Reinventing the Syracuse Waterfront: Taking Back Destiny

Months ago I cam across an article promoting the views of Onondaga Lake from a new restaurant at Destiny USA. The above photo is that view. While there is a sliver of the lake visible, what you focus on is the sea of cars in front of you. I would never describe this as a “view of Onondaga Lake”, but instead a view of the parking lot.

Headline from Syracuse.com

This article stuck with me. Every time I traveled near the mall, be it to a baseball game or the Inner Harbor, I couldn’t help but think about how much space is devoted to parking lots around the mall. Destiny USA sits on just over one million square feet of land, but is surrounded by nearly three million square feet of parking. These lots sit over half empty the vast majority of the year, only filling up for a few days around Christmas. They create a barrier between the mall and the rest of the Northside as well as prevent the city from having access to the lake front. I believe it is time that we push Destiny to dig up the the parking lots in front of the Carousel, towards Onondaga Lake, and create a vibrant park/ plaza area, while also opening up some of the land for other development (perhaps some mixed-use buildings with true view of the lake).

While the mall does need a substantial amount of parking (at least until we improve our public transit system to a point where cars become more optional) it already has more than it needs. Just south of the mall, down Solar St., there are six enormous parking lots that were built as part of the Destiny USA expansion. The furthest lots are more often used by people attending festivals at the Inner Harbor than for shoppers at the mall. Losing the lots on the north side of the mall would not have a significant impact on the overall availability of parking. These large lots have more than enough empty spaces to accommodate these shoppers, and are easier to get to from I-81 and I-690.

A sea of parking lots outside of Destiny USA

Meanwhile, the newly freed up land can become an asset to Syracuse, providing one of the only opportunities for waterfront development and access within the city boundaries. Located along the Onondaga Creek Walk path and just beyond the Regional Market, this land is ripe for becoming public space that connects each of these attractions together.

The park should be an open area with plenty of seating and shade for neighborhood residents and shoppers to congregate. One idea would be to install a large fountain that can be transformed into an ice rink in the winter, much like the fountain in Clinton Square. This site would be incredibly popular during the holiday season, while also providing a way to cool down during summer months.

Flanking the park on either side should be mix-use development. This allows for the mall to expand its footprint to include more standalone restaurants topped by residential and office tenants. These buildings should incorporate green technologies, including green roofs and exterior foliage to embrace their settings within the park. The views from the upper floors or these buildings would rival any in the Syracuse area as it looks out over Onondaga Lake. Residents and office tenants would also benefit from access to the large green space and connections to the Onondaga Creek Walk and Loop the Lake trails.

These trails could see an enhanced connection to the park and mall through a large pedestrian/bike bridge spanning the roadway and the railway. This bridge would provide an opportunity to create a visual icon for the city, tying together the natural beauty of the lakefront with one of our commercial centers. Below are some striking examples of what pedestrian bridges can be, and we should strive to create something unique to Syracuse.

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While all of these ideas are clearly dreams, I do think it’s time for residents of Syracuse to push for access to their waterfront. We only have so much within the city, so it’s an incredible shame that such a large portion is blocked off by huge parking lots and the railroad. Taking back some of this space and providing enhanced public access on both sides of the railroads would give Syracuse a unique place to gather. It could also help improve the image of Destiny USA, which has often been criticized for the lavish tax breaks the property has been given. Giving back to the community and providing a unique green space to visitors will only enhance its economic position.

I-81: Healing the Divide

This is my in depth look into why the community grid should be approved by New York State to replace the current I-81 viaduct. The following piece was written before the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was released in mid-April 2019 in regards to the I-81 project. Although some of the numbers from the previously leaked report are now out of date, they remain useful for the analysis and would still hold true with the new numbers.

I hope this helps to inform the discussion as we now move forward into the comment period for the DEIS. Although the community grid is the preferred option, that does not mean it will be selected in the end. It also means that we must advocate for further inclusions to the plan, which I lay out a few at the end. As always, I love to hear what people are thinking on these subjects and invite a discussion.

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The Syracuse metropolitan area has some of the highest concentrations of poverty in the United States for African Americans and Hispanics, along with dramatic racial and economic divides between the city and its surrounding suburbs. The current footprint of I-81 has furthered this divide within the community. The decision on how to replace the aging viaduct must be made with economic and social equality in mind. To address these issues, the following memo will provide: a brief summary of the socioeconomic breakdown of the Syracuse region; an understanding of the impacts I-81 has had on furthering the socioeconomic divide within the community; and, a review of the current options for replacing the I-81 viaduct (a new viaduct, a community grid, or a tunnel), including the concerns raised by the community for each option.

Based on the analysis, I recommend the New York State Department of Transportation opts to pursue the Community Grid option with added emphasis on:

• Enhancing public transportation with bus rapid transit (BRT)

• Returning newly uncovered lands to the city

  • Some to be sold for private development

  • Some developed into low- and medium-income housing

• Connecting residents of public housing with work opportunities on the project

Background on the Syracuse Metropolitan Area

Syracuse is the fifth largest city in New York State with a population of 144,405 and sits within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) of 659,262 (U.S. Census Bureau). Our MSA consists of three counties; Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego. In order to gain a fuller picture of the region you must also include Cayuga, Cortland and Oneida counties as they’re economies are tied closely to that of Syracuse, which pushes the region’s population to 1,018,239 (U.S. Census Bureau).

We must look at the counties outside of Onondaga County due to the commutes required into the Syracuse area. Each county has a relative high percentage of residents working outside their home county, with the main employment destination being near Downtown Syracuse (see employment maps below). With residents being primarily dependent on personal vehicles, the interstate network in the region is vital to their transportation needs (see Public Transit Usage in Table 1). Those traveling from east or west will be most likely to utilize I-90 and I-690 in order to access the downtown area. Oswego County, coming from the north, will utilize I-81 until the I-690 interchange in Downtown Syracuse. Finally, Cortland County residents, coming from the south, are the most likely residents to use the section of the I-81 viaduct in question for replacement; namely the 1.4 mile section from the southern I-481 interchange up to the I-690 interchange in Downtown Syracuse.

Within Onondaga County we must also acknowledge the dominance of traveling by personal vehicles and the continued reliance on the interstate for commutes. Again, the towns in the southern portion of the county (Fabius, Lafayette, Marcellus, Otisco, Pompey, Skaneateles, Spafford, and Tully) are the most likely to use the portion of the I-81 viaduct in question.

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2007 Employment Density

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2035 Employment Density

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

These counties and towns are significantly less diverse racially and economically compared to the City of Syracuse. This diversity is important to consider due to the history of I-81’s current footprint, which resulted in the destruction of a majority African American neighborhood (Haas). As of 2017, the census tracts located directly adjacent to I-81 are predominantly Black or African American with poverty concentrations of up to 63% (U.S. Census Bureau). Onondaga County as a whole is predominantly white with relatively low levels of poverty (see maps below), as are the surrounding counties.

The I-81 Viaduct

With the I-81 viaduct having reached the end of its useful life in 2017, we must consider the alternatives with respect to the socioeconomic differences within the region to find the solution that best promotes equity amongst residents. The three current options include:

1. Rebuild the viaduct up to modern federal DOT standards ($1.7 billion)

2. Replace the highway with an improved street grid while sending through traffic along I-481 outside the city; known as the community grid ($1.3 billion)

3. Build a tunnel through the city with elements of the community grid plan on top of the tunnel footprint; known as the hybrid option ($3.6 billion) (Hannagan).

The 1.4 mile section of the viaduct in question runs from the southern edge of Syracuse north until the I-690 interchange. To the east of the highway is Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate Medical Campus, two of the largest employers in Central New York. To the west of the highway resides a mixture of low-income and public housing that reach to the edge of Downtown Syracuse. The viaduct’s footprint runs directly through the former 15th Ward, a predominantly African American neighborhood that was deemed uninsurable for federally backed mortgages during red lining (see Red Lining map below).

Syracuse Red Lining Map from 1937

During the original planning for I-81, African American residents found themselves segregated to the 15th Ward, with many realtors refusing to show suburban houses to them. This resulted in a neighborhood that was three times as dense as the rest of the city, including numerous buildings falling below safety codes. The state saw the interstate system as a form of  slum clearance and a way to bolster housing demand (Haas). The mayor at the time, Anthony Henninger, believed that the highway would box in the downtown area and strangle the growth of the city (Croyle). Many others believed the growth of the suburbs would help propel growth in Syracuse as well. Instead, many businesses along South Salina St. have closed, or were torn down to be replaced by gas stations, while the suburbs have continued to expand. Housing options were limited for African Americans, resulting in many being forced into newly constructed public housing (Haas). In this way, I-81 has always had unequal effects on the community depending on who you are and where you are from.

While the bulk of the construction will be centered in the City of Syracuse, the effects of the chosen plan will be felt throughout the region, just as the original plan was. On that note, there are a few major concerns that residents and elected officials have raised.

Access to Community Resources

The first concern to many residents is how each proposal will affect their accessibility. Syracuse has relatively short commute times compared to most of the country. Many suburban residents are concerned that their commutes will be drastically longer should the community grid option be chosen. Documents released from a preliminary Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) from 2016 show most commutes would be more or less unchanged when comparing the community grid to current conditions (New York State Department of Transportation. “Alternatives.”).

For those living in Dewitt along I-481, there has been concern about the increased usage of the route as thru-traffic would be rerouted around Syracuse, including truck routes (Magnarelli). As part of the mitigation plans, I-481 would see improvements that would likely include sound barriers, to counteract any increase in traffic.

Hotel owners just north of Syracuse are concerned about the loss of business due to the removal of the highway, noting that 20% of their guests do not have reservations when they arrive (Lohmann, “I-81 Voices…”). In his town hall on the subject, Representative John Katko (R-Camillus) reassured the hotel owners that they would still be located off of I-90, which would still bring in travelers.

One group, Save 81, has focused on proving that the community grid cannot support the traffic that heads into Syracuse each day. They have warned that over 100 intersections would see their level of service drop a full level, including 61 that would rank as an E or F (Lohmann, “I-81 Grid Opponents…”). While these concerns are valid, most level drops will be negligible. In Syracuse, most roads are rated with very high levels of service, A’s or B’s. Dropping from an A to a B would go unnoticed by most drivers (Lohmann, “I-81 Grid Opponents…”).

On the other hand, the current viaduct and its replacement do not provide adequate access for the communities directly beside it. While many will argue that residents can walk underneath the viaduct to reach employment opportunities on the other side, the street network below the viaduct is dark, cluttered, and unfriendly to pedestrians. A revamped viaduct would be taller, allowing for more sunlight to reach beneath it, but would not solve the problem of high traffic volumes funneling towards the on-ramps.

Source: I-81 Independent Feasibility Study November 2017 by WSP

The Orange tunnel option, the preferred tunnel path, would seem to appease both residents needing improved pedestrian access and suburban commuters concerned about having high speed access through the city. Ultimately, the plan would not provide any exits from when it initially goes underground until it reemerges at the I-690 interchange (see map above). This configuration would result in a large portion of the commuter traffic to opt for the street grid to reach their destinations, removing any benefit of high speed travel for commuters.

Safety

Along with accessibility, many worry about the safety of their communities. The preliminary DEIS produced estimates on different types of vehicular accidents at peak hours to compare the effectiveness of their safety measures (see Table 2). The preliminary DEIS did not compared any of the tunnel options due to the plans being deemed inappropriate for the scope of this project. The results show dramatically lower accident totals for the community grid when compared to the current highway and the new viaduct design. This is mostly attributed to slower speeds and the street design.

Source: New York State Department of Transportation. I-81 Viaduct Project: Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Section 4(F) Evaluation (Preliminary)

Safety goes beyond vehicle accidents. Neighbors who live directly beside the highway are exposed to high levels of toxins from exhaust fumes that often lead to persistent asthma in children. While these cases have seen a decrease over the last two decades, most likely due to improved fuel efficiency and increased regulations, there is still a strong link between living beside highways and asthma rates (Khreis). Researchers have shown that poorly controlled asthma can lead to more frequent absences in school and lower grades overall. Many of these students live in poor neighborhoods without access to healthcare that can help prevent chronic asthma (Preidt).

Neighbors in Dewitt along I-481 are right to be concerned with the emissions from increased traffic but their neighborhoods are more sparsely populated and are at an increased distance from the highway (see maps below). I-81 currently sits directly above some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in the region, resulting in their children underperforming in school due to absences and health issues, creating a cycle that goes unbroken.

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2007 Household Density

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2035 Household Density

The tunnel option, while removing cars from the surface, will continue to release exhaust fumes into these same low-income neighborhoods through its ventilation system. To maintain clean air within the tunnel, large ventilation plants would need to be constructed to pump out the exhaust. These plants are often placed in low-income neighborhoods and placed without concern for how they visually impact their surroundings (“Vent Buildings…”).

Taxable Property/ Economic Impact

Syracuse, like many central cities, struggles with an abundance of tax-exempt land. Over half of the land in the city is off of the tax rolls; including Syracuse University, SUNY Upstate Medical Campus, churches, government buildings, parkland, etc. (Lohmann, “If ‘Community Grid’ Replaces...”). As we know from research from Dreier, et al (“What Can Motown…”), central cities have felt an increasing burden to provide services from federal and state mandates without financial support. With property taxes as one of the only financial levers city governments have to raise funds, this abundance of tax exempt lots creates an added stress to an already financially strapped city.

City residents are rightfully concerned with the retention of tax paying properties through this reconstruction project. Rebuilding the viaduct up to current DOT standards would result in a wider, taller structure with a straighter course. This new path would require the destruction of 24 buildings, including some historic structures. The community grid and the tunnel would require far fewer demolitions; five and twelve, respectively (Hannagan).

On top of preserving structures, the community grid and the tunnel, to a lesser extent, will open up land for development. If the community grid is chosen, the removal of the viaduct will free up over 18 acres of land. This land could generate up to $33 million in tax revenue every year for the city (Lohmann, “If ‘Community Grid’ Replaces...”). The tunnel would allow for slightly less development due to the structure of the tunnel preventing construction of supports for buildings on the surface (WSP), but ultimately would create room for new development.

While the tunnel offers opportunities for new development, the benefits are offset by the estimated $10 million in maintenance costs per year. This includes running pumps to remove salt water and around the clock monitoring (Lohmann, “I-81 Tunnel…”). Some have offered up the idea of paying tolls to use the tunnel, but that would likely reduce usage to a point where the high speed access is unnecessary (Lohmann, “I-81 Voices…”).

Recommendations

Based on the information provided, I must recommend that the New York State Department of Transportation move forward with the community grid option. The current viaduct, and any other future high speed route through the city, acts as a physical barrier to marginalized communities directly adjacent to its path. The community grid offers an opportunity to remove the barrier, improve pedestrian and public transit connections to the neighborhood, and encourage private investment on the newly usable land. Beyond choosing the community grid, there are three specific policies that must be in place to ensure that the growth spurred by this development is equally shared.

Enhance Public Transit/ Implement Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

With large percentages of residents adjacent to the viaduct having no access to a private vehicle, providing improved public transit service is vital to increasing accessibility. While residents live within close proximity to a high concentration of employment opportunities, many require advanced education and skills. Low-skill work has moved outside of the city, requiring longer commutes for residents and prompting some employers to overlook city residents for these opportunities (“Ending Spatial…”). This is a trend that researchers have noticed time and again; applicants being characterized due to the address on their application, not based on their skills and knowledge (Squires, 53-53).

As part of the funding for the community grid, there should be additional funding put in place to expand bus service as well as develop BRT routes through the city. The Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council (SMTC) has already developed plans for two BRT routes through the city, connecting many low income neighborhoods with employment and education centers. The plan would cost $30 million to build out and $8 million a year to run the service (Abbott). This funding is more than CENTRO, the local transit authority, is able to come up with on its own, but is a fraction of the price difference between the community grid and a rebuilt viaduct. Funding BRT through Syracuse would help improve accessibility for the least mobile residents in the region.

Return Uncovered Land to the City/ Build Affordable Housing

As previously mentioned, the community grid would free up over 18 acres of land for redevelopment. Due to this project being conducted by the state, the land would still be under state ownership when the viaduct is removed. It is within New York DOT standard practices to return all land not needed for future transportation purposes back to the city (Lohmann, “If ‘Community Grid’ Replaces...”). The city should first look for opportunities to build affordable housing on the newly acquired land.

This construction should be tied to the Blueprint 15 plan to rebuild affordable and mixed-income housing on the current sites of Pioneer Homes, McKinney Manor, and Central Village. These public housing communities are the oldest in New York State and offer substandard living conditions for residents. The Blueprint 15 plan calls for the demolition and reconstruction of the entire neighborhood with an aim of mixing low-income housing with attracting private commercial development (Eisenstadt). The city should require that the newly uncovered land be used as the beginning of this development. Building housing on the new land first and giving priority to public housing residents before beginning the demolition of the old structures. Mixed in with the new low-income housing should be private development that will help bolster the city’s tax base. This land should not go to the universities in the area, but instead tax-paying developers that are willing to commit to providing affordable housing.

Connect Residents with Employment Spurred by Construction

The final piece is the requirement that residents located adjacent to the viaduct should be in line for employment on this project. This may require an apprenticeship program for construction workers, training for positions as a bus operator, or maintenance positions on the newly constructed housing units. Without an employment guarantee for local residents, they will not be able to fully share in the economic stimulus that comes with a project of this size. Teaching residents the skills necessary to participate in the project will also provide them opportunities long after the construction is complete. We must look to use state funding to improve the lives of citizens beyond a single infrastructure project.

The proposed Community Grid design

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Works Cited/ Bibliography

• Abbott, Ellen. “Could 'Bus Rapid Transit' change the way central New Yorkers get around?” WRVO, Nov. 13, 2017, https://www.wrvo.org/post/could-bus-rapid-transit-change-way-central-new-yorkers-get-around. Accessed April 26, 2019

• Advanced Media NY Editorial Board. “Let’s Unite Syracuse: Replace I-81 with Community Grid.” The Post Standard, July 29, 2018, /www.syracuse.com/opinion/2018/07/lets_unite_syracuse_replace_i-81_with_a_community_grid_editorial. Accessed March 8, 2019

• Centerstate CEO. Community Grid Plus: Expanding the I-81 Conversation Beyond the Highway, Feb. 22, 2019, http://www.centerstateceo.com/sites/default/files/Community%20Grid%20Plus_Web.pdf. Accessed April 15, 2019

• CNY Fair Housing Council. Mapping Economic, Educational, & Housing and Neighborhood Opportunity in Onondaga County & Syracuse, NY, Prepared by Alys Mann, Alys Mann Consulting, May 2014, pp. 17, 20, 21, 31, 34, 35.

• Congress of New Urbanism. “I-81: Syracuse, New York.” Freeways Without Futures, 2019, https://www.cnu.org/sites/default/files/FreewaysWithoutFutures_2019.pdf. Accessed April 15, 2019

• Croyle, Jonathan. “Throwback Thursday: Editorials, Syracuse Mayor Condemn Elevated I-81 in 1958.” The Post Standard, April 13, 2017, https://www.syracuse.com/vintage/2017/04/throwback_thursday_editorials_and_mayor_warn_about_elevated_highways.html. Accessed April 22, 2019

• Dreier, Peter, Mollenkopf, John, and Swanstrom, Todd. “City Limits: What Can Motown Teach Us about Wealth, Poverty, and Municipal Finance?” Place Matters: Metropolitics for the Twenty-First Century, 2014, pp. 175-191

• Eisenstadt, Marnie. “$100 Million Plan Would Turn Syracuse Public Housing into Neighborhood for All.” The Post Standard, Feb. 15, 2019, https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/02/exclusive-100-million-plan-would-turn-syracuse-public-housing-into-neighborhood-for-all.html. Accessed April 26 2019

• “Ending the Spatial Mismatch in Syracuse.” In the Salt City, April 1, 2019, https://inthesalt.city/2019/04/01/endingthespatialmismatchinsyracuse/. Accessed April 26, 2019

• Grimm, Sergei. Map of the City of Syracuse, New York, Dec. 1937, http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/waer/files/styles/x_large/public/201712/SWAER17121813070_0001_1.jpg. Accessed April 19, 2019

• Haas, David. “I-81 Highway Robbery: The Razing of Syracuse’s 15th Ward.” Syracuse New Times, Dec. 12, 2018, www.syracusenewtimes.com/highway-robbery-5-decades-ago-syracuse-neighborhoods-were-razed-to-construct-interstate-81/. Accessed March 8, 2019

• Hannagan, Charley. “Experts Share Why They Believe NY will Tear Down I-81, Put Traffic on Syracuse Streets.” The Post Standard, Oct. 27, 2016, www.syracuse.com/news/2016/10/signs_point_to_demolishing_i-81_and_putting_traffic_on_syracuse_streets. Accessed March 8, 2019

• Khreis, Haneen. “Mapping Where Traffic Pollution Hurts Children Most.” City Lab, April 15, 2019, https://www.citylab.com/environment/2019/04/mapping-where-traffic-air-pollution-hurts-children-most/587170/. Accessed April 15, 2019

• Lohmann, Patrick. “Grid or No Grid? See Where Groups, Politicians, Others Stand on I-81’s Future.” The Post Standard, July 29, 2018, www.syracuse.com/news/2018/07/grid_tunnel_or_rebuild_see_where_groups_officials_stand_on_i-81s_future. Accessed March 8, 2019

• Lohmann, Patrick. “I-81 Grid Opponents Warn of Congestion, so Why Don’t They Release the Proof?” The Post Standard, March 13, 2019, https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/03/i-81-grid-opponents-warn-of-congestion-so-why-dont-they-release-the-proof.html. Accessed April 21, 2019

• Lohmann, Patrick. “I-81 Tunnel: Project Would Take up to $4.5 Billion, 10 Years, Long-Awaited Study Says.” The Post Standard, Dec. 4, 2017, https://www.syracuse.com/news/2017/12/long-awaited_study_i-81_tunnel_feasible_but_costly.html#incart_breaking. Accessed April 21, 2019

• Lohmann, Patrick. “I-81 Voices: Truckers, Motel Owners, Suburbanites; Would You Pay a Toll for a Tunnel?” The Post Standard, Feb. 20, 2019, https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/02/heres-four-perspectives-on-i-81-from-katkos-third-town-hall.html. Accessed April 21, 2019

• Lohmann, Patrick. “If ‘Community Grid’ Replaces Interstate 81 in Syracuse, What will Happen to the Land?” The Post Standard, Nov. 12, 2018, www.syracuse.com/news/2018/11/grid_land_i-81_dot. Accessed March 8, 2019

• Magnarelli, Tom. “Trucking Concerns Among Top Issues at Katko’s I-81 Town Hall in Auburn.” WRVO, Feb. 5, 2019, www.wrvo.org/post/trucking-concerns-among-top-issues-katko-s-i-81-town-hall-auburn Accessed March 8, 2019

• New York Civil Liberties Union. “The I-81 Story.” NYCLU, https://www.nyclu.org/en/campaigns/i-81-story?fbclid=IwAR3fUp5vseeA6aGQk1lyW4mp3nZovNXoT-XGW-9dT2YD5E-EvUc6U2y9ruw. Accessed April 15, 2019

• New York State Department of Transportation. “Alternatives.” I-81 Viaduct Project: Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Section 4(F) Evaluation (Preliminary), Dec. 2016, http://graphics.advancemediany.com/2019/deis/05_Transportation_and_Engineering_Considerations_12-23-2016.pdf. Accessed April 15, 2019

• New York State Department of Transportation. “Social, Economic, and Environmental Considerations.” I-81 Viaduct Project: Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Section 4(F) Evaluation (Preliminary), Dec. 2016, http://graphics.advancemediany.com/2019/deis/05_Transportation_and_Engineering_Considerations_12-23-2016.pdf. Accessed April 15, 2019

• New York State Department of Transportation. “Transportation and Engineering Considerations.” I-81 Viaduct Project: Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Section 4(F) Evaluation (Preliminary), Dec. 2016, http://graphics.advancemediany.com/2019/deis/05_Transportation_and_Engineering_Considerations_12-23-2016.pdf. Accessed April 15, 2019

• Preidt, Robert. “Poor Asthma Control Can Mean Worse Grades for Kids.” WebMD, March 11, 2019, https://www.webmd.com/asthma/news/20190311/poor-asthma-control-can-mean-worse-grades-for-kids. Accessed April 21, 2019

• Squires, Gregory D. and Kubrin, Charis E. “Privileged Places: Race, Uneven Development and the Geography of Opportunity in Urban America,” Urban Studies, Vol. 42, No. 1, January 2005. Pp 47-68

• Steuteville, Robert. “Time to Restore the Grid.” Public Square: A CNU Journal, April 9, 2019, https://www.cnu.org/publicsquare/2019/04/09/time-restore-grid?fbclid=IwAR3TlrAsSlSnprQ1cOMdQSrMOqt5tPMCmBJ3INlcADpk-2S-ypvI2QxX58I. Accessed April 15, 2019

• Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council. SMTC Travel Demand Model, Prepared by Resource Systems Group, Inc.Version 3.023, April 2012, pp. 22, 23, 25, 26. http://thei81challenge.org/cm/ResourceFiles/resources/SMTC%20Model%20Version%203.023%20Documentation.pdf Accessed March 8, 2019

• U.S. Census Bureau, 2013-2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates

• “Vent Buildings Spark Controversy.” Boston.com, 2003, http://graphics.boston.com/traffic/bigdig/vents.htm. Accessed April 21, 2019

• WSP. I-81 Independent Feasibility Study, November 2017, https://www.scribd.com/document/366284718/I81-Independent-Feasbility-Study-Report-Nov2017#from_embed?campaign=SkimbitLtd&ad_group=126006X1587360Xa05b94d808e88f2bed9fbf8c418f69e5&keyword=660149026&source=hp_affiliate&medium=affiliate. Accessed April 21, 2019

Keep the City Urban: My Overarching View on the Future of Development in Syracuse

I’ve written a lot over the last couple years about how I envision change in Syracuse. Most have focused on specific neighborhoods within the city or the decision about I-81. While I plan on continuing to write out specific ideas in regards to development within the city, I think it’s appropriate to explain my overall view when it comes to planning.

These are overarching themes that you will continue to see throughout my work and how I believe they can lead us to a more connected and vibrant city in the near future. Many of these do not require a great deal of investment, but instead just a simple change of policy to guide future development. With ReZone Syracuse still in the works, Blueprint15 being discussed, and a decision on I-81 looming, this is the time that everyone should be staking out ground on what they believe the city can achieve. This is our moment to define what our community should be like moving forward.

Before getting into the specific categories below, I want to focus on the main title of this piece, “Keep the City Urban.” Something that has happened to cities throughout the country was this feeling that we need to adapt and take on more suburban characteristics to compete with the suburbs. This includes an emphasis on single family homes, shopping malls, big box stores, parking lots, etc. Each of the items I’ll address take the view opposing these types of developments. We should be embracing what makes cities unique and providing a true alternative lifestyle to the suburbs, one based on interconnected neighborhoods, walkable streets, accessibility for all age groups, and, most of all, a dense network of different cultures working together. Good urban planning and urban design can help us reach towards these goals.

Implement and Urban Growth Boundary

This doesn’t apply directly to the City of Syracuse, but instead to Onondaga County. Former County Executive Joanie Mahoney had discussed the need to limit new development within the county to our current footprint, and she was right to do so. Onondaga County has had a stable population for 40 years, and yet we have continued to expand outward. This is disastrous for our municipal budgets, having to pay for more infrastructure with the same or less tax money than we previously had, and is also disastrous for our environment. The further people live from the city center, the further they must drive to reach most employment centers.

We should look to Portland in regards to their work using an urban growth boundary, but we should be much stricter when it comes to not expanding the right to develop. Unless our community grows exponentially, we have developed more land than we need. If anything we should be working to bring some of those living in the exurbs back in towards the city. Any future development should be infill development that increases the density of our communities.

This will likely face backlash, especially amongst those living and representing those further out communities, but we must focus our development in productive ways that add to the cohesion of our region, not put ourselves in silos far from each other.

I recently read a blog post titled “Upstate Most Earn ‘Parity’” in which the author breaks down why Upstate communities have not earned the right to demand more funding for their transportation systems because they have not done enough to come up with a plan to control their sprawl. In her eyes, additional transportation funding would be wasted because we haven’t put together a framework for how our communities will develop moving forward, so we will constantly be needing to extend lines outward to serve fewer and fewer people. I whole heartedly agree with her on this. We have not done enough to curb sprawl and create a unified vision for our county and region.

She also brings up a few other ideas that I will address later in this piece, including the idea of high speed rail across New York State.

Get Rid of Single Family ONLY Zones/ Redefine a Single Family Home

America has been sold the idea that the quickest way to the middle class is to own your own home. I won’t get into the political and economic history of this ideology, but I will address the need for our urban centers to move away from exclusive zonings for detached single family homes.

The ReZone Syracuse effort has preserved detached single family zonings across a handful of neighborhoods within the city. When looking through the code I just can’t help but feel it would benefit our city to turn every one of these zones into One and Two Family zones. This wouldn’t prevent single family homes from existing, but would give home owners and developers the option to create a more dense community if the so choose.

While this is a good first step, we should also be redefining what a single family home can be. One thing we are missing in Syracuse, especially when you look to our fellow Upstate cities of Albany and Troy, is a stock of townhouses and row houses. These homes allow for dense, urban development while still providing the opportunity for home ownership and green space. These should not be the townhouses found in suburban developments, along winding roads without sidewalks and hidden among parking lots.

This can be referred to as the “missing middle,” as its not quite dense apartment living but a much more walkable community than our current detached single family neighborhoods. They line the street with an attractive street wall which invites neighbors to be part of the street instead of pushed back into a guarded home. Think of the brownstones in Brooklyn or the row houses in Philadelphia.

We should also be pushing for more investment in condos throughout downtown and the more densely populated business districts. If we are to work within our economic system that emphasizes home ownership, we should be providing residents with more urban options, instead of relying on an outdated want to compete with the suburbs. Again, keep the city urban, provide those who find an urban environment appealing with more options.

In the zoning examples below from ReZone Syracuse, the pale yellow is all detached single family homes, prominent in the less diverse neighborhoods within the city. The darker yellow is a combination of 1&2 family homes, most noticeably on the Northside. The brownish yellow color is multi family homes, more prominent as you move towards Downtown from the Southside. Downtown and the immediate areas around it are the newly minted mix-use zone in various shades of purple. Finally the red commercial zones dominate Erie Blvd. and section of the Southside.

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Eastwood

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East Side

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Erie Blvd.

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Downtown

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Southside

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Northside

Mix-Use Instead of Single Use

Mix-use is finally getting its day in Syracuse, after decades of our daily needs being separated by zoning. Our old, traditional neighborhoods, like Little Italy on North Salina St., have continued to have mix-use development, while the rest of our city was split between housing and commercial development. Downtown has been pushing towards mix-use for over a decade now, and ReZone Syracuse is looking to finally put this desire in code through a large part of our city. This is all good news, but it doesn’t go far enough.

Erie Blvd. is left out of the mix-use development, remaining almost solely commercial, even while its prime real estate to take advantage of a bus rapid transit (BRT) system, as well as the cross state bike path that will be running right through the heart of the city. It can also follow the path of the new Dewitt zoning that’s looking to concentrate growth along the corridor in dense developments. Erie Blvd. was once the most vital artery of our city as the Erie Canal, there’s no reason we can’t connect back to this history with mix-use development.

Parking Maximums Not Minimums

Within minutes of speaking with me about planning we will probably address the subject of how there is too much parking. Most people will disagree and complain about the fact that they often have to circle forever to find an open spot. In fact they are identifying the real issue, too much free parking. Free parking has led more people to drive because they’ve been subsidized a spot to put their car for the 95% of the time they’re not in it. By requiring businesses to build off-street parking we had further subsidized the use of cars and our restructuring of the city around them. This goes against everything I mean when I say “keep the city urban.”

Hidden parking rules hurt our cities. Will Chilton and Paul Mackie of Mobility Lab explain.

We should not require any businesses to build parking spaces, but instead encourage active development along bus lines where it’s more efficient to move people. This will become even more apparent in my following topic as to why this will work. But to focus on parking; it adds unneeded costs to development that raises rents for both businesses and home renters alike, it chops up the streetscape making it unappealing to walk across large swaths of near vacant land, and it promotes more driving which has a negative impact on the environment, our health, and our economy.

Instead we should focus on introducing parking maximums that cap how many spaces a development can build, while also giving them the option of not building any. This leaves it up to the business or the apartment building to decide whether it is beneficial to them to have spaces on their property or if they believe street parking is sufficient. It’s not saying parking will be taken away, it’s just allowing businesses to decide what works best for them. And if we begin to focus on transit oriented development (TOD), which I highly recommend, more people may be able to access their businesses and get to work without use of a car to begin with.

Real Bus Rapid Transit/ Free Public Transit/ Revive Ontrack

Bus rapid transit (BRT) has been around for decades, but has only recently caught on in the US at a major scale, although only a few lines are truly BRT and not just priority lanes. Most BRT systems in the US simply paint a red lane down the side of the road that reads “Bus Only,” while also reducing the number of stops and introducing off-vehicle fare payment. While these are important steps and can drastically improve service, it doesn’t live up to what BRT can be.

Streetfilms LA’s Orange Line BRT system

The Orange Line is Los Angeles is probably the greatest example of a BRT line in the US, as it runs on completely separated lanes in the middle of the road designated only for buses and emergency vehicles. This removes all other traffic and allows the bus to operate with the same efficiency as a light rail or subway line. This is what a BRT line should be like. New York’s buses struggle to keep up due to cars constantly parking in bus lanes or using them as turn lanes. BRT systems need lanes that are curbed to keep all unwanted traffic out and ideally in center lanes to show its priority. These curbs can contain vegetation or other decorative designs that show a level of care and concern for the system.

There are multiple streets throughout Syracuse that could be more efficient if we implemented BRT properly, including Erie Blvd., James St., and Salina (both North and South). Every college in the Syracuse area should include at least one stop and have frequent service as those are all major employment destinations as well as a major source of riders since many students do not have cars. But these systems must be implemented with daily commuters in mind.

This is also why I believe our public transportation system should be free. If we truly see the purpose of government and public transit as being the great equalizer we should be putting our money towards programs that benefit the greatest number of people. By making public transit free you not only benefit current riders and low income workers, but you also start to attract new riders who may decide it makes more sense to live without a car when they can hop on a bus so easily, especially when there’s a new and improved system. This is an idea I’ll be exploring in much greater detail in future writings, but it’s a topic that people should be considering.

Another aspect of our transit conversation should be the revival of OnTrack. I won’t go too far into this topic here as I have already laid out my case on this topic in a previous post, The argument essentially breaks down to providing more palatable options for commuters as people tend to have higher opinions of trains than buses. If you are interested in reading more please see my piece “I-81: A Chance to Change Our Relationship with Transportation.”

City Beautiful: This idea of free mass transit is not as crazy as you might think.

Bike Lanes for Everyone

This goes along with the idea of improving access to public transit as we must also focus on alternative modes of transportation. Already we’ve been seeing bike lanes pop up throughout Syracuse, some are much better than others (looking at you ‘sharrows’), but its encouraging to see them at all. What the city should be doing is every time a road is up for a complete repaving we should be looking at how we can include bike infrastructure on the new surface. This can be as simple as a few painted line (personally believing every bike lane should be painted bright green to bring more awareness to it) or a completely separated lane for enhanced safety along busier streets.

Currently our bike lane network is almost completely disconnected. Until we can find ways to connect these lanes it’ll be tough to convince an infrequent rider to venture out onto the city streets and contend with traffic. The Empire State bike path that is to follow the length of the Erie Canal is a huge boon for bike infrastructure and we should be using it as a catalyst for more lanes, especially in order to connect it to the Creek Walk and our Loop the Lake effort. We should be a destination for bike riders no matter the season, which means we should be plowing all of our bike lanes with the same frequency as we plow roads.

Implementing these lanes along with the introduction and hopeful expansion of Sync (the new Syracuse bike share program) could transform our relationship to transit. We should have a Sync station at every BRT stop, allowing for us to solve those “last mile” issues.

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East Genessee Street through Syracuse.

Build Stronger Connections with New York and Toronto

The final major theme that I will continue to address is strengthening our connections to the two thriving metropolises within hours of our city. Often we think of New York City and Toronto as these distant places completely disconnected from the economy and world of Syracuse and Upstate New York. When we think that way we are shutting down the possibilities our location provides us.

Above I mentioned a blog post about Upstate needing to earn its parity with Downstate. Within that post, the author describes how a high speed rail (HSR) from Toronto to New York, passing through Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, could completely revitalize our cities. I agree with this. Currently the average train ride from Syracuse to NYC takes 5.5 hours. A flight takes 45 minutes, but with a great deal of time going through security and then getting from the airports to the central business districts.

HSR could make it more viable for businesses to locate certain offices in Upstate cities with it taking only a couple hours for transit between Syracuse and NYC, or maybe even just an hour to get to Toronto. We should be looking for ways to tie ourselves to these global cities, especially through our universities. We have highly respected educational institutions throughout our region that should be vying to capture investments from companies in these major markets.

I also believe SUNY ESF should be part of more conversations in our region as the world looks to move more towards environmentally friendly technologies. We have one of the premier institutions on that subject in our backyard, and yet we let it become overshadowed by its proximity to Syracuse University. We need both institutions to work within our city to reshape it as a progressive home to forward thinking individuals.

The Road Ahead

As I said, these are the major themes that will continue to come up in my individual pieces. I truly believe Syracuse and our Upstate neighbors have strong bones that can be built upon, we just need to think about policies and planning that can strengthen our urban cores and create modern cities that are leading the way on both environmental and equity issues. These two issues go hand-in-hand and can be addressed with many of the ideas I’ve laid out here. I hope this piece helps to clarify my thoughts moving forward and begins a conversation with anyone who reads this.

I’d love to hear feedback on these ideas as it only helps to shape how I look at these issues.

Flags, Marketing and Civic Pride

Civic pride is a powerful tool and can help cities overcome great obstacles. When the residents of a city and a metropolitan area feel this sense of pride they’re more willing to make sacrifices or go the extra mile to improve their community. I’ve discussed this idea throughout a few posts, but I think it’s a concept that needs to be explored in different ways. I believe how we show ourselves to the outside world is important, as is having a symbol to rally around, which is why I begin with the need for Syracuse to change its city flag.

Most people reading this may not even realize that the city of Syracuse has a flag to begin with. You’re only likely to find it flying in front of city offices, and even then it doesn’t stand out. It may seem strange to focus on a flag that few people recognize, but that is at the heart of the problem. There are no unifying symbols within our community for civic pride. The closest thing we have as a city is the logo for Syracuse University. To understand what a flag can mean and symbolize, there is a wonderful Ted Talk about what makes a great city flag. Chicago’s city flag is a great example and is showcased throughout the video.

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Chicago City Flag

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Syracuse City Flag

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The video goes through five major principles of how to design a flag:

1. Keep it simple

2. Use meaningful symbolism

3. Use 2-3 basic colors

4. No lettering or seals

5. Be distinctive (or related)

Now you can see how Chicago’s flag follows these principles, and how Syracuse’s flag does not. While it’s simple and only uses a couple colors, our city’s seal makes it impossible to visually understand from a distance and blends in with any other seal we may see.

If you look at the Google searches for each city’s flag you notice how prominent Chicago’s flag is, not just in the city but to anyone searching for the city. Syracuse, on the other hand, is dominated by Syracuse University. The city itself is an afterthought with only one image result. While I think we should be proud of the university that bears our name, we should be able to stand on our own and have pride in the city itself.

Above I have a quick rendering that I made of what an alternative flag for Syracuse may be:

• Blue Line: the Erie Canal

• Top White Line: Snow

• Bottom White Line: Salt mining

• Orange Arrow: Center of the state/ major stop on the underground railroad for slaves heading north

This is just one idea, and I believe it should open up the conversation to the city for us to decide how we want our city symbolized. I used orange and blue since those have become the unofficial colors of our city and there’s no reason to fight that. I think we deserve to have a better city flag, one that we’re proud to fly on our homes, have hats emblazoned with it, or bumper stickers on our cars.

At the same time, our flag is only one way in which people recognize a city. Another important aspect is how we are seen online.

When you’re researching a restaurant or business, often times your first impression comes from their website. If they have a sleek layout, easy navigation, videos, etc., you’re likely to have a better impression of that business. You’re likely to trust the quality of their product. The same holds true for cities.

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Syracuse

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New York City

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Camden, NJ

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Los Angeles County

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Portland, OR

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Buffalo

Above is a selection of city/county websites from across the country. Some, like NYC and Los Angeles, you’d expect to have sleek, easy to use websites. Then there are some like Camden, NJ and Buffalo that have spent time reworking their images and understand that their websites are their first impressions to many. Camden has been working especially hard to revitalize their image along with their dramatic restructuring of their police department which has seen huge improvements in safety. They understand that they have to reintroduce people to their city.

Then there is the Syracuse website which is clunky and dated. The website states that a new website is coming soon, which is long overdue, but I hope they are taking cues from some of the most successful cities in our country in how to present ourselves as a modern city.

Take NYC: their city logo is modern, bold, but simple. We should be embracing our initials, using SYR more often. The Syracuse Airport has embraced this idea with their new logo and the city should follow suit, making an interchangeable symbol that we can alter to embrace every individual department.

Syracuse Airport logo

Sadly we don’t have such an easy symbol to embrace like the Buffalo buffalo. They have made that symbol so universal throughout the city, with every sports team having its own version. Syracuse doesn’t have that singular figure, but there’s no reason SYR cannot become more prevalent in our city.

In the end these are not ground breaking ideas, but it’s a conversation about how we want our city to be presented to the rest of the world. Let’s give ourselves an identity beyond the university. The first thing you see when you search for Syracuse should be the city itself and our flag, not a private institution, no matter how closely its tied to the city. But most of all, let’s stop being our own biggest critic and start becoming our own biggest fan. How we feel about ourselves shapes what the world thinks of us.

For further reading on civic pride in mid-sized cities, avoiding our city becoming a clone of other cities, and more city flags, I recommend reading the following:

I also recommend the book “The Next American City” by Mick Cornett. Out of all mayors, he understands what it means for a city to have pride in itself and what that can do to transform it.

Think Big About Syracuse In Winter - The Salt City Games

One of the things I hear most often from people who have moved out of Syracuse, or even from those who live there, is that there isn’t anything to do. They say that’s especially true in the winter months when everyone is hunkered down, only venturing out for the occasional SU basketball game or a Syracuse Crunch hockey game. While I disagree with Governor Cuomo that the main reason people move away from New York is the cold weather, I do think there is something to that.

We’ve let the narrative of people suffering through the long, cold winter months define what Syracuse is. Beyond Syracuse University, the first thing people think of when they hear “Syracuse” is cold and snow. We let that become a negative thought that helps push people away from the city and from the region as a whole. But does our long winter with feet upon feet of snow have to be a bad thing? Or is there a way that we can rebrand ourselves and embrace what makes us unique: the snowiest big city (population over 100,000) in the United States.

Growing up in Syracuse, sledding was always my go-to winter activity. I was terrible, and still am, at ice skating, and I never quite got the hang of snowboarding or skiing. Yet here I was in a city that gets blanketed with ten feet of snow every year. Some of my friends picked up these sports and some ended up being great at them, but it was never a large number. Part of the reason might be because a lot of the winter sports require a financial investment up front; buy/rent the skates, buy/rent the skis, join ski club which may cost $200 that most families don’t have lying around. I bring this fact up because the city of Syracuse is home to many families who can’t afford to take up the winter sports, even though we’re in a prime location to not only take them up but excel at them.

This is my starting point and it will lead to an idea of how to celebrate winter throughout the city while shouting to the outside world that Syracuse is a winter destination that you need to experience.

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Syracuse Northside, 2017

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Franklin Square, 2018

Invest In Winter for Kids

While there are free skate nights at the rinks in Syracuse and plenty of hills to sled and snowboard down (if you have equipment), we need to invest in bringing kids into these sports. Unless you grow up in a family that has been involved with hockey, or skiing, or skating, you’re not likely to get involved with it yourself. Unlike basketball or soccer, you can’t just go up to the nearby park and start playing. There’s a learning curve that you need someone to reassure you about. This has resulted in hockey leagues being travel leagues, meaning it’s out of reach for anyone that doesn’t have the ability to commit to such a schedule.

Investing in programs in the city schools and other neighboring districts to introduce and encourage winter sports could open up a whole new world to some of these kids. Start at a young age, get them comfortable being on the ice, and watch kids with untapped athleticism embrace a new sport. Much like the donations of bikes to kids in need every summer, why not encourage donations of winter athletic gear? Lower the point of entry and provide the support needed to start a new sport.

Outside of sports, why not use the snow as part of our education system. Use the snow to teach architecture, engineering, physics, etc. Build igloos and other structures to tap into cultural education about how these structures have been used throughout history. Art classes could introduce ice sculpting along with more traditional forms of sculpture.

Creating this connection to the snow, connection to the cold, and connection to our environment as a whole will help to reshape our relationship with winter. It doesn’t need to be seen as the season of darkness. but instead we should embrace hygge (pronounced hue-guh), which is a Danish and Norwegian term about coziness and wellness especially in the colder months. It is in the spirit of hygge that we should not only get kids more involved with winter sports and crafts, but also create a full on celebration of the city during this time.

Syracuse has worked to create events in the winter, including the introduction of the New York State Winter Fair this year. While these festivals and events have done a lot to get people out and active, in some ways they aim too low. Winter shouldn’t just be about getting our residents out, but about introducing new reasons for travelers to come to town. With this I look to borrow the name of the Salt City Games from the Park Department’s summer event and repurpose it as almost a regional Olympic Winter Games. Before you say that this could never work (because I know many people will be thinking in that way) it’s worth exploring what exactly this could be. At least what I envision for it.

The Salt City Games

Syracuse would become the epicenter of winter sports and culture for two weekends in the winter. Not just downtown, but throughout the city and into the inner rings suburbs as we attract athletes and artists from across the region to compete.

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Syracuse Crunch, 2018

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Syracuse Crunch Fans, 2018

Hockey

One of the major draws would be a youth hockey tournament played across the city. Teams from neighboring cities and towns would join our local high school teams in a tournament that would culminate in an outdoor game at NBT Bank Stadium. On the same weekend as the final for the high school tournament would be games played by Syracuse University, SUNY Oswego, and RIT at the stadium, with the last game of the event being played by the Syracuse Crunch (ideally against either Rochester or Utica to bring in additional regional fans).

This would allow NBT Bank Stadium to thrive in the winter and promote businesses that line Hiawatha Blvd. to fans flocking to the games. The Crunch have repeatedly expressed interest in doing an outdoor game at the stadium, much as Rochester did at the Red Wings stadium years ago. While the Syracuse Chiefs originally balked at the idea recently, by including these other events and institutions in the discussion may put enough pressure on the Syracuse Mets to embrace the idea moving forward.

Cross Country Skiing

A signature event for the Salt City Games would be the 30km (about 18 miles) cross country skiing race. What would make this race dramatically different than other races in the sport would be its urban nature. By this I mean filling city streets with snow to allow the course to wind its way through different neighborhoods and straight through Downtown Syracuse before working its way out to NBT Bank Stadium for the finish line. Treating this event like an urban marathon will give it a unique appeal to athletes looking for a new, challenging event. At the same time showcasing the beauty of the city in winter.

Utica Curling Club

Curling

Curling is one of those sports that’s often mocked by people who haven’t spent much time watching it. And yet every Winter Olympics it becomes a hot topic once again. With multiple curling clubs across Upstate New York this could become a vibrant event to attract new players. Similar to hockey, this would be a tournament format but will culminate in the semi finals and finals being played at the War Memorial.

Art and Culture Showcase

Much like Winterfest, this festival will also include ice sculpting, chili cook-offs, and any other cultural touchstone that can be incorporated. This is the part of the festival that is the most flexible and would hopefully include music and performances, both outside and inside. The city should be a constant ebb and flow of life, light, and music throughout these weekends.

Invest In Winter

Through these events and these investments we should be looking to change our perspective on winter and what it means for our city. There will always be people who look to travel to warmer climates during winter but there’s no reason we can’t catch the eye of plenty of people looking to embrace the snow.

Beyond these programs I still believe major bus stations should be outfitted with heating systems for patrons, and additional heating lamps throughout the city in high traffic areas. We shouldn’t fear going outside because of the cold. Through these heating spots you show residents and the world that we’re a city that cares and a city that embraces its lot in life. That’s a community people want to visit and live in.

While these aren’t your normal economic development ideas, I think we need to think bigger and think boldly about how we want the world to see us.