Tear Down this Wall? (Buffalo, Rochester: university, live, restaurants)

[juppiter]

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[skbs]

The inner loop is great for quick travel around the city... I am so glad to be able to just jump on and not have to deal with downtown traffic... I think it should stay...

[Rochester-WNY]

I have lived in Rochester my whole life. It is very useful.

[cheese9988]

It is extremely useful. Almost every large city has a loop, or two or three of some sort. Some larger or smaller. I know Buffalo has two, Raleigh has two, so does Charlotte etc.

[Rochester-WNY]

Originally Posted by juppiter

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Hey juppiter can you explain your views? I don't believe it suffocates the city but you seem to think it does.

[skbs]

I think I know some of the problems individuals have with the Inner Loop... it sends traffic around the city, making it hard for small business to thrive downtown. Once apon a time downtown was a busy place where much consumer traffic flowed... I lived downtown when I was really young (off Lake Ave)... my grandparents/aunt/uncle lived there until the mid 90s....it was a different day when you could hop on the bus and head downtown to go to Sibley's or Midtown for Magic Mt... now, it has become a bit of a ghost town in parts... this is not because the Inner Loop killed downtown... It is because of Inner City Culture...who wants to sit in a bus stop with a prostitute or homeless person? That is what happend to my grandparents... that is the reason THEY stopped taking the bus downtown... THAT is only one of the very very many things that are killing downtown... Get rid of the violence/prostitution/gang activity/vagrancy and more people will go downtown... until then... I am taking the loop to get myself From University to High Falls (just an example) on a Friday night...

[garmin239]

I don't think it separates the city as much as people think. Look at the East End. The inner loop splits it. There are many bars and restaurants in the "upper" East End, on the inside of the loop.

[juppiter]

Originally Posted by Rochester-WNY

Hey juppiter can you explain your views? I don't believe it suffocates the city but you seem to think it does.

The Inner Loop is convenient for sure. But can anyone really say that it's necessary? I don't think anyone could justify that claim. And skbs' post illustrates why it needs to go. As long as it's there, the attitude that downtown is the place to go if you work at Xerox but nobody actually hangs out there will continue. Young people totally eschew downtown in favor of other hot spots in the city, and this gives Rochester a "donut" feeling. There is a lot on the outside but a big hole in the middle.

The fact is that Rochester is in an unprecedented position where it could tear down the Inner Loop and do all kinds of stuff with that land. In Albany we have 787 which has high traffic and blocks the Hudson River. It can't be torn down (as it is the primary route for state workers and traffic on narrow city streets would be ridiculous if they tore it down), but if it were torn down they could do all sorts of stuff with that waterfront land. Rochester can tear down the Inner Loop at only a slight inconvenience, re-open downtown, and have land which can be developed to good use.

[skbs]

Originally Posted by juppiter

The Inner Loop is convenient for sure. But can anyone really say that it's necessary? I don't think anyone could justify that claim. And skbs' post illustrates why it needs to go. As long as it's there, the attitude that downtown is the place to go if you work at Xerox but nobody actually hangs out there will continue. Young people totally eschew downtown in favor of other hot spots in the city, and this gives Rochester a "donut" feeling. There is a lot on the outside but a big hole in the middle.

The fact is that Rochester is in an unprecedented position where it could tear down the Inner Loop and do all kinds of stuff with that land. In Albany we have 787 which has high traffic and blocks the Hudson River. It can't be torn down (as it is the primary route for state workers and traffic on narrow city streets would be ridiculous if they tore it down), but if it were torn down they could do all sorts of stuff with that waterfront land. Rochester can tear down the Inner Loop at only a slight inconvenience, re-open downtown, and have land which can be developed to good use.

But I am not advocating for it to go. I want it here... and I do not believe the donut effect is the cause of the problem for downtown... not at all... if you read my post you would see there are MANY other causes for the city's problems... the loop is fine where it is.

[juppiter]

Originally Posted by skbs

But I am not advocating for it to go. I want it here... and I do not believe the donut effect is the cause of the problem for downtown... not at all... if you read my post you would see there are MANY other causes for the city's problems... the loop is fine where it is.

My post wasn't clear enough.... I think that the "donut effect" is a MENTAL thing that is the EFFECT of the inner loop. And when you say the loop is fine where it is, read MY post. Can you say the loop is necessary at this point? You really can't. If you do, you're lying, I've never seen traffic on it. So there has to be a greater purpose for that land.

Yeah, the loop makes Rochester unique, but that's not worth sacrificing invaluable land. I'm willing to give up that part of the city's uniqueness for the sake of the city's future.