Friday, October 28th, 2011
Posted by: Bob Williams
Imagine a Rochester without an noose-like expressway dividing downtown-adjacent neighborhoods on the north and east sides. An obstacle to true connectivity for over 50 years, imagine the loop and its ramps filled in to grade instantaneously at the snap of your fingers. Naturally the next question arrives in our minds immediately, ‘How will we utilize this reclaimed real estate?’
If the goals are to reconnect severed neighborhood conduits, promote commerce, reduce car dependence, ensure ease of navigation, and foster a dynamic and vibrant streetscape, the answer lies not in a grandiose vision of the future, but more likely in our historic roots.
Consider the example of Alexandria, Virginia
. Originally platted in 1749 on land donated by Philip and John Alexander, six fundamental tenets of Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) differentiate this inviting river city from generic drivable suburbanism…
(more…)
Tags: Alexandria VA, Columbus OH, downtown Rochester, Harbor Town, High Street, I-490, inner loop, Ken Marquis, Main Street, Memphis TN, mixed-use development, Mud Island MS, Philip and John Alexander, Rochester, Rochester NY, Safety Harbor FL, Short North Neighborhood, traditional neighborhood development, urban planning, Wilkes-Barre PA
Posted in Background Stories | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 8th, 2010
The following article was published at RochesterSubway.com on 2010/02/16. Two weeks later 6 citizens got together and Reconnect Rocheseter was born.
America seems to have taken a renewed interest in mobility. Maybe due to President Obama’s recent commitment to high speed rail—or perhaps the positive results seen in towns like Portland and Denver have caught our collective attention. Whatever the reason, from the top down, people are rethinking our automobile-oriented culture—and getting excited about the possibilities.
There’s also good reason to focus on transportation as a way of jump-starting economic development. Industry requires access to people. And people need to have easy access to centers of employment. Continually improving access makes further development possible. Interrupting access will have the opposite effect. Likewise, doing nothing or simply maintaining existing infrastructure for an extended period of time will also hinder development.
For 30+ years Rochester has relied on the infrastructure choices it made in the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. At that time we made development choices that encouraged our population to emigrate from the downtown core. We scrapped our extensive streetcar system, choked off downtown with the construction of the inner-loop, and paved super highways to take us from the city to the NY State Thruway and beyond. Since then that’s exactly where our money, our workforce, and our future have gone—down I-490 and out of state.
(more…)
Tags: 19th Ward neighborhood, Amtrak, B&L, bus, bus routes, Cornhill neighborhood, Denver, downtown Rochester, Eastman Theater, Fast Ferry, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Greater Rochester International Airport, GRI Airport, hub-and-spoke system, infrastructure, Kenosha, Kodak Theater, light rail transit, light-rail, Main Street, Main Street Four Corners, Mark Aesch, mass transit, Midtown Plaza, Monroe County Civic Center, New York, Paetec, Park Ave neighborhood, Portland, public transportation, rail transit, Regional Transit Service (RTS), Riverside Convention Center, Rochester, Rochester Amtrak Station, Rochester Art Gallery, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA), Rochester Museums, Rochester NY, Rochester Regional Community Design Center, RRCDC, RTS, SAFETEA-LU, Seattle, Small Starts program, streetcar, streetcars, Tampa, transportation, trolley, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), University of Rochester, urban planning, urban renewal, urban revitalization, War Memorial Arena, Xerox
Posted in Background Stories, News | 2 Comments »
On Tuesday, January 31, the Rochester Regional Community Design Center 
On Thursday, February 2, Greentopia Film will host a screening of Gary Hustwit’s Urbanized at the Little Theatre for a one-night-only event.
