My Pictures of Downtown Syracuse, NY (New York, Oswego: homes, live, vs)

[tviz25]

I love 'Cuse!

[bellafinzi]

A few more of downtown...

[bellafinzi]

The Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival is this weekend...

Downtown Syracuse

[Genevanative]

Hey Bella....any pics of Armory Square?????

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by Genevanative

Hey Bella....any pics of Armory Square?????

Yes, lots of them are mix in the previous pages. I'll post a few more...

[bellafinzi]

More Armory Square during an event

[artyst]

your pictures are great. syracuse looks like a beautiful city! i love old architecture. i'll be moving to upstate ny in 2009 from phoenix, az. i can't wait!!

[estimated_eyes]

Originally Posted by bellafinzi

Yes, Syracuse does have a litter problem. Many low lives in the city don't take pride in themselves or in where they live.

The litter looks much worse in the Spring. Around Earth Day, volunteers and city crews go around cleaning up the trash for the summer. Clean up crews do pick up the litter periodically, but it should be done every week IMO.

New York City, even with the piles of trashbags out on the curbs waiting for trash collectors to come, is a less "trashy" city than Syracuse, especially when you consider it's size compared to Syracuse. You can virtually drive through ANY neighborhood in Syracuse and find trash everywhere. I don't altogether hate Syracuse, but this is such an eyesore! I suppose I have such a negative reaction to it because I'm a California girl and it's just different there...the mentality is 100% different about the issue than here. When I first got here I was living in a nice neighborhood in Tipp Hill and got into an "altercation" with three young girls who, after finishing their beverages just bought at the corner market, they, one by one chucked their cups in the middle of the street and in people's yards. I saw it and in not so many words said, "What the hell is your problem?!" It was as if they had no clue as to what I was talking about...."I can throw my trash anywhere I want to" is what I got back....NICE!

I come from the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" generation...and it seems like most of the population really couldn't care less about it. And it's not a racial thing, it's not a class thing...because I've seen multiple people do it, in various places around the city. It's seriously appalling, and one of the many reasons why I won't be here another year....I'm moving back to California, or Washington where people take pride in where they live.

Further...and this is my final interjection...there is nothing other than the most conventional things going on here....it's sooo boring! I was born and raised in the SF Bay Area but moved a few years ago to the small town of Arcata within Humboldt County....It's the greatest place! There are so many alternative things to do, and so mant things going on that I was surprised at the lack of a progressive nature of Syracuse. The East Coast is traditional whereas the West Coast is progressive....I suppose that's why people 200 years ago decided to move West. The idealogies here in Syracuse are so dated, and there's no one really interested in alternative thought...I think the biggest thing new here...and it's certainly something you have to dig around to find..is yoga...how lame is that?! I am surprised however of the fabulous selection of organics at Wegman's...and Syracuse even has a Co-op...eventhough it's a whole in the wall and their produce looks like crap...it does represent some form of alternative living that I cling to. Where are all the organic gardens in everyone's backyards...where are the composting bins? Where is the recycling centers....and great thrift stores?

Nope..I can't wait to get back to Humboldt....I've had enough of this trash pit.

[bellafinzi]

estimated_eyes, I'd probably feel the same way if I had to live in the city. Notice how I have no interest in taking photos of city neighborhoods. I will not try to fool people to think the city is a great place when I wouldn't even live there. That's why I only focus on the suburbs of Syracuse. The suburbs of Syracuse are almost like another planet compared to the city. The City is filled with people who don't take pride in themselves or where they live. The suburbs are filled with much more "normal" people who I can related with IMO.

I've tried to contact "Syracuse leadership" about the way the city LOOKS, but they don't seem to care either. The whole focus of this community is "trying to stop sprawl". Many backward people in CNY believe that if only they can stop the building of more suburbs, all the problems with the city will be solved.

If the Syracuse leadership doesn't even realize the city looks like a garbage dump, I don't see how the residents will ever change their attitude. All the leaders in this community don't inspire pride. Instead they say dumb things like "we are lucky that this area didn't grow in population for the last 40 years, then we'd be like all the other cities that have sprawl and no historic buildings left in their downtown."

Syracuse residents care more about preserving old buildings than they do about cleaning up the neighborhoods to make them LOOK more attractive. I'm a very visual person and I can't live in an ugly environment. Apparently, all the 140,000 people that live in the city don't mind living in an trashy run-down looking place.

What will change the city? The only two things that can change the city into a more attractive place to live is 1) A passionate mayor like Rudolph Giuliani 2) A fast growing regional economy that creates of thousands of new good paying jobs every year. Since I haven't seen a good leader in this community in years, I'm betting on a fast growing economy. Hopefully, Spitzer will actually keep his campaign promise and create tens of thousands of new jobs in the Syracuse area. IMO, it will take 5 years straight of over 6,000 new jobs every year to bring about a booming local economy.

[bellafinzi]

Found these websites, which are filled with information about Syracuse Downtown:

Downtown Syracuse

Downtown Syracuse Development Showcase

Syracuse Downtown Living Tour 2007 (broken link)