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The north part of downtown was where I was thinking when there was talk about Amazon. There is a lot of room for development and it's near the train station to zip in Buffalonians and Syracusans.
It's amazing, isn't it, how statistics can be "massaged" to make whatever point that you want. For instance, the population figures that are shown, are for the "METROPOLITAN" area of Rochester, NY, which encompasses far more that just the city itself. And yes, those numbers are indeed growing. However, I believe that this discussion centers, at least it started that way, around the Inner Loop, and it's effect on the city, itself.
There are some numbers, that for whatever reason, stick in your mind. I remember that in the 1959-1960 timeframe, shortly after my family moved here, I read that the population of Rochester, and I believe it to be the "city of Rochester", was 318,611. I don't know why, but I just remember that number.
Without getting too "windy", I think that the two major factors in the city's overall re-arrangement, are the construction of I490 and the 1964 race riots. I490 created easy access to the eastern and western suburbs, and people began to take advantage of that. And the riots hastened the use of 490, to access those suburbs, while still working either in, or close to, the city....
It's amazing, isn't it, how statistics can be "massaged" to make whatever point that you want. For instance, the population figures that are shown, are for the "METROPOLITAN" area of Rochester, NY, which encompasses far more that just the city itself. And yes, those numbers are indeed growing. However, I believe that this discussion centers, at least it started that way, around the Inner Loop, and it's effect on the city, itself.
There are some numbers, that for whatever reason, stick in your mind. I remember that in the 1959-1960 timeframe, shortly after my family moved here, I read that the population of Rochester, and I believe it to be the "city of Rochester", was 318,611. I don't know why, but I just remember that number.
Without getting too "windy", I think that the two major factors in the city's overall re-arrangement, are the construction of I490 and the 1964 race riots. I490 created easy access to the eastern and western suburbs, and people began to take advantage of that. And the riots hastened the use of 490, to access those suburbs, while still working either in, or close to, the city....
It was in response to what another poster stated about the area "dying", in spite of steady growth in the metro area and no population losses in an official census.
Something to keep in mind is that the city of Rochester, like many Northeastern cities, did not have the luxury of annexation in relatively recent years like other cities have. Then, you add the aspects of Urban Renewal and suburbanization, that is how the city population can drop below the peak population. It isn't surprising that many smaller/mid sized and even major Northeastern cities peaked around 1950 at the latest, as that is just after WW2, when suburban communities were really just being built and then Urban Renewal came right after that in the 1960's. So, in a sense, there were other outside aspects that play a part in that as well.
"A highway divided our city", as the narrator of the video said????
The inner loop was designed to allow people to get "cross town", quickly and efficiently...........when there was still a "downtown" to get across. The way I see it, the "guts" of downtown, primarily the retailers and office buildings (housing the corporate headquarters, banks, investment houses, and high end restaurants) have long since left the area. They fled to the suburbs, for many obvious reasons.
The idea to think that the Loop "tore apart", or divided the area, is nonsense. I find it hard to believe that people found it difficult to walk across the Loop, using the sidewalks that were spaced at roughly 1/4 mile intervals, such as East Ave, Main St, Scio St, ect. If the "tore apart" idea was valid, than what do you call the Genesee River?? If anything, the completion of I490 was what spelled doom for the "downtown area". That roadway made commuting to the east and west suburbs VERY easy, and during a time when the Rochester area was really expanding, the people took advantage of it.
And, had I390 been completed, according to it's original intended path, paralleling South Clinton Ave, I think THAT would have been more inclined to split the city...
"A highway divided our city", as the narrator of the video said????
The inner loop was designed to allow people to get "cross town", quickly and efficiently...........when there was still a "downtown" to get across. The way I see it, the "guts" of downtown, primarily the retailers and office buildings (housing the corporate headquarters, banks, investment houses, and high end restaurants) have long since left the area. They fled to the suburbs, for many obvious reasons.
The idea to think that the Loop "tore apart", or divided the area, is nonsense. I find it hard to believe that people found it difficult to walk across the Loop, using the sidewalks that were spaced at roughly 1/4 mile intervals, such as East Ave, Main St, Scio St, ect. If the "tore apart" idea was valid, than what do you call the Genesee River?? If anything, the completion of I490 was what spelled doom for the "downtown area". That roadway made commuting to the east and west suburbs VERY easy, and during a time when the Rochester area was really expanding, the people took advantage of it.
And, had I390 been completed, according to it's original intended path, paralleling South Clinton Ave, I think THAT would have been more inclined to split the city...
What he appears to be referring to is the original built environment that connected adjacent neighborhoods to Downtown without the presence of a highway. In turn, that is why he is talking about the development that has occurred in the path/footprint of the former highway.
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