West Genesee Street Love, or How I Learned to Start Worrying and Question Onondaga County

As my dad says quite often, "Some change is good, Joey. But some change is not so good.".

It might come off as a bit Yoggi Berra-ish, but that statement echoed with me a lot last year as I looked from my apartment window onto West Genesee Street.

If you were around the city at all last year or even up until now, you probably noticed the above average amount of construction going on all over the place. Downtown and University Hill had a lot going on. Roads, bike lanes, new buildings, etc... A growing community is something to generally be proud of (when it's done correctly) but it can also make getting from point (a) to point (b) tricky on occasion. I won't dive into each and every project, but one of the construction zones that hits closer to home is the Save the Rain project along West Genesee Street; a program designed to help contain sewage overflow. The project is spearheaded by Onondaga County (with construction carried-out by an independent contractor). It was scheduled to finish in August of 2012, but the finish date ended up being closer to December of 2012. I only know this because of the constant drilling, pavement machines, beeping, and tree cutting that happened outside of my apartment building well into last winter.

Just to preface, I'm generally not one who gets behind the county on many decisions; for the main reason that, historically speaking, they tend to know very little on how to plan for an urban environment like Downtown. To use some examples, it's the same organization that wanted to build a sewage treatment plant next to Armory Square, liked the idea of putting a baseball stadium in the middle of nowhere, and recently passed a vote to suggest to the NY DOT that rebuilding I-81 through Downtown would be wonderful before doing any of their own cost analysis or interpretation of any design concepts. This project on West Genesee Street isn't quite as extreme as those examples. The end results of this project can go either way. There's good change and there's bad change.

On the one hand, it saves money, prevents sewage overflow, and its objectives seems to be clear: a safe, clean, and reliable solution for sewage run-off; all of which are difficult points to disagree on. However, my concern lies with its aesthetics and how they were overlooked or in some cases not even taken into consideration. And many of these details that fell by the wayside will end up having long-lasting effects on the overall character, feel, and function of the street. There are several areas to look into so let's get rollin'...

Critique #1: The Street.

The above picture is a southwest-ish view looking down onto the 200 block of West Genesee Street. If you look closely, you can see the workings of a pre-existing, brick-covered street (for the most part, Genesee Street was covered with them at one point in time). Pavement has acted like a protective candy shell over these last 50 years and by the looks of the bricks, they've held up extremely well considering the heavy amount of snow, salt, ice, and car traffic that this street has endured over the last 5 or 6 decades.

The small sections of bricks pictured above were destroyed in May of 2012.

While Syracuse can lay claim to a few scattered areas of brick-lined streets (Westmoreland Ave, Hanover Square, Claredon Street, Scottholm Terrace...), my question is: why can't this one block of West Genesee Street be covered in brick after the underground portion has been complete and the new sewage lines and pipes have all been installed? And "because we have too much snow", "because of the maintenance costs associated with bricks", or "because of the heavy amount of automobile traffic" should not be used as piss-poor excuses. Plenty of cities like Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Quebec City, and Ithaca have beautifully maintained brick-covered streets (and in some cases stone-covered streets) and they've been able to hold up very well for decades without any major catastrophes. Not only that, but each of these cities deals with plenty of automobile traffic, ice, and snow every year.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not advocating for Syracuse's entire street pattern to be blanketed in bricks, but I think in small doses they can do wonders. Bricks do certain things that pavement-covered streets can't do.

1. They showcase a bit of history, character, and charm.
2. They make a street seem more memorable and meaningful to be a part of.
3. They absorb rain water much more easily than pavement.
4. They act as a traffic calming technique and help to slow down traffic (good for a dense street that's feet away from the center of the city where I've seen crazies drive ~35 mph through red lights).

It's not surprising to me that Onondaga County is missing the mark with this, seeing as how it's a project specifically directed towards Downtown; an area that the county has tended to overlook (not to beat at dead horse, but anyone who thought building a sewage treatment plant next to Armory Square, the city's most vibrant district, was a great idea needs to have their heads examined).

Just imagine for a second a beautiful tree-lined street, covered in brick, and tucked into the edge of another beautiful piece of masonry, the Clinton Exchange Building. It's a picturesque setting that other cities would love to have as their own and Onondaga County missed the opportunity without even thinking that they could have had it.

There are some positives: the final layer of pavement is very sleek and clean, the county was able to add buffer zones between the parallel parking spots and the car lanes - which helps you feel safe when getting in and out of your car, and they were also able to add a few extra on-street parking spots to Clinton Street. So it wasn't a total loss. But we did miss out on a great opportunity to display a bit of the city's proud history on one of its oldest streets.

In a city that has such a rich history in transportation, (roads, railroads, canals, highways, etc...), a brick-lined street at this location would have been a unique opportunity to create a nice western gateway welcoming people into Clinton Square and Downtown Syracuse.

Final Grade: C-

***

Critique #2: Sidewalks.

OK I'm not Claude Monet, but someone dropped the ball on this one because we now have two different colored sidewalks that should clearly be uniform both in color and separation. To use the parlance of our times, WTF?

Unless this is someone's artistic intention of creating abstract art with sidewalks, something went terribly wrong here. Someone or maybe all parties involved most likely didn't anticipate this happening. Or maybe they did and didn't care about how it would look. Whatever the excuse is it's embarrassing, unclassy, and frankly, represents laziness. Those are not qualities that we should be demonstrating or emphasizing in the public domain. Unfortunately, people are forced to think about it every time they walk down this street.

It was probably one of those things that got lost in shuffle of the planning process. At no point did anyone bother to ask the simple question of whether or not the new sections (gray) would match the existing ones (brown). And as a result, we get stuck with two colors of sidewalks in some sort of weird, irregular grid pattern.

I'm sure that replacing the older sections would have cost way too much money. That's really the only legit excuse. But now the city is stuck with this, purely at the county's expense - probably for decades because Syracuse doesn't have the money to fix it on its own. It's very sad not only from a results standpoint but from the fact that no one involved seemed to notice or care during both the planning and construction stages. It was like zombies finished the sidewalks. They got their paychecks and left without adding any sanity or reason into the project.

And if that wasn't enough, the crosswalks are actually smaller than they were before.

Nice job all-around, everyone.

Final Grade: F

***

Critique #3: Parking meters.

Perhaps the only obvious improvement along this corridor is the fact that the old, headless coin-operated parking meters are now gone. So at the very least, bravo to all parties involved for finally removing the awkward, headless poles from street.

Final Grade: A+

***

Critique #4: Trees.

We love trees. We like being close to them both in country and city settings. We like how they help create a vaulted room both along and over the street, how they create a symmetrical buffer-zone between the pedestrian and the street traffic, and how they shield us from the elements like sunlight, wind, and rain.

It's nice to see new trees replanted here along West Genesee St (although I'll miss the older trees which were much taller - these news ones will hopefully grow to be just as tall over time). I'm sure to some extent they will help absorb the rain water too. So the more trees for Syracuse, the better. The county also added larger soil areas next to the trees which are covered in black gates (I'm guessing as another tactic to help absorb rain water). Although, some weeding seems to be in order soon.

Sadly, two grates (here and here) are already damaged which I hope it isn't a sign of things to come. Overall though, the new grates look uniform and dare I say classy.

Actually, the only issue I have with this isn't with Onondaga County, it's with the smokers who are now throwing their cigarette butts into the grates (as if the trees will somehow use their magic powers to take care of the ash, nicotine, and carcinogens that have been discarded onto them). I don't want to veer too far off-topic here, but can we all come to the logical conclusion that cigarette butts are garbage and if you're not disposing of garbage properly, you're littering? Like stop littering and making the environment worse around you.

Final Grade: A+ (although the older, taller trees will be missed)

***

Critique #5: Railroad tracks.

OK, so as much as I'd love to see trolley service restored within the city, I can also come to terms with that idea being a total pipe dream. I'm a train-buff so this critique may be the most far-fetched out of all of these, but in the smallest sense of the slightest possibility, is it so much to ask for these unused rail lines to be preserved? There was nothing more disturbing than seeing small sections of these rail lines ripped out over the course of a week or so - probably never to be replaced ever again and most likely sold for scrap metal. (To be fair, only 4 small pairs in about 10 feet in length were removed. There is still plenty of track underneath the pavement judging from what I saw. But still...).

What upsets me most about this aspect is the short-sightedness for our long-term future. Sure, keeping the lines there, or at the very least, repairing them and then burying them again under pavement or brick would cost more money - especially for a city that doesn't necessarily require a trolley or a light rail system (at least, not for now). But who's to say we won't actually need these lines come 2030? Or 2050? Or 2070? Worst-case scenario is we tear them up and then end up needing them again. Best-case scenario is that we preserve them and save ourselves time and money by using them again in the future. So since we already have them here, why don't we plan for the best-case scenario? Who knows, we might even have less money to work with by then if we do need them one day.

While I can admit that an east-west trolley or light rail system is somewhat fictional, I guess I fail to see how saving something we might desperately need one day is an unreasonable request.

Final Grade: D+ (only because the lines are still there in some capacity)

***

Critique #6: Robert R Haggart Memorial Park

Truth be told, I've never been a fan of this park. I've written my thoughts already, so I wont rehash too much. But the fact that there's already a public space (Clinton Square) on the opposite corner from where this spot is makes having a park here redundant. Not to mention this is a corner location which typically lends itself to have more civic and monetary value when it's comprised of a building or buildings. The only redeeming quality about this park is the fact that it provides a ton of shade on sunny days. That's really it. Other than that, people have tended to treat this area as their own personal garbage can. The park has these weird pits with bushes growing in them, so people are actually getting more use out of this place as a garbage pit and getting less use from it as a park. There are usually plenty of Subway wrappers and soda lids scattered around and I get tired of picking up the litter. There's a trash can 20 feet away from it which means people are lazy enough that they don't even want to walk 20 feet to dispose of their garbage.

Aesthetically, the new park looks nice, but the concept is not impressive. The County could have easily added something unique and provided a place of real value for the people that live and work in this district, instead of making yet another outdoor sitting area that isn't functional or necessary. How about chess tables? Or a water feature along the wall? Something more enlightening and something that adds more value than just trees, blank canvases, and benches.

I said it before and I'll say it again: I know it's a brand-new park, but the city should consider putting a building on this location. Not only would it restore the streetscape, but it's prime real estate on a corner over-looking Clinton Square (a mixed-use, 3-story building could easily fill-up I think). It's nonsensical for the city to devote this location to a pocket park that is redundant, provides very little civic value, and has no redeeming qualities about it.

Final Grade: C-

***

So if I could take away key points from this, put them into question form, and ask them to someone within Onondaga County's government, it would be this...

1. "Why were aesthetics and practicality of no concern during the planning and construction stages?"
2. "Why did Onondaga County ignore and abuse Syracuse's history?"
3. "Since when do the colors gray and brown match?"

I understand what the county was doing. Being "green" is good and definitely is a big step above doing anything that hurts the environment or deters peoples' overall health. We have to continue to improve Onondaga Creek and Onondaga Lake. There's no debating that. But when "green" doesn't taken into account basic aestheticism, when it misses golden opportunities to improve the look of a street, and when it doesn't add civic value or improve the lives of the people who have to interact with it on a daily basis, then what's the point of championing it as progress?

So while Onondaga County did great on the macrocosm (conserving water, helping sewage overflow, improving a park, planting new trees) they totally missed on the microcosm (a disregard to the city's past and cheapening the pedestrian experience).

I'm sure the county had good intentions, but the end results of this vary from really great to poor. It would've been nice to see all areas finished with high quality instead of a select few because the aspects that are bad are the ones that are going to have long-lasting effects on the health of the street.

PS: For what it's worth, I did contact both the city and county about Haggard Park during its construction and floated some of my ideas to them. I figured since I live next to it that they would at least hear me out in some capacity. I received an immediate, polite, and informative response from the city telling me to redirect my questions and concerns to the county. Did I get a response from the county when I asked them about it? You know, the people directing this whole thing? Nope.

PPS: The city and county have recently announced a more streamlined process to their planning efforts. We'll see how this shakes out for future developments.