My attempt to help Syracuse (Buffalo, Rochester: apartment, rent, neighborhood)

[bellafinzi]

Another lesson in growing cities 101 with Bellafinzi....

What do successful cities all have in common?

-they make people feel important

Yes, cities that make people feel important are the cities that attract the most newcomers and retain the most natives. What do I mean by "make you feel important"? Cities with tall skylines, impressive views, beautiful architecture and landscapes, that are clean, modern, sophisticated, classy. Sunny and warm weather make people feel important too but since that is something that Syracuse has no control over, Syracuse leaders must work on the other characteristics.


What do most successful cities have in common?

-they don’t insult people’s intelligence

What do I mean? Cities that have top-notch news reporting, respectful local commercials, and leadership that "get it" among other things...


What do most successful cities have in common?

-they do not take advice/suggestions from institutions with clear agendas other than that of helping the region grow and prosper

What does this mean? Take SUNY ESF (SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry College) in Syracuse for example. Clearly, everyone at ESF has an agenda to help the environment. Often that means that folks at ESF care more about the entire planet and wildlife than they do for the growth and prosperity of Syracuse. Yes, Syracuse wants to become a "green city" but that should not be pursued at the expense of new jobs and creating a vibrant attractive built environment.


What do most successful cities have in common?

-they realize that the opinions of outsiders are more important than opinions of locals

Syracuse needs to listen to people who do not live there. The people that see the city with fresh eyes. The outsiders and newcomers that can see the city for what it is, not what it used to be. Often Syracuse residents are blinded by childhood memories and can not see how far Syracuse has fallen. Locals are afraid of change and fight growth in the name "changing the character of the neighborhood". That is exactly what Syracuse needs. A drastic change in the character of the city. Just fixing up old buildings will not save Syracuse. A whole new look to the city is needed or else Syracuse will continue to be overlooked and ignored by people that could care less about your childhood memories.


OK, I'm done now.

See here for more:

http://www.123syracuse.com/

[seattlenextyear]

Yeah, you probably shouldn't care about Syracuse's environment. Why don't you throw some more mercury into Onondaga lake. The fish in there only have 3 eyes. With a little more effort, I'm pretty sure you can get it up to 4.

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

Yeah, you probably shouldn't care about Syracuse's environment. Why don't you throw some more mercury into Onondaga lake. The fish in there only have 3 eyes. With a little more effort, I'm pretty sure you can get it up to 4.

Typical. You don't want to discuss. You just want to make slam, bam thank you mam statements that do absolutely nothing to help.

Syracuse has a major problem with environmentalists who've basically taken over the area. Instead of finding ways to cleaning up the litter problem in this town, they'd rather focus on ways to stop suburban growth. Every development project is opposed in fear that Syracuse will become the next Atlanta. LOL

[bellafinzi]

Sorry, but the environmentalists in Syracuse are the worst kind IMO. Instead of fighting FOR new projects that could make Syracuse a "green city" like....................... cleaning Onondaga Lake, building more Environmental research centers, finally finding ways to clean up the littler, making the landscape in Syracuse more attractive/beautiful so that people will want to live in the city and not the suburbs...............the environmentalists in Syracuse fight AGAINST projects.

So typical of Syracuse. Not pro-active in getting things done, rather the environmentalists are reactionary in trying to stop projects and development.

Cities that are positive. Cities that have leadership who focus solely on fighting FOR a cause, fighting FOR growth, fight FOR a vision are successful.

Cities that fail are ones without a clear vision of the future. Cities with no lofty goals to strive for. Cities that go with the flow. Failing cities listen to people with agendas against a cause....

[seattlenextyear]

Dude, it's not the environmentalists. Your city was doomed when all the businesses went where the taxes were lower. It's not city govt, its state gov't. People left (and are still leaving) to go where there were jobs and low property taxes. You have no idea how many people I've met here in NC from Syracuse. There might be more upstate NY'ers here now than in upstate NY.

[bellafinzi]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

Dude, it's not the environmentalists. Your city was doomed when all the businesses went where the taxes were lower. It's not city govt, its state gov't. People left (and are still leaving) to go where there were jobs and low property taxes. You have no idea how many people I've met here in NC from Syracuse. There might be more upstate NY'ers here now than in upstate NY.

Of course the environmentalists didn't destroy the Upstate NY economy. We have Downstate NY politicians to thank for that.

All I'm saying is that businesses have begun moving to where the people want to live. And if everyone wants to move to Ithaca instead of Syracuse, then the businesses will follow. Put simply, Syracuse is in competition with other cities in Upstate NY. If the Syracuse area does not make itself attractive to newcomers and outsiders then the city will decay and continue to lose population.

For some reason I'll never understand, the leadership in Syracuse has never had lofty goals. I've yet to hear one politician in the Syracuse area say they want to make the Syracuse area the best place to live and work in Upstate NY. Not one time. The Syracuse area needs to united and stop listening to the naysayers who oppose and delay every project. The Syracuse area needs to dream big and create a city that will inspire pride....both in the city and the suburbs.

[bellafinzi]

If Syracuse area environmentalists really want to help the Syracuse area and make a difference in this community, here are a few suggestions....

1. Rally the community for a fight against litter campaign. Get money for commercials. Volunteer to clean up the litter.

2. Build bike paths all over the Syracuse suburbs. For well over 10 years, Syracuse area residents have been asking for more bike trails. Very little progress has been made so far. What better way to promote walking and biking instead of driving than to create the best network of bike paths in the nation! The best way to go about it is to seek grants to build more trails that will link the all the suburban Syracuse communities.

3. Lobby the State to build more State parks in the Syracuse area. The Buffalo and Rochester region have many more state parks than the Syracuse region. Not only will a State park save land from development but it will be another asset for our community to enjoy.

[bellafinzi]

Syracuse has a major problem that probably doesn't exist in many metros Syracuse's size or larger. What is this unique problem? Very few people in the Syracuse area are passionate about seeing the Syracuse area grow bigger and better.

Due to the lack of foresight and passionate leadership, there is void of take charge leadership in the Syracuse area. Who is filling this void in Syracuse? People with alter motives and passions...mostly environmentalists, human rights activists and historic preservationalists. Thus the only people who speak out are those who oppose new development in both the city and suburbs. In the city, historic preservationalists fight new buildings replacing old buildings. In the suburbs, environmentalists fight against every new project. Instead of these groups trying make development better, like aesthetically pleasing architecture and building walkable new housing development with sidewalks, rather these groups tear down and put down anyone who disagrees with them. They make anyone who wants the Syracuse skyline to grow taller or the suburbs to expand look silly and stupid. Dividing this community and creating a negative mindset and outlook about Syracuse's future.

This is my hope and dream. Someday the old guard in Syracuse will step aside and let the next generation take over. Maybe then those in charge will "get it". By "get it" I'm speaking about drastically improving the region's image, aesthetics and positive vibe.

I can barely take going "down city" (even for sporting events). All that's on my mind when visiting parts of my city is how I would improve this street, this view, this ballpark, this attraction, this highway.... if I had the power to change this city. It does not bother me that the city is run-down in spots; rather it bothers me that places that should look good, do not. Absolutely no effort is put forth to make Syracuse look good to outsiders. Unfortunately, cities that do not even TRY to look decent for residents and visitors alike will never earn respect. Moreover, what ultimately happens to cities that are not respected, they die and decay!

Yes, I know I'm harsh on my city. It is only because I know its problem in and out. I'm sure every city has their own list of short comings. All the problems of the Syracuse area are amplified by the fact that this city and metro continues to lose population. If Syracuse was attracting newcomers and jobs. Construction taking place all over the city and suburbs. The local media actually cared about fostering a sense of pride. Then I would find it easy to overlooked this region's short comings. Sadly, that isn't the case.

[deno088]

I am a small business owner and the biggest optimist in the world. Such an optimist that when I would drive by a vacant building I would would try to come up with ideas on what kind of business I could start in that location. Over the years I opened, closed and sold many different operations. That was years ago before I woke up and realized how economically poor the Syracuse area is. Now when I drive by a vacant location I look away as fast as I can because I know better than to even think about opening another business here.

I am moving to Charlotte in two week. It has not been an easy task tyring to relocate. Between convincing my family to leave their family and friends and selling every property I owned this move has taken over three years to accomplish.

I understand that many people have hope for this area. That someday it will turn around. Well, from the biggest optimist in the world, it's not going to happen. The way I see Upstate NY is like an apartment building that was at one time completely full . Over the years half of the tenants have left the building. The owner of the building still has to pay all the bills with only half the rent payments from the tenets. So to owner has only one choice. The poor people that chose to stay in the building are going to have to get a big rent increase. This makes more people move out and the problem gets worse.

The only way to help this area is to give huge tax breaks to any business that wants to open or relocate here. Problem is NY is struggling to pay it's bills and it cannot do that. Also it has the problem that if it gives breaks to new businesses what happens to existing businesses to make it fair to compete.

[twentyfour01]

Bellafinzi: Can you provide an example of how human rights activists are bad for Syracuse?