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 and the surrounding region are blessed with beautiful parks, great traditional public spaces, and beloved cultural amenities. Many of these assets were founded and preserved during the first half of the 20th Century, when American cities were investing heavily in the public realm. Ever since, budgets have been cut, priorities have shifted, and the legacy institutions, parks, and amenities we still enjoy today were lucky to find continued funding and support. Growth in Central New York, if done in a sustainable fashion, should bring additional funding sources that can be used to help us grow these amenities to suit the needs of our community. While housing and our transportation network require a great deal of planning, the thoughtful growth that will hopefully occur will allow us to expand our public spaces and strengthen our cultural amenities. At the same time we must work towards improving access for all members of our community, and that includes finding new opportunities to bring us all together in common causes.
Unlike the last two posts, this will not primarily focus on planning principals, but instead will be more aspirational for where we should put our public and private funding. Supporting public spaces, cultural amenities, and encouraging our neighbors to mingle together are vital to a well functioning society.
Parks and Open Spaces
Public parks first appeared in American cities in the middle of the 19th Century, at a time when our urban spaces were growing rapidly and access to green space was slipping away. In Syracuse, many of the parks we cherish were founded in the early 1900s, with the formation of the City Parks Department in 1917. With over 170 parks and 1,000+ acres of land, the City of Syracuse has an extensive park network common among legacy industrial cities. According to the Trust for Public Land (TPL), 77 percent of Syracuse residents live within a 10 minute walk to a public park. 10 minutes is considered a reasonable distance for most individuals to walk to a destination, including park space, which is the basis for TPL’s 10-Minute Walk program. 10-Minute Walk encourages cities to expand park space to ensure every resident can reach a public open space within 10 minutes of their home, providing access to fresh air, greenery, and places to gather. Syracuse’s rate of 77 percent is far higher than the 55 percent national average, but that still leaves nearly a quarter of residents without easy access to greenery.
One way to help improve this access is the continued expansion of urban trails and greenways. The Onondaga Creekwalk is projected to expand to the southern city line by the end of the decade, which will immediately connect neighbors across the city and expand their access to greenery and our waterfront. The City and County should be looking for additional opportunities to provide linear park spaces that allow residents to explore their communities without needing to interact with cars. This includes bringing back a Covid era policy of banning vehicles from streets within parks to promote walking and biking in our greenest areas.
Outside of the City of Syracuse, access to park space decreases as many residents emphasize using their private backyards over public parks. This is a continued trend of the privatization of space that began with suburbanization. Heather McGhee’s The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, both the book and its companion podcast, tells this story through the slow disappearance of public pools across the country once desegregation took hold. Specific corners of American society seemed to deem investments in public amenities like pools and parks as less desirable once all members of society were finally allowed to enjoy them. Soon private clubs, personal pools, and other private open spaces began to take over as public funding for similar spaces eroded. You see this trend continued in youth sports (which has many other negative consequences that are better explored at length in Linda Flanagan’s Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports - and Why it Matters) as private travel leagues take over spaces that used to be open to public leagues and pick up games.
As the County densifies, public open spaces and parks will become increasingly important and we should increase funding to reflect that fact. This includes funding youth programming, athletic leagues, and expanded park space where it is most needed.
Public Spaces
While you might think public spaces are the same as parks and open spaces, I want to separate this out as these are spaces that can be commercialized and encourage different types of activities. A prime example of existing public spaces within Syracuse is Hanover Square, a small public plaza that has shifted from a former roadway into a shared space that emphasizes pedestrian access and outdoor dining. Hanover Thursdays, this past summer, brought live music into the square and helped promote the local bars and restaurants that open out onto the plaza.
A similar public space was temporarily instituted within Armory Square with the Weekends on Walton program during 2020 and 2021. As new businesses return to Armory Square, this program should be made permanent, with Walton received a similar treatment to Hanover Square. In 2019, the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council (SMTC) published the Armory Square Mobility Plan that laid out potential treatments to make this street into a more pedestrian friendly, if not pedestrian only, public space.
Similar programs should be explored in commercial areas around the City and County. All neighborhoods deserve public spaces that allow residents to gather away from cars and support local bars and restaurants. Programs can start as temporary block closures, creating small events to promote the concept. As the closures (or street openings if you’re like me an view streets without cars as truly open) gain support, municipalities should create guides for how to shift towards more permanent public spaces depending on the needs of each individual neighborhood.
Museums and Learning Opportunities
Syracuse has been a cultural center for Central New York for nearly 200 years and our museums help tell that story: The Everson, the Museum of Science and Technology (MoST), the Onondaga Historical Association (OHA), and the Erie Canal Museum help tell the story of our past, present and future through art, science, and artifacts. Micron has promised to fund programming at the MoST for years to come to help promote science and engineering education, but we shouldn’t stop there.
The OHA has continually expanded its reach through lending historical photos and artifacts to businesses across the region, including the CNY “Brewseum” that preserves the history of brewing in our region. As I-81 comes down, and the stories of the old 15th Ward are front and center, we should ensure that history, and the story of the current residents of Pioneer Homes, are preserved within that neighborhood. While the OHA is only minutes away from the neighborhood, a new historical outpost should be developed as part of the Blueprint15 project.
The Everson houses one of the finest ceramic collections in the world, and yet I sometimes believe we take this gem for granted. One reason may be its location. While it is located in Downtown Syracuse, it is surrounded by government offices, the county jail, and a sea of parking lots. While the museum is a work of art, its surroundings do not inspire visitors to linger and offer no other experiences. The City should promote the redevelopment of the nearby parking lots and garages as a way to create a Downtown arts district and tie the museum into the community.
Beyond museums, the Rosamond Gifford Zoo (Zoo) and the proposed Inner Harbor aquarium are some of the most important cultural attractions our region will be able to offer. These are spaces where families can gather and kids can learn through experiences. While the Zoo has seen tremendous improvements around the elephant exhibit and medical facilities, some of the other facilities around the park are in great need of improvement, including the expansion of exhibits and enhancements to viewing areas. This may require the acquisition of additional land, including clawing back some land from the recent Syracuse Developmental Center deal. Many families choose to visit the Wild Animal Park in Chittenango instead of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo due to the quality of exhibits, even if the Wild is not an accredited zoo. If the Zoo wants to recapture those guests and promote the mission of the accredited zoos, they need to compete with the quality of experiences private wildlife parks are providing. The Inner Harbor aquarium needs to be part of this effort, including providing lower cost entry fees for low-income families so education remains accessible to as many people as possible.
Live Experiences
Beyond our public spaces and institutions, we also need to focus on the events that bring us together; live sports, music, and theater. Our culture is built around shared experiences.
In April I discussed the desire to be considered a “major league city” and how that influences the conversation surrounding public financing for stadiums. Professional and high level college athletics bring together communities through competition. There is a shared public pride when teams do well, and a shared commiseration when teams disappoint. Regardless of the feeling, the City and region experience them together, creating a common thread between most neighbors. Syracuse is experiencing a rebirth in the facilities associated with our teams, with a major renovation of the JMA Wireless Dome (the Dome), home of the Syracuse Orange, and a recent $25 million renovation of NBT Bank Stadium, home of the Syracuse Mets. As I have mentioned before, and will continue to, the area surrounding NBT Bank Stadium is calling out for investment and should see its parking lot transformed into a neighborhood.
The Upstate Medical Arena at the Oncenter War Memorial (War Memorial), home of the Syracuse Crunch, has received some updates in recent years, but remains one of the smallest and oldest arenas in the AHL. It is also the only sports arena in Downtown Syracuse, creating a unique experience for fans. While the arena currently fits the needs of fans, a growth of the region will hopefully result in the growth of the fanbase for each of our teams. While NBT Bank Stadium has room for fan growth, the War Memorial already comes close to selling out many times a season, especially when the team is good. If the demand increases, it may be time to explore a new home for the Syracuse Crunch.
This is where sports and music collide. Currently, Syracuse is home to a beautiful amphitheater on Onondaga Lake, which hosts high profile touring acts throughout the summer months. The Dome has also seen its use as a concert venue increase in recent years after the installation of air conditioning, hosting Paul McCartney and Elton John in 2022. But during the winter, many acts cannot find a concert venue of the right size in Syracuse. The Dome is too big for most acts and the Amphitheater cannot be used. The War Memorial, Oncenter, and Landmark Theatre are too small for many touring acts, forcing residents to travel to Buffalo or Albany to see shows.
Should the War Memorial ever become too small to house the Syracuse Crunch, a larger facility in Downtown Syracuse, potentially in one of the parking lots surrounding the Everson, should be built so that it can attract larger concerts all year round. Hosting such concerts draws attention to the City and provides a true amenity for residents, as the Amphitheater has proven.
The last piece of live entertainment is theater, something Syracuse has excelled at attracting in recent years. Not only does Syracuse enjoy the touring Broadway shows, but Syracuse Stage and the Red House continually produce excellent professional theatre. With the Red House now located a block away from the Landmark Theatre, S Salina St is slowly returning to its place as a theater district. Syracuse should embrace this trend and promote the use of underused spaces along the corridor for small scale theatrical productions, including avant garde shows and puppetry. Open Hand Theater, a puppet theater, has been without a permanent home since Shoppingtown Mall closed. Bringing the company to S Salina St could emphasize the corridor's place as the heart of live theater in Syracuse while diversifying its offerings to crowds.
As Syracuse looks towards growth, we cannot overlook our cultural institutions and amenities. Sustainable growth, including limiting suburban sprawl and promoting density, will increase the efficiency of our public infrastructure investments, freeing up additional funds and resources for our public institutions. We need to invest in our public realm if we want to see this growth positively impact all residents.