The Market Commons at the CNY Regional Market.

A Healthy Future for the Regional Market

November 6, 2024

Since 1938, the CNY Regional Market has called the City’s Northside home. Nestled between Park St and Hiawatha Blvd, the Regional Market has easy access to I-81 (soon to be Business Loop 81) and the Parkway, yet feels disconnected from the City neighborhoods that surround it. Traditionally an industrialized neighborhood, many of the industrial buildings that remain along Hiawatha Blvd are either underutilized or vacant and act as a barrier between the nearby residential neighborhoods. But it remains an essential anchor within the neighborhood and a regional attraction.

In 2023, the Regional Market released a $90 million plan aimed at addressing many of their long time maintenance needs as well as investing in new infrastructure that would help bring the facility into the modern era. While these repairs and investments are sorely needed, they were soon overshadowed by a State audit that revealed questionable financial practices by the individuals running the Market that have greatly jeopardized its future stability. As there is renewed focus on the Regional Market and concern for its future, let’s dig in to what what that future could look like.

Market Commons

Market Diner

Commission Houses

Market Commons

The approximately 50 acres controlled by the Regional Market includes five “sheds” where vendors sell produce on Thursdays and Saturdays, as well as run a flea market on Sundays. Three larger warehouses, known as the Commission Houses, sit between the sheds and Hiawatha Blvd, while a strip of commercial buildings, the Market Commons, line Park St. The Commons includes Market Diner, an M&T Bank office, and a Wendy’s, with large vacant spaces currently available for lease. Additionally, the Market controls a vacant warehouse across Tex Simone Dr that sits just outside of the NBT Bank Stadium parking lot.

Surrounding all of these structures is asphalt. Acres and acres of asphalt with few dedicated spaces for pedestrians. In fact, the only sidewalks within the Market area line roughly 1,300 ft of Park St near the commercial buildings. Otherwise, pedestrians intermingle with vehicles as they circle the sheds either looking for a place to store their car, dropping/picking someone up, or picking up large purchases they may have made that day. For individuals who may have parked further afield, a shuttle provides an easy, accessible way into the Market, making stops outside of each shed.

The mural within the Market Diner illustrates an idealized walk from the Market to NBT Bank Stadium. Currently visitors are fenced in within the Market with poor pedestrian connections to the stadium area.

Lining the perimeter of the Market is a dilapidated chain link fence, further severing the grounds from its neighbors. And the Market has a lot of neighbors. The Regional Transportation Center (RTC), NBT Bank Stadium, Destiny USA, as well as one of the denser neighborhoods of the City of Syracuse all lie across the street from the Market, yet feel completely disconnected from it.

So what can we do to reconnect the Market with its neighbors and set it on a course for a healthier, livelier future?

First, let’s start by tearing down that fence. While there is a desire to control the space within the Market grounds, the existing fence fails to enclose the entirety of the property and sends a visual signal of disinterest in its neighbors. This is not to say a fence should not be part of the property, but only where absolutely necessary and it must be thoughtfully designed. Instead, it is encouraged to expand the Market’s facilities to include buildings that line Hiawatha Blvd and NBT Bank Pkwy, creating a barrier between the heart of the Market and the street, but in a way that welcomes visitors.

Now, these structures do not need to be market specific, but can bring in other uses that compliment the mission of the Market, including housing. New York State is in the midst of a housing crisis, as is the Greater Syracuse Area. With historic growth coming to Central New York as a result of the Micron investment, Syracuse is in need of more quality affordable housing. As a State sanctioned authority, the CNY Regional Market should be tapped as a resource to address this crisis. Not only would this address a need in our community, but it would also be good for the Market itself. Developing a mix of affordable and market rate apartments would provide a reliable source of income for the market as well as create a captive audience for their vendors to sell to. Food deserts are often discussed extensively in planning circles, and yet the Regional Market offers an opportunity for fresh food and produce oriented development (maybe not as catchy as transit oriented development, but still providing direct access to needed resources).

Gateway entrance to NBT Bank Stadium and the Regional Market at the corner of Hiawatha Blvd and Tex Simone Dr, as shown in the Hiawatha - Lodi Brownfield Opportunity Area plan.

The cornerstone of these new structures should be the vacant warehouse across Tex Simone Dr. Back in 2012, the brownfield opportunity area plan for Hiawatha Blvd saw this corner as an opportunity to create an appealing entrance to the market / ballpark district, including a large welcome sign that straddles Tex Simone Drive, announcing your entrance into a true destination. I support this vision, and I believe anchoring that corner with a large, mixed-use building, provides the best opportunity to truly transform how we view the entire district. Building off the success of the Hiawatha Heights Apartments next-door, which converted an old industrial building into residential lofts, the construction of a new, mixed-use building can help solidify the transition of the neighborhood away from its industrial past and into a modern, urban center.

In addition to the new mixed-use buildings lining the Market, improved pedestrian and bicycle connections will be sorely needed. Currently, the only sidewalk available on Hiawatha Blvd sits outside of the new CubeSmart self storage facility (not my favorite commercial property use, but better than a vacant building). Tex Simone Dr has no sidewalks to speak of. And NBT Bank Pkwy only has a sidewalk along its northern curb from Tex Simone Dr to the RTC. Pedestrian connections into the Market area are non-existent, while crossing any of the surrounding streets is a dangerous task. The first step to addressing these gaps is to fill them. Every curb should be lined with sidewalks, providing easy pedestrian access to all of the key anchor destinations in this area. Next, we must address the lack of safe crossing opportunities. In 2019, SMTC conducted a mobility study of the Market area that highlighted potential opportunities to narrow some of the surrounding roadways and improve crossings.This includes adding pedestrian islands at the Park St / Hiawatha Blvd intersection and bike lanes along Hiawatha Blvd. It’s encouraging to note that many of these changes are being pursued by the City of Syracuse in the coming years.

One thing the SMTC study does not address is the potential narrowing of NBT Bank Pkwy. The street, from curb to curb, has a typical width of around 50 ft with 4 travel lanes. With around 3,500 vehicles per day, this street is extremely overbuilt and encourages drivers to travel over the speed limit regularly. While turning lanes are needed at the Park St intersection, the majority of the street’s length can and should be reduced to one lane in each direction, with a turning lane into the RTC to assist the movement of buses. With this extra space, on-street parking can be implemented along with wider sidewalks and street trees. A mid-block crossing, with curb extensions, from the Market to the RTC should be implemented to improve connections for transit riders and travelers alike while slowing drivers through squeezing the roadway.

Now that we have addressed access around the Market, we should turn our attention to its interior and focus on improving the mobility of visitors along with the overall experience. This begins by restricting vehicle movements and expanding pedestrian spaces. First, we must remove the parking lanes that directly line the Market sheds. These spaces are highly coveted due to their close proximity to the vendors, but also encourage drivers to circle close to where most people are walking, creating conflicts and spewing exhaust right where people are mingling. Instead, these spaces should be converted to green spaces with sidewalks and trees. Some vehicle access will need to be maintained to allow vendors to access their stalls and for the Market shuttle to drop visitors off. Minimal access should be provided for customers. Some additional parking can be added in the far northeast corner, but a better option would be to utilize the parking lot at NBT Bank Stadium, while expanding the shuttle service for visitors in those lots. Syracuse Mets games typically start at 6:35pm, with gates open at 5:35pm. With the Market closing at 2pm, there should be no overlap in the use of the parking lots. The fewer parking spaces within the Market property, the more land that can be repurposed as park space.

One type of parking that should be included within the Market property is bike parking. Currently, the only bike parking available sits at the corner of Farmers Market Pl and Park St, a truly unpleasant place to be let alone leave your bike. Instead, the Market should consider providing indoor bike parking / lockers, as well as a large bike corral directly behind the Market Commons building that sits along Park St. It’s imperative to provide convenient, safe bike parking if you hope to encourage more people to ride to the Market.

As we look at the uses inside the Market grounds, we should take some inspiration from the revitalization plans that were released last year (and are currently removed from their website). The plans called for the redevelopment of the Commission Houses into a food hall, similar to the Salt City Market in Downtown Syracuse. While this is an intriguing idea, a food hall may be better positioned at a location along the edge of the property, providing easier access throughout the week. This could occupy one of the larger empty spaces in the Market Commons building, or even the first floor of any new development at the vacant warehouse on Tex Simone Dr.

Market Commons would benefit from more dining options, and potentially a sports bar that ties itself into the local sports history of the ballpark down the street. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, there are no good dining and drinking options near the ballpark, which prevents fans from lingering in the neighborhood before or after a ballgame. Finding ways to tie the ballpark closer to the Regional Market is key to the future of the district. This may include working with the Syracuse Mets to hold more afternoon games, perhaps even calling them Market Days, to tie into the energy of both community anchors.

Market Commons vacancy with windows.jpeg

At its heart, we must improve the areas used by vendors, including providing more space for refrigeration and electrical hookups. These are functional items that vendors have expressed a need for and that more modern markets are providing. If this requires the demolition of some of the older structures, we should be open to that, as long as their replacements offer the better amenities and functionality. We should preserve as much of the historic structures as possible, but we should not let their histories prevent us from creating a more functional market space for vendors and visitors.

The Market area, and the greater Northside neighborhood in which it sits, has a lot of potential. From the Market and the RTC to the ballpark and Destiny USA, so many of our regional assets sit close together, yet feel completely disconnected from one another. As we have discussions surrounding the future of the Market, it’s the perfect time to dream big and create a true destination on the Northside.

An active market day, despite the rain in May.

Smaller apartment buildings can easily fit into neighborhoods with single family and multi-family homes.

Renters Matter, Too

July 31, 2024

Housing continues to be a hot topic, both locally and nationally. The cost of housing, both to rent and to own, continues to rise, putting pressure on individuals and families. Organizations, activists, and planners have all been working to expand housing in hopes that abundance may help regulate price increases. At the same time, just as many organizations, activists, and other community leaders have focused on blocking development they deem out of character with their communities. As a result, after many years of being ignored, the discussion about housing is finally front and center, and the public comments are not always pretty.

After every local news story about a housing development or housing study, one thing becomes clear in the comments on social media: a vocal disdain for renters and rental properties.

While just a small sample, the above Facebook comments are not uncommon. Rental properties are seen as a burden on a community and renters bring quality of life problems for homeowners and have no investment in their neighborhoods. As a renter myself, this obviously does not reflect how I view renters and I believe the perpetuation of these views negatively impacts our communities. So let us respond to some of these concerns and offer up a defense of renters as our neighbors.

One of the primary arguments individuals make against adding rental housing, or more dense housing in general, is that it does not fit with the character of their neighborhood. In their new book, Escaping the Housing Trap, Charles L Marohn Jr and Daniel Herriges argue against this view:

“Shouldn’t a community have the right to say ‘no’ to unwanted change? Buried in the premise of the question is that refusing change is an option. But that’s not the case. Change is inevitable. A community that has lost all affordable, starter housing already has changed, irreversibly. It is only the buildings that have not. Cities must be living, evolving, complex things…Preservation is taxidermy.”

While the authors are specifically focused on addressing the lack of affordable housing, defined as affordable for varying levels of income not just low-income housing, the emphasis on allowing change in all neighborhoods is key. Families have moved to suburban areas seeking homogeneity and stability. As a result, they fight to prevent the community they have moved into from changing. But this is not sustainable. Others deserve the opportunity to move into areas that offer access to services they desire and need, such as school districts, medical care, and job opportunities. Refusing rental housing blocks many individuals and families who were not lucky enough to buy property decades ago at lower prices and ride the wave of rising home values from moving into areas of opportunity.

But we will come back to the need for more housing. Let us instead focus on the arguments against renters themselves.

A lot of rental housing in Syracuse and smaller cities include two-family homes and single family homes.

Often you will see people describe individuals who rent as less invested in their respective communities. The view here is that because they have not purchased their homes, they are less tied to their communities and more likely to leave after only a short period of time.

While this argument may sound reasonable on its face, it forgets the many renters who spend decades in the same apartment or home. It forgets the many reasons someone may choose to rent long term instead of buying. It forgets that renters are also tax payers, and pay into the same property taxes (through their rents) that homeowners do.

So why do people choose to rent?

Renting offers individuals flexibility. Recent articles in the New York Times discuss when people should consider buying versus renting and it often comes down to long term plans. Unless you plan to live in a neighborhood for 10+ years, buying a home ends up being a worse financial decision. This is a result of down payments, broker’s fees, interest rates, and repairs.

Repairs and home maintenance are underappreciated costs. For many individuals who do not have general repair skills (myself included) the cost of hiring qualified professionals to take care of plumbing, electrical, and other maintenance issues can run high. Renters, provided they have responsive and organized landlords, usually have these maintenance fees baked into their rents and can expect prompt corrections to issues as they arise. Yes, plenty of landlords do not live up to these expectations. In fact, some landlords in Syracuse are suing the City to prevent code enforcement officers from inspecting their units without warrants. These inspections are aimed at reducing lead exposure and other hazards. These landlords must be held accountable as they are responsible for the safety of all of their tenants. Allowing one- and two-family homes to avoid this level of inspection is irresponsible at best, and criminal at worst.

Common Space offers smaller apartment units with large, shared spaces geared towards creating more communal living in urban centers.

Many renters also choose to rent due to the lack of diversity in housing stock. In most American cities, including Syracuse, you either have the option to rent an apartment or buy a detached single-family home. While this has been billed as the “American Dream” for several decades, it no longer fits the needs of many American households. While our country has grown, family sizes have shrunk, even while our homes have grown larger. In 2020, I wrote about the need to redefine what the “standard American home” means, arguing that most homes do not need 2,000+ square feet of space to accommodate 2 or 3 people. Townhouses, rowhouses, smaller multi-family buildings can provide needed and more appropriately sized space for these smaller households that are may desire lower levels of upkeep. These denser housing types also create opportunities to provide transit and active transportation facilities that larger lots and houses make difficult. Unfortunately, many townhouses within the Syracuse area today are not built in an urban context, but instead in suburban subdivisions which continue to separate people from their day-to-day needs. Providing a homeownership option that fits their needs in a truly urban setting may convince many renters to buy, but currently their only option to live in these types of neighborhoods is to rent.

While not traditional townhouses, the Catholic Diocese of Syracuse mimics traditional townhome and brownstone construction seen in larger cities and in Syracuse, historically.

And yet, many view anything smaller than these large, detached homes as squeezing people into tin cans or barracks. They view urban settings, including apartment buildings and townhouses as inhumane. Yet zoning that restricts the development of denser housing more often leads to overcrowding as the number of housing units does not keep pace with the number of households. As a result, extended families crowd into single homes and people must live with more roommates than they would desire otherwise. The below graphic from California YIMBY illustrates these differences clearly.

The final argument against renters I will discuss in this post, is one I have addressed in numerous other posts - the lack of parking. People will argue that denser housing, usually apartments that do not provide off-street parking, will cause neighborhood streets to become clogged with cars. While there may be slight increases in on-street parking usage in the short term, as we promote density, more residents will find themselves closer to their day-to-day needs, perhaps even within walking distance, and opting to own fewer vehicles. If concerns arise over the overuse of on-street parking, residential parking permit programs with caps on the number of vehicles can help limit the number of vehicles on the street. But it is important to note that renters and owners are just as likely to park on the street in many neighborhoods.

We must remember that we all have different needs and desires when it comes to housing. Many people will desire home ownership, but many others find renting fits their needs better. In the end, we are all part of the same community and should welcome having more neighbors, especially if they are looking to invest in their neighborhoods, be it through money or time. Renters matter in our communities so let us open our arms to more of them.

Many of Syracuse’s historic buildings have been converted into apartments and mixed-use developments over the past 20 years.

The Valley of the Sun - A Land of (Sub)Urban Extremes

March 21, 2024

The desert - a place we often associate with vast, seemingly empty space. Where animals are often nocturnal to avoid the daytime heat and cacti have adapted to live off the minimal amounts of rain that comes each year. It's more associated with surviving than thriving. And yet, one of the United States’ fastest growing cities has sprung from the desert.

Phoenix, Arizona is sometimes derided as a suburban hellscape. Just an endless sea of sprawl that reaches for miles in all directions, sucking up the few resources that surround it, resulting in never ending conversations around drought and water supply. Yet, while it receives harsh critiques, many of which are warranted, there are signs that things are changing and a more sustainable version of the Valley may be on its way.

As I like to do when I visit different urban environments across the country, let’s take a look at what’s working, what’s not working, and some of the promising changes greater Phoenix is experiencing. While you’ll be hard pressed to find a city more different than Syracuse in terms of climate, that does not mean there aren’t things we can learn from it. It is also important to remember that these are really only first impressions, as no amount of short visits can tell the lived experience of the region.

With that in mind, let’s start with the bad - Lanes, lanes, and more lanes.

Los Angeles, often considered a car centric city with its wide highways cutting through the Hollywood Hills and its bumper to bumper traffic, is nearly 3x as densely populated (8,304 people/sq mile) as Phoenix (3,104 people/sq mile) when just looking at the central cities. Daily transit usage is roughly 8x higher in Los Angeles while the metropolitan area is home to roughly 2.5x more people. As a result, Phoenix amplifies these roadway issues as nearly everyone drives. Many neighborhoods are bordered by major arterials with 5-7 travel lanes and vehicles moving at 40+ mph. Add on top of that the incredible amount of highways that criss cross their way across the region. Traveling across the Valley, you run into multiple highway expansion projects, a signal that the region is doubling down on car infrastructure, enshrining personal vehicles as its primary mode of transportation into the future.

Not only are the streets and roadways built for ever increasing car traffic, your destinations are increasingly oriented around never leaving your car as well. Drive-thru salads, cafes, and even liquor stores line many of the main streets outside of the city center. Cars queueing up to wait 10-30 minutes wind their way onto side streets, backing up traffic and block crosswalks. In many ways, suburban Phoenix shows what suburban Syracuse is approaching if changes aren’t made soon. Tully’s has proposed a drive-thru version of its restaurant and Chick-fil-as are sprouting up with increasing frequency throughout our suburbs.

As a result of these development patterns, it should come as no surprise that Phoenix and its neighbor, Mesa, are considered two of the 10 most dangerous cities to drive in, ranking 6th and 8th respectively. In my short time in the metro area, multiple car crashes blocked intersections and rerouted traffic. Fast moving cars, weaving across multiple lanes are simply a recipe for disaster.

On top of the dangers for drivers, Arizona is ranked as one of the deadliest states in the country for people walking. As dangerous as it is for drivers to traverse multiple lanes in order to turn, the extremely wide intersections leave people on foot and on bikes exposed to danger for longer. Multiple turning lanes also make it difficult for people walking to be confident that all cars are stopped, reducing the feeling of safety. Ultimately, when you do not feel safe walking, you work to find another way to get around, often in a car, leaving the streets more dangerous for those without any other option. Most people in Syracuse would choose to avoid walking on Erie Blvd E or Genesee St in Fayetteville or Rt 31 in Clay. But when your neighborhood is encircled by roadways of that scale, it is hard to avoid.

While sidewalks are almost always present, providing a dedicated space for people to walk, bike lanes are still expanding their reach. Where they do exist, the quality ranges dramatically. For every wide, protected lane, there are multiple skinny lanes pushed into the gutter that drop out suddenly before reappearing hundreds of feet further down the road. This is not just a problem around Phoenix, Mesa, and Tempe, but across the country. This problem is especially acute on the multi-lane arterials where drivers are racing, leaving people riding bikes vulnerable whether they are riding in a painted lane or on the side of the road. In Tempe, which has a Vision Zero program, at least one of its Safety Corridors, W University Dr, does not do much to prioritize safe movements of vehicles and includes very little room for its bike lane. I’ll come back to this area again later in the piece as there are some really positive things happening nearby.

And the final piece of bad news before we start looking at the positives - never ending seas of car storage.

As a metropolitan area that is dedicated to the personal vehicle, there’s an overwhelming need for car storage at all destinations. Angled street parking was a common sight around Mesa, but often that parking simply lined the curb outside of a parking lot. Even the roomy parking-protected bike lane primarily ran next to businesses surrounded by their own parking lot, reducing the likelihood of cars acting as a barrier between riders and moving vehicles. To give you a sense of the problem, there is an estimated 2.4 million cars register in the State of Arizona, but there are over 12 million parking spaces in just the Phoenix metropolitan area. All of that asphalt not only makes it unpleasant to walk in most parts of the metro area, but it also intensifies the incredible heat the area experiences during the summer months. Anyone who has ever walked through a parking lot in the summer knows just how hot it can be, but now imagine that walk when its 115 degrees out and there are no trees to shade you. The heated asphalt can even result in severe burns to those unfortunate enough to touch it with their bare skin.

But this is where we start to see some positives, and it comes from an historic form of architecture - the stoa.

Mesa - Covered walkways

Tempe Marketplace

Stoa are covered walkways often found in ancient architecture in Greece, Rome, and Spain. Downtown Mesa, which exudes traditional southwest charm in its architecture, employs stoa throughout. The coverings create pleasantly shaded paths and often include both public benches and outdoor dining opportunities. While the stoa are used to help combat the intense sunshine and heat the Phoenix area experiences, the same technique can and should be used in our colder, wetter climates to provide people walking with cover from rain and snow. In New York City, sidewalk sheds, while intended to be temporary, often provide this benefit during storms. Downtown Syracuse has lost many of its awnings and coverings over time, which becomes apparent when you see historical photos and paintings of the area.

While stoa offer up much needed shade, they also help to expand outdoor dining opportunities for bars and restaurants. As a city that enjoys sunshine nearly all year round, outdoor dining and drinking is a common occurrence - on sidewalks out front, patios in the back, and roof tops. While northern cities like Syracuse can’t as easily provide this level of outdoor activation, we can do more than people often think. By including more covered spaces, outdoor patios and rooftops can be activated for most of the year, especially if heating lamps are strategically placed throughout. Unlike Phoenix, whose residents are spoiled with sunny days, our northern cities see all available outdoor spaces filled from the first sunny day in spring to the last grasp of warmth in the fall. We should identify ways to make these spaces work in all weather.

Sticking to this desire to be outside in social settings, suburban Phoenix has increasingly embraced outdoor malls with pedestrian centers. Tempe Marketplace, while surrounded by a moat of car storage, provides a dense, walkable environment for visitors. Yes, at its core it is simply a mall, primarily occupied by national chains and privately controlled, but it offers the possibility of becoming more than just a mall. As the need for housing expands, the large parking lots that surround the shopping center can easily be developed into housing, allowing residents to live within easy walking distance to many of their daily needs. Enclosed malls can also see some of this infill and conversion, but the focus on interior access makes redevelopment more difficult.

Now I may have been harsh on mobility across the Valley, and rightfully so, but there are some bright spots that deserve some attention.

Let’s start back with that parking protected bike lane mentioned earlier. This concept is not new and has been used extensively throughout New York City and other cities across the country. But I want to highlight the use of this technique in Phoenix, one of the most car obsessed metro areas in the country, in contrast to Syracuse’s reluctance to explore their use after neighbors caused an uproar over one near Syracuse University over a decade ago. While the execution of that bike lane was less than desirable, it is beyond time to revisit their use as a low-cost and effective way to protect bike lanes throughout the city.

In Tempe, some neighborhood streets are utilizing raised intersections to slow vehicles, making it safer for people to ride bikes and walk across the street. By spreading these intersections along a street, cars are never able to pick up speed before they need to slow down once again, reinforcing safer speeds. Similar techniques have been used closer to Syracuse, with a high profile example in Philadelphia’s City Center neighborhood. Concerns will always be raised about maintenance, especially regarding impacts on plowing, but those concerns are truly unfounded. Similar to raised intersections, the City of Syracuse has been piloting speed cushions on neighborhood streets throughout the city. After 2 years, there has been no documented evidence of issues with plowing. If anything, a fully raised intersection may be even easier to navigate for plows as they should be moving through intersections at slower speeds to begin with.

Tempe - Raised intersection

Tempe - Scooter drop zone

Mesa - Valley Metro Rail station

Valley Metro Rail

Beyond improving the movements on our streets, Tempe is setting an example of how to handle dockless scooters. In spring 2022, social media around Syracuse was lighting up with complaints over where the new e-scooters were being left - blocking sidewalks, in parking spaces, on front lawns, etc. Since then, there has been little movement on providing better spaces for scooters to be left when they’re no longer in use. In contrast, Tempe has taken action in its downtown core by creating simple drop zones near intersections. These drop zones are painted spaces with a scooter symbol in areas already signed for no parking. As a result, they act as an additional reinforcement to daylighting regulations, where cars are prohibited to park in order to enhance visibility within an intersection. Similar techniques have been used with great success in Hoboken, NJ, which has not seen a traffic death in over 7 years. To encourage the use of these new drop zones, Tempe has worked with the e-scooter providers to enact fees and penalties for not leaving their scooters within the designated areas. Syracuse, and other cities with micro mobility options, should explore similar policies once drop zones are implemented and widely spread across neighborhoods.

All of this begins to add up to some of the more promising projects occurring around the region, all of which are building off the investment the region made in light rail. While Valley Metro Rail is fairly limited in scope, dense development has followed in its wake.

Five and six story residential buildings are popping up across the Valley within easy walking distance of the light rail corridor. While they are primarily residential only, some mixed-use development is popping up as well, with many buildings facing the main corridor while placing whatever parking they do provide in less visible locations.

Culdesac interior street

Culdesac bar / restaurant

Culdesac secure bike parking

Other housing construction near Culdesac

As a sign of what may be possible in the near future, a much talked about new development, Culdesac, is aiming to show that even in this car dominated region, you can live car free. This development, located directly at a light rail station, emphasizes car-free living, providing secure bike parking throughout, narrow pedestrian only streets, small courtyards, and commercial/retail outlets sprinkled along the first floor of many buildings. While the development was in soft launch mode while we walked around in early March 2024, you could get a sense of what the place was aiming to be - a fully integrated community. The small shops are meant to serve not only residents of Culdesac, but also the hundreds of apartments popping up nearby. A bar/restaurant sits at the entrance to the development as you cross from the light rail station, with outdoor seating lining the sidewalk. This choice emphasizes the need for social third places for neighbors to come together.

Now this type of development may not be possible everywhere, but its staking out a claim in a region that has been hostile to pedestrian and transit oriented developments. As the Syracuse region eyes significant growth for the first time in decades, we should look to ambitious developments like Culdesac for ideas on how to increase walkability even in more suburban environments. Locate your developments where transit investments are occurring, emphasize access to daily needs, and create spaces that are human scale.

Even though the Valley of the Sun mostly remains a cautionary tale in terms of urban development, there are plenty of lessons we can learn, both good and bad, from its growth. Let’s make sure we learn the right ones.

We Need a Housing Compact

May 10, 2023

New York State, along with states around the country, is suffering from a housing crisis. When most people hear this, they immediately think of the high housing costs in New York City and the surrounding areas, where rents are well over $3,000 per month, home ownership is out of reach for many, and recent reports indicate roughly half of residents can not comfortably afford their current living arrangements. But this should not overshadow the very real housing crises experienced across Upstate New York as well. Highly restrictive zoning policies have segregated our communities, both racially and economically. High levels of abandoned properties and disinvestment have left large portions of our housing stock in poor conditions, increasing the demand and costs for the quality housing that remains. These are issues that must be addressed and we must admit that our current land use and zoning structures have failed to do so. This is why I support Governor Hochul’s Housing Compact, which was regrettably removed from the State’s 2023-2024 budget.

Before we jump into why I believe the Compact is needed, and what we might do to improve upon it, I think its important to first run through what it is.

The aim of the Housing Compact is to build at least 800,000 housing units over the next ten years. This is in response to the State creating over 1.2 million jobs this past decade, but only building 400,000 units of housing. As we all learn in high school economics classes, when demand rises but the supply does not meet that demand, prices go up. Simply put, all localities would be required to build a certain amount of housing every three years - 1 percent growth Upstate and 3 percent growth Downstate. So if you’re in a small village with only 300 units of housing currently, you would need to allow for at least 3 housing units to be built. For the City of Syracuse, the target would be roughly 680 units.

If a municipality does not meet their targets, they can get credit for updating their zoning to allow denser housing development. If a municipality continues to miss their targets, or does not put in effort to make it easier to build, the State would be allowed to override the local zoning and approve projects.

Additionally, the State would emphasize transit oriented development (TOD) near all train stations operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). TOD would allow for more residents to live car free with easy access to high quality transit in our State’s primary economic center. While this doesn’t apply Upstate, cities and regions should be taking similar approaches around stations with frequent service.

As you can imagine, and as you have probably heard, many people are not happy with the idea of the State overriding their local zoning laws. They’ll bring up discussions of “community character,” “local control,” or “concerns of overcrowded schools.” What it truly boils down to is concerns over home values and who lives in their community.

Elected leaders in the State legislature proposed utilizing incentives to encourage housing construction instead of penalizing localities. On its face, this seems like a fair compromise, but it would only lead to further segregation. Wealthy communities do not need financial incentives and will decide against adding housing, while cash strapped municipalities, primarily cities and older inner ring suburbs, will forge ahead with housing plans. While the financial incentives will help those communities, the wealthy communities will continue to shrug off their responsibilities to their regions.

Overall, the Compact would go a long way towards addressing the housing crises impacting our communities. Creating more housing where it is desperately needed. Providing housing opportunities in all communities to allow for greater access to resources. Improving our rapidly deteriorating housing stock Upstate. But I believe there are a few things we can do to improve upon it.

Starting Downstate, and really anywhere that touches MTA infrastructure. Currently large parking lots and garages surround many of the suburban MetroNorth and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) stations. This is land that is owned by the State and its time for the State to get back into the business of building housing in a big way. Each of these lots is a prime opportunity for affordable housing and related public services. Providing subsidized parking to commuters should not come at the expense of pushing housing further away from quality transit.

These policies can and should be emulated across the State as other transit agencies introduce bus rapid transit (BRT) or have rail infrastructure of their own. Publicly owned lots and garages should be targeted for housing construction whenever possible.

Moving to statewide policies, we should follow the lead of California and band single family zoning statewide. California’s Senate Bill 9 allows for up to four units of housing to be built on every residential lot across the state. While I believe we should follow this same policy, even allowing two-family homes on every lot would mark a dramatic improvement. This goes far beyond just allowing for auxiliary dwelling units (ADUs), essentially a granny flat, on properties. While building ADUs should be allowed, building multi-family housing is far less expensive per unit and more flexible than a single family homes with an ADU. This can be simplified in even further by following creating a set of housing designs that are universally approved across the State, allowing for builders to streamline their approval processes. Spokane, Washington has moved forward with a similar set of policies hoping to encourage faster adoption of denser housing models and cut down on bureaucratic costs, both in time and money.

Additionally, the State should look for ways to promote flexibility in zoning. Storefronts in residential neighborhoods, corner shops, neighborhood bars and restaurants, all used to be common features of residential neighborhoods - even those primarily made up of single family homes. Creating a statewide policy that allows certain commercial or office uses to develop in these neighborhoods would help provide local amenities, reduce car trips, and reduce the barrier of entry for entrepreneurs.

Related to each of these points, the State must promote infill development over further expansion. There is a fear that pushing municipalities to provide more housing will push encourage the redevelopment of rural land into subdivisions, or see the removal of our precious forested lands. These are areas we must preserve. One option is dictating that large portions of the development in metropolitan regions must occur in urbanized areas, as defined by the US Census Bureau, until certain density thresholds are met. By emphasizing infill development and increasing density, transit, walkability and safe cycling infrastructure can be invested in. Once a density threshold is met, new boundaries can be discussed based on the next three year housing target. This would function similarly to Portland, Oregon’s urban growth boundary, but with defined triggers to when the boundary is allowed to grow. I’ve already explored where housing in the Syracuse area should be targeted in my Growth in CNY series.

These policy ideas will not address all of the issues facing us, but they can go a long way towards increasing our housing stock, improving the living conditions across the State, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions through denser development, and promoting more integrated communities through removing local barriers. I know communities do not like losing power, but these same communities have chosen to build barriers over the last 70 years instead of bridges. New York State is struggling to stay competitive and its single biggest obstacle is providing affordable, quality housing. Its time we make this a priority and ensure every community is doing its part.

Growth in CNY: Housing

October 30, 2022

I had planned to end 2022 with a blog post looking ahead to the future and ways that CNY, and more specifically Syracuse, can encourage growth in sustainable way. I have had conversations over the years saying that Syracuse would be a great city of 250,000 people, with just small tweaks and changes to our built environment. Now, at the beginning of October 2022, these conversations take on a new urgency, with the announcement of Micron investing up to $100 billion just north of the City and bringing 9,000 high paying jobs, with up to 40,000 additional jobs in related industries. So to finish up my 2022 blog series, I plan to address this growth in three parts: Housing, Mobility, and Culture & Amenities.

Syracuse, Onondaga County, and Central New York have not experienced any significant growth in 50 years, meaning we have not seriously considered how we should grow and in what places. Onondaga County’s built out footprint has steadily increased over this time while its population has stagnated. This is unsustainable in the long term, and detrimental to our environmental, fiscal, and individual health. As one developer noted in a recent Post Standard article, many of the suburban zoning codes require that any new development take place on one acre lots, leading to significantly larger and more expensive housing than is needed. That same developer is asking for zoning changes to allow up to three homes per acre, but even that is still far too large and spread out for sustainable growth.

To give an example, in 2020, the average household size for owner occupied homes (primarily single family homes) was 2.46 people, for renters that drops to 1.97. At three homes per acre, that’s roughly 4,600 people per sq mile. That’s better than most suburban towns in Onondaga County presently, but even if you look just south of the White Pines Commerce Park, where Micron will soon be located, many of those developments have blocks with densities of four homes per acre, and over 6,000 people per sq mile.

Darlington Rd - Syracuse

Wadsworth St - Syracuse

Bamm Hollow Rd - Clay

Currently, Syracuse has a population density fo around 5,700 people per sq mile, for a total population around 148,000. For Syracuse to reach a population of 250,000, the City as a whole will need an average population density of roughly 10,000 people per sq mile (actual residential blocks being a bit denser than that to account for park land, cemeteries, commercial areas, etc.). That may sound like a lot, but let’s look at a few examples of neighborhoods that reach that same level of density on the City’s Northside. The block bordered by Darlington Rd, Grant Blvd, Mayer St, and Listman Ave has roughly eight homes per acre, with a population density of 11,000 people per sq mile. Or if you move a few blocks west, the block bordered by Wadsworth St, Grant Blvd, Woodruff Ave, and Listman Ave houses a few more two-family homes, and has a density of over 13,700 people per sq mile. Compared to many larger cities in the country, these two blocks are nearly suburban in nature, yet provide a level of density that helps support nearby neighborhood businesses on Grant Blvd and promotes a fair bit of walkability. These smaller homes are also more affordable for most people and easier to maintain. With the current suburban zoning regulations, neighborhoods of this size are impossible to build.

So let’s take a look at places within the City of Syracuse and the surrounding towns that are ripe for development to help promote both this gentle density and higher density developments, helping to prevent the continued sprawl that threatens the region.

City of Syracuse

Let’s start with the City itself. In meetings with Micron, Onondaga County laid out plans to build over 9,000 new homes in the next 20 years (above), with over 6,000 of those homes coming to the City of Syracuse. It's natural for the City to absorb a large share of the new housing, and it's encouraging that the County overall views multi-family housing as the primary driver of this new expansion. But let’s look at a few different neighborhoods that can play a big role in adding density without displacing others.

Downtown

Downtown Syracuse has grown into a full blown residential neighborhood over the past two decades, and the trend is not slowing down. With I-81 coming down, more land between Downtown and University Hill will be freed up for development, which should be primarily mixed-use in nature. But there is already plenty of land to build on Downtown, it just happens to be covered with parking lots.

While Downtown has several large parking garages, surface lots still account for a large share of parking for residents and employees alike. Its time for us to rethink that. Most able bodied adults can walk straight across Downtown Syracuse in 10-12 minutes, meaning anywhere is a fairly close walk. The City should look to build a couple new garages, or a cheaper vertical lot that is commonplace in New York City, to begin freeing up development space. As mentioned in Intersections Part Two, the two parking lots across the street from City Hall are prime locations for new development. City Hall Commons, just a block away, is likely to go up for sale soon, with a residential conversion likely as it sits squarely within Hanover Square, one of the more desirable neighborhoods Downtown.

As Downtown is one of the places where we can really add density, not just 4 and 5 story buildings, but up to 8 and 10 stories each across the neighborhood with retail and office mixed in. While Downtown apartments have been continually increasing in price, we should be looking to the recent examples of The Smith and Corbett Corner for ways to approach creating more affordable housing in an increasingly dynamic neighborhood.

In addition to these opportunities, the BluePrint 15 project, which is working to update the public housing neighborhood just south of Downtown. This project aims to keep residents within the neighborhood while improving their access to services and amenities, as well as create more of a mixed-income neighborhood. This is an ongoing project that should be a model for all of the future developments within the City.

Inner Harbor / The Ballpark

The Inner Harbor and the area around NBT Bank Stadium have continually interested me in terms of development. Both sites sit close to Downtown, border the Regional Market, and have easy access to major transportation infrastructure, including the Regional Transit Center,

Cor Development has been dragging its feet in pursuing their build out plans for the inner Harbor up to this point, but any fear of lack of demand should go out the window now. Their initial site plans call for over 400 residential units, mixed between apartments and townhouses, across the site. This likely results in homes for over 600-700 people. If built out, with the large parking lots in the designs, the residential area would reach a density of roughly 18,000 people per sq mile. But, as I will discuss in Part Two, those parking lots are larger than what will be needed if we truly commit to a transit oriented development style, with the right transit in place. Cutting those parking lots in half and adding additional townhouses would provide additional home ownership opportunities, at more manageable prices, while adding to the walkability of the area.

Should this prove successful, the two large lots across Solar St, which are roughly the same size as the proposed residential development, will almost certainly spark further development at similar levels of density.

Now, over to the ballpark. I’ve continually advocated for the redevelopment of the large parking lot that surrounds the stadium, arguing that it would help create a deeper tie to the team in the community, encourage additional uses of the stadium beyond baseball, and create an opportunity for people, like me, to live near the ballpark. As someone who used to live just three blocks away from Yankee Stadium, its an experience many people, especially baseball fans, would relish. Today, there is nothing quite like that. Even the neighbors closest to the stadium must first walk through a sea of asphalt and cars to get to the ballpark, hardly an inviting entrance.

Syracuse Developmental Center

Earlier this year (2022), the City of Syracuse signed an agreement with the Albanese Organization to redevelop the former Syracuse Developmental Center into a mixed-use neighborhood. Some concerns were raised about the number of housing units that may be built in the development, with some preferring a final build out closer to 300 instead of the initial 600 envisioned. If we’re looking to provide housing at all income levels, pushing for closer to 600 homes, with an emphasis on townhouses and apartments, would make that more feasible and more attractive for the developer.

Sky Top

Syracuse University’s long term vision is to consolidate students and academics onto its Main Campus, leaving behind its sprawling South Campus, which is currently home to over 2,400 students on roughly 150 acres. While the University probably has plans to maintain the land for potential future athletic facility development of some sort, it should, instead, open up the land for redevelopment. The sheer amount of land is something that is hard to come by in a well developed urban center, with close proximity to many of the region’s largest employers.

The existing apartment complex is very suburban in nature; small townhouses surrounded by parking and wide open spaces, similar to those found along many major arterials throughout the County. While these buildings could be repurposed as is, the current development style is not ideal for transit access and walkability. Adding commercial nodes and further infill development would help create a more self-sufficient neighborhood oriented towards transit and active transportation options.

Near East Side

One of the places already experiencing a building boom is the E Genesee St corridor as student housing continues to pop up. This general trend should be encouraged, as it frees up many of the homes in the University Neighborhood for families to move back into. But we should also look to create a better mix of buildings and housing types. Currently the trend is to build large, monolithic buildings, such as the Theory or the upcoming Laurel. These buildings do offer some street level activity along their fronts, but their sides are dominated by parking structures which deaden the block as you walk by. Some additional large scale development may be warranted in these areas, but we should look behind the Theory for a better approach.

The Theory

Uncommon Apartments

Uncommon Apartments, which faces E Fayette St, renovated the former Sylvester building, built in the late 1800s, and expanded it. The building is around a quarter of the size of the Theory, yet its commercial spaces have already been leased and the building generates significantly more activity on the street level. We should look for ways to encourage buildings of this scale throughout the area, especially as more development opportunities appear once the I-81 project is completed.

Other Neighborhood Development

While the areas identified above have significant space for development opportunities, many other neighborhoods still provide opportunities for denser levels of development. Part of this needs to be encouraged through zoning, and specifically the elimination of single-family zoning citywide. There is no reason two-family homes should not be allowed in any neighborhood. But we also need to encourage different housing types.

One of the projects that has excited me in recent years was the announcement of new townhouses in the Tipp Hill neighborhood. The project would take the lot formerly occupied by a flower shop and turn it into seven townhouses that would be sold to own. Sadly, this project has hit roadblocks in recent years, but there’s still a positive momentum. Larger lots like this should be eyed for townhouse development in every neighborhood. Adding a few extra households through a few townhouses per block would go a long way to our density goals while increasing homeownership opportunities.

Inner Ring Suburbs

The City of Syracuse is not the only municipality ripe for infill development. Many of the inner ring suburbs, those closest to the central city that were typically developed early on and still maintain some transit oriented features, have stagnated in population and have commercial spaces that are low hanging fruit for redevelopment. The County’s housing presentation did not emphasize development within these towns, favoring many of the outer suburbs, like Clay and Cicero, instead. This is a missed opportunity and we should make sure we focus development in these areas first.

Mattydale

The hamlet of Mattydale is one of the prime locations for future development, especially in terms of more affordable and accessible housing. The hamlet sits just north of the City with access to nearby highways and opportunities for expanded bus access. Yet, as suburbanization has expanded further out from the City, the retail plazas within Mattydale have slowly been vacated, with some just outright demolished. As a result, the already overbuilt Route 11 has become even more of a mini highway bypassing the neighborhoods.

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In 2022, the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council (SMTC) completed a plan that looked at Route 11 to evaluate opportunities for infill development and right-sizing the mega stroad that splits the hamlet in half (which will be revisited in the transportation post). The plan calls for two story apartment and mixed-use buildings at three different sites that are either currently empty or vastly underutilized, resulting in roughly 150 additional housing units. This would account for the vast majority of the 200 additional units the County believes the Town of Salina can build out. Even then, this plan is conservative due to the zoning restrictions in place. The large sea of parking required by the current zoning code reduces the positive impacts this revelopment can bring. A simple correction would be to keep the parking generally as recommended, but add one to two more floors to each proposed building, increasing the number of residents within a walkable distance to the amenities already present within the hamlet and increasing the likelihood of more being built.

Westvale Plaza

Just west of the City line, Westvale Plaza is a perfect example of a mid-century commercial center. Fairly compact in size, compared to its more modern counterparts, and fronted by a large, expansive parking lot. In 2019, the Town of Geddes and Village of Salina published a joint comprehensive plan that envisioned this commercial node as a mixed-use development that filled in portions of its parking lots with further commercial space and revamped the existing plazas as mixed-use buildings.

Concept site plan from the Town of Geddes and Village of Solvay Comprehensive Plan

While the Village of Geddes already has a more traditional Main St north of this area, along Milton Ave, the Westvale Plaza area is centrally located to fairly large population centers and is located along an important bus corridor. No exact plans or redevelopment options were explored within the comp plan, but the current plaza’s footprint (parking included), of roughly 14 acres, could easily handle 200 - 300 units of housing, which is far more than what the County currently envisions for the Town of Geddes (100 units). Using the County’s average renter occupancy of ~2 people per unit, at the high end (600 people housed) that would result in a density of around 27,000 people per sq mile. While this is high, consider that the Theory (the apartment building near SU campus mentioned previously) houses over 600 residents on less than 2 acres.

A less intensive redevelopment, while maintaining the same number of new units, would see the nearby Geddes Plaza and other commercial properties redeveloped as well.

Shoppingtown Mall (District East)

In the summer of 2021, a long awaited redevelopment of Shoppingtown Mall was announced: a mixed-use development with over 500 units of housing known as District East. I have few notes on this proposal, based on what is known publicly at this time, as its location and intent align perfectly with what we should be looking for in terms of development opportunities. It is located along a well used, and easily improved, transit corridor; the Empire State Trail (EST) runs directly behind the property, creating easy access through active modes of transportation; and the development instantly becomes a new downtown for the Town of Dewitt.

Rendering of District East

Site plan for District East

What should be encouraged is the further redevelopment of commercial properties along Erie Blvd E. Marshall’s Plaza, nextdoor to Shoppingtown Mall, has continually seen infill commercial development, reducing its parking lots in favor of more commercial activity. Other plazas, which have been less successful recently, should look to do the same, but add a mix of housing and office space. The Erie Canal, which was later replaced by Erie Blvd, was once the economic engine of the region. With a well planned redevelopment along the corridor, Erie Blvd can once again become an economic engine instead of, as the New York Times described it, “a rundown stretch of strip malls and muffler shops.”

Outer Suburbs

As mentioned above, the County is emphasizing development of single-family homes in the outer suburbs, which are the most difficult places to serve with transit and provide services. While I believe these areas should not be the focus of development, their close proximity to the White Pines Commerce Park make them attractive to many. So let’s look at places that can handle infill development and lend themselves to a more transit oriented development style. Many places will still emphasize single-family homes, but we should ensure they’re built in a denser fashion than what current local zoning laws permit.

Luckily, many good plans exist for these areas and we can only hope and encourage that they be developed accordingly.

Rt 11 Corridor

In 2020, the SMTC worked with the Town of Cicero on a plan for the Route 11 corridor through the town. This plan identified infill development opportunities of over 1,600 units of housing, primarily apartments and townhouses, directly behind current commercial developments along Route 11. The aim of this plan was to identify opportunities to create housing that would encourage residents to walk, bike, or take transit to already existing nearby commercial centers.

What was not planned for during this study, was the study area to be within a very short distance of the new Micron development. As such, this development proposal, nearly twice as many units as envisioned by the County for the Town of Cicero, should be thoroughly considered as it has already been vetted by community members. A developer and more detailed plans would be needed, but the general concept should be encouraged.

Great Northern Mall

North of Syracuse, Great Northern Mall has struggled financially for years, especially after the expansion of Destiny USA. In the summer of 2022, a developer announced a plan, similar to that of District East, to redevelop the struggling mall into a mixed-use center with roughly 500 housing units. While this location is less ideal than Shoppingtown, its close proximity to the Micron site makes it a perfect western anchor to any additional bus service added to the corridor, especially if the Route 11 developments noted above are followed through.

Brewerton

The final location I’m looking to emphasize in terms of housing development is also home to an existing proposal, but this one is unique. Onondaga County is a fairly landlocked county, even with access to several lakefronts. As a result, any development along the available lakefronts that offer up multi-family housing options is worth pursuing. The same developer that is looking to redevelop Great Northern Mall has staked out a plan along Oneida Lake for a mixed-use community, with an emphasis on multi-family housing. Currently, the plan also calls for a large number of single-family homes, but the plan would be enhanced if it switched out detached homes for townhouses. This would allow the hamlet of Brewerton to become a true northern anchor to any public transit enhancements made to accommodate the Micron development. As the hamlet sits on the northern reaches of Route 11, the increased development along this important route will lend itself to more walkable and transit oriented development (which will be discussed further in the next blog).

Rendering of proposed Brewerton development

Site plan of proposed Brewerton development

Doing Housing Right

Each of the neighborhoods identified above are prime locations for expanded housing and denser development, but we need to be open to gentle increases in density throughout the county. This is the first time in 50+ years that Onondaga County must confront a dramatic increase in population and we can’t afford to let suburban sprawl take over as it has in recent years. Construction on Micron will begin in 2023-2024, and the I-81 project will begin by the end of this year. We must act quickly to alter our zoning codes and create a more unified housing policy to encourage these dense development opportunities. New York State should also follow California’s lead on allowing accessory dwelling units and two-, three-, and four-family homes in all neighborhoods. We also need policies tied to transportation infrastructure that will make the dense developments discussed above possible. And this tees up our next discussion: with all of this new housing development, what does this mean for our transportation networks? And what can we do to make sure public transit and active transportation options play a major role in our region’s future?