for the next generation. To have access to the County Executive for an hour with a very small group of peers was a very unique experience We'll work on the "cool places" with the opening of Butterfield 8 in WP soon!

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