About Us

Our Mission

The Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC) is a regional planning and resource center, established pursuant to New York State General Municipal Law Article 12-B, serving Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties. CDRPC provides objective analysis of data, trends, opportunities, and challenges relevant to the Region’s economic development and planning communities. CDRPC serves the best interests of the public and private sectors by promoting intergovernmental cooperation; communicating, collaborating, and facilitating regional initiatives; and sharing information and fostering dialogues on solutions to regional problems.

Our History

CDRPC was established as a regional planning board in 1967 by a cooperative agreement among the counties of Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady. Its original purpose was to perform and support comprehensive planning work, including surveys, planning services, technical services, and the formulation of plans and policies to promote sound and coordinated development of the entire Region. Over time, the mission of the Planning Commission evolved in response to changes in the Region’s needs, funding sources, organizational structures, and information technology. While continuing to provide a wide variety of comprehensive planning services, CDRPC has also assumed the functions of Data and Information Center, Economic Development District, Foreign-Trade Zone Administrator, Sustainable Communities Hub (Clean Energy Communities, Climate Smart Communities, Clean Heating and Cooling), and Water Quality Manager.

CDRPC Strategic Plan

CDRPC’s activities are guided by its Strategic Plan first developed in 2004 and last updated in 2015. Click here for the 2016-2018 Strategic Plan. 

Recent CDRPC activities include:

  • Preparing Regional Planning Studies such as the Capital Region Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Regional Indicator Study, Overall Economic Development Program, and groundwater, wellhead, and watershed protection studies. A number of technical reports have also been prepared in conjunction with the Quality Region Initiative in partnership with the Capital District Transportation Committee.
  • Providing Local Technical Assistance, including comprehensive plans, economic impact analysis, municipal population and household projections, school enrollment projections, grant writing assistance, local strategic plans, Geographic Information System products and training, land use planning workshops, and climate action planning.
  • Serving as the Regional Data Bank and Information Center for geographic, demographic, climate change and energy efficiency, and economic information including the preparation of community fact sheets, demographic profiles, climate smart community profiles, special data analyses, forecasting, and projection studies. The data sets received from other sources are tailored to the Capital Region in an easy-to-use format. Staff also make presentations on a range of issues of interest to stakeholders throughout the Capital Region.
  • Functioning as the Regional Clearinghouse for applications to federally funded programs subject to intergovernmental review under State Executive Order.
  • Serving as a forum for Regional Coordination including transportation and water quality planning, economic development, climate change and energy efficiency, juvenile delinquent prevention, and inter-municipal and inter-county networking.
  • Implementing and administering Cooperative Projects such as the Capital District Foreign Trade Zone, the Regional Juvenile Secure Detention Center, the Capital District Youth Courts Program, and the Combined Sewer Overflow Project.