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Didn't Onondaga County "adopt" a New Urbanism development guideline or something? I wish that if they were going to bother legislating development they'd give it some kind of teeth. That'd be a way to get national attention, make the whole county and enforced New Urbanism zone. I'd bet that making such a bold move would give syracuse some good national press and maybe even attract like-minded people?
I'm not even a fan of New Urbanism per se, but any sort of regional development guideline would be fantastic. Plus, moving the city onto a somewhat unique development model gets it out of the Which Upstate City Succeeds? rat race and into its own market.
Didn't Onondaga County "adopt" a New Urbanism development guideline or something? I wish that if they were going to bother legislating development they'd give it some kind of teeth. That'd be a way to get national attention, make the whole county and enforced New Urbanism zone. I'd bet that making such a bold move would give syracuse some good national press and maybe even attract like-minded people?
I'm not even a fan of New Urbanism per se, but any sort of regional development guideline would be fantastic. Plus, moving the city onto a somewhat unique development model gets it out of the Which Upstate City Succeeds? rat race and into its own market.
Just musings on my part....
I agree because there seems to be a pattern of proposing things, but nothing happens. Sometimes, if not many times, there seems to be a disconnect between the county and city in terms of what's going on and perception versus reality.
Syracuse's location alone would seem to make it a place where if it gets developed properly, it could be a major player in the Northeast, the nation and even internationally. Something that I don't think many in the area thinks about is that we are almost exactly halfway between Washington DC anf Ottawa. That's the nation's capital of two countries and we're actually slightly closer to Ottawa, if i'm not mistaken. Then, the fact that cities like Montreal, Toronto, Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland and Detroit are all within 6 hours of Syracuse. That's something that needs to be marketed about the area.
Also, our proximity to colleges like Cornell, Colgate, Clarkson, Binghamton and with SU in town, among other institutions, could also be a plus for the area in terms of getting innovative ideas and a variety of human resources.
Last edited by ckhthankgod; 03-20-2009 at 01:51 PM..
Something that I don't think many in the area thinks about is that we are almost exactly halfway between Washington DC anf Ottawa. That's the nation's capital of two countries and we're actually slightly closer to Ottawa, if i'm not mistaken.
Significantly closer to Ottawa than to DC. Ottawa's about 4 hours or so from here - DC's at least 6 depending on what part of the area.
I agree because there seems to be a pattern of proposing things, but nothing happens. Sometimes, if not many times, there seems to be a disconnect between the county and city in terms of what's going on and perception versus reality.
Syracuse's location alone would seem to make it a place where if it gets developed properly, it could be a major player in the Northeast, the nation and even internationally. Something that I don't think many in the area thinks about is that we are almost exactly halfway between Washington DC anf Ottawa. That's the nation's capital of two countries and we're actually slightly closer to Ottawa, if i'm not mistaken. Then, the fact that cities like Montreal, Toronto, Boston, NYC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland and Detroit are all within 6 hours of Syracuse. That's something that needs to be marketed about the area.
Also, our proximity to colleges like Cornell, Colgate, Clarkson, Binghamton and with SU in town, among other institutions, could also be a plus for the area in terms of getting innovative ideas and a variety of human resources.
I agree, the travel between cities alone would be an excellent selling point to companies in need of a regional office or even sales hubs. And the close proximity to higher education would be a strong selling point to technology companies. The city or county should be approaching companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, Cisco, etc. The only problem or obstacles to a deal involving these companies would be taxes, but if they can give breaks to that over hyped monstrosity called Destiny USA then I would assume they could give similar breaks to actual viable companies
It has all that and a pretty good-sized, underutilized airport. If they could bring in more business then they'd even be able to open up more direct flights to other cities. Mobility is really key to modern business, if you can't easily get to- and from your host city its not really viable. Syracuse has great highway access, and as good rail access as anywhere else in the US (i.e. kind of crap but eh, you can use it if you want to).
Unfortunately, students at Cornell develop a really poor attitude towards Syracuse while in Ithaca, even though most of them have only been to the mall and the airport. This is personal experience, not hearsay. There would need to be more outreach to non-SU students if they want to retain them, regardless of employment prospects. Any comprehensive plan should be somewhat youth-focused; in order to retain college grads you need to be a place that they'd be excited to live in.
Unfortunately, students at Cornell develop a really poor attitude towards Syracuse while in Ithaca, even though most of them have only been to the mall and the airport. This is personal experience, not hearsay. There would need to be more outreach to non-SU students if they want to retain them, regardless of employment prospects. Any comprehensive plan should be somewhat youth-focused; in order to retain college grads you need to be a place that they'd be excited to live in.
Which is exactly why Syracuse needs an impressive skyline and beautiful buildings constructed in the most visible locations. As much as this sounds shallow, it does work. People are attracted to beauty. Make Syracuse LOOK beautiful and people will speak more highly of it than they do today.
Find the $500 million that a new skyline will cost and I will be fully behind it. I support it in theory, but without an economy to support that kind of thing, its just a black hole. Things like cleaning up Oakwood like beckyhuggs suggested will go a long way for a lot less.
Show me one city that built the buildings first, then started rolling again. Usually, the economy and culture recovers first, then people start building to serve the need for space and amenties. Even improved transit would help people get to jobs in downtown, increasing demand for offices and spurring investment (ie construction). You have to nurture growth, not bang on something that pretends it happened.
I agree, the travel between cities alone would be an excellent selling point to companies in need of a regional office or even sales hubs. And the close proximity to higher education would be a strong selling point to technology companies. The city or county should be approaching companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Red Hat, Cisco, etc. The only problem or obstacles to a deal involving these companies would be taxes, but if they can give breaks to that over hyped monstrosity called Destiny USA then I would assume they could give similar breaks to actual viable companies
Exactly, but I wonder if the leadership has enough guts to approach such companies.
It has all that and a pretty good-sized, underutilized airport. If they could bring in more business then they'd even be able to open up more direct flights to other cities. Mobility is really key to modern business, if you can't easily get to- and from your host city its not really viable. Syracuse has great highway access, and as good rail access as anywhere else in the US (i.e. kind of crap but eh, you can use it if you want to).
Unfortunately, students at Cornell develop a really poor attitude towards Syracuse while in Ithaca, even though most of them have only been to the mall and the airport. This is personal experience, not hearsay. There would need to be more outreach to non-SU students if they want to retain them, regardless of employment prospects. Any comprehensive plan should be somewhat youth-focused; in order to retain college grads you need to be a place that they'd be excited to live in.
So, basically they are judging a city they really don't know anything about.
What's interesting is that I've met people from Michigan, Pennsylvania, Downstate NY, Ontario and a few other places that actually said good things about the area once they were able to see what is actually here.
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