By Philip Monte Verde
For years the perception of Downtown Rochester has been of an abandoned fortress. The former seat of a once great kingdom, surrounded by a worthless moat. The older citizens of this kingdom remember when great princes came from far and wide to gather at our hallowed institutions. The moment the kingdom slipped from that historically remarkable peak, the citizens labeled the kingdom dead and the fortress abandoned.
Neither "dead" nor "abandoned" has ever been true.
For years the perception of Downtown Rochester has been of an abandoned fortress. The former seat of a once great kingdom, surrounded by a worthless moat. The older citizens of this kingdom remember when great princes came from far and wide to gather at our hallowed institutions. The moment the kingdom slipped from that historically remarkable peak, the citizens labeled the kingdom dead and the fortress abandoned.
Neither "dead" nor "abandoned" has ever been true.
People continue to live and work downtown, a number that is growing. At night there is entertainment there, and around the edges of the Inner Loop (the moat in our metaphor) on East Avenue, Monroe Avenue and in the stadium district.
Those of us that live in or near downtown know that. If we were too young to have seen the princes, then we aren't burdened with comparisons. But perception is reality, and perception in Rochester - as in the United States at large - is dictated by the older and more affluent. While that demographic may be shifting back to the cities, these perception-makers still tend to live in the suburbs, physically and psychologically removed from downtown.
Therefore, "revitalizing" downtown requires both financial inputs as well as a psychological shift. Joining community leaders and a handful of determined politicians are a new generation of investors. Two personality types in particular stand out: the Proud Rochesterians and the opportunity spotting out-of-towner.
The out-of-towner doesn't have the cloud of former glory hanging over their head. They don't know a 30-year Kodak vet who was laid-off "unexpectedly" like we all do. Their outside perspective allows them to see Downtown Rochester not as a barren wasteland, but as a unique opportunity to create wealth. The forest, rather than the trees. Unused real estate, with functional infrastructure, in the geographic and psychological center of a one million strong region.
Over one hundred years after Rufus Sibley left his native Boston to seek opportunity in Rochester, WinnDevelopment has come from Boston to renovate the iconic Sibley Building. $2.5 billion dollar companies don't go throwing money into dead areas.
Larry Glazer, although born in Buffalo, can still be held as an example of the proud native. In a July 2014 article, CITY Newspaper labeled Glazer "Downtown's patron saint," a title made more fitting by his untimely death in a plane crash later in the year. Glazer's Buckingham Properties is continuing his vision, thankfully, as work continues on the highly publicized Midtown Tower project.
The completion of the Downtown Transit Center has given commuters a lovely (and climate controlled) building they can be proud to wait for their bus in. It has also freed Main Street up to be Main Street, rather than a waiting room.
Rochester Local Capital, a group that seeks to "create local wealth and revitalize communities through the generation of profitable small businesses," opened up Hart's Grocery downtown. Hart's joins with more established institutions like the Little Theater and Java's and Spot coffeehouses in providing what people have come to expect from neighborhoods.
Local developers have been able to overcome the inherent negativity that has come from being on the wrong side of an historical arc. They don't see the danger in the opportunity, they see the opportunity in the danger.
When these improvements are complete comes the even bigger challenge: overcoming the psychological block. In the field of Innovation Studies there is a group called the "early adopters." These are the first people to get on a new trend that improves peoples' lives. If you are a Rochester-area resident reading this piece, you are probably one in this instance.
As early adopters we urgently need to experience the new Downtown Rochester. We need to work in it, we need to walk through it, and we need to party in it. Then we need to tell everyone about it.
The castles are being renovated and the moat is being filled in. Let's get living.
Those of us that live in or near downtown know that. If we were too young to have seen the princes, then we aren't burdened with comparisons. But perception is reality, and perception in Rochester - as in the United States at large - is dictated by the older and more affluent. While that demographic may be shifting back to the cities, these perception-makers still tend to live in the suburbs, physically and psychologically removed from downtown.
Therefore, "revitalizing" downtown requires both financial inputs as well as a psychological shift. Joining community leaders and a handful of determined politicians are a new generation of investors. Two personality types in particular stand out: the Proud Rochesterians and the opportunity spotting out-of-towner.
The out-of-towner doesn't have the cloud of former glory hanging over their head. They don't know a 30-year Kodak vet who was laid-off "unexpectedly" like we all do. Their outside perspective allows them to see Downtown Rochester not as a barren wasteland, but as a unique opportunity to create wealth. The forest, rather than the trees. Unused real estate, with functional infrastructure, in the geographic and psychological center of a one million strong region.
Over one hundred years after Rufus Sibley left his native Boston to seek opportunity in Rochester, WinnDevelopment has come from Boston to renovate the iconic Sibley Building. $2.5 billion dollar companies don't go throwing money into dead areas.
Larry Glazer, although born in Buffalo, can still be held as an example of the proud native. In a July 2014 article, CITY Newspaper labeled Glazer "Downtown's patron saint," a title made more fitting by his untimely death in a plane crash later in the year. Glazer's Buckingham Properties is continuing his vision, thankfully, as work continues on the highly publicized Midtown Tower project.
The completion of the Downtown Transit Center has given commuters a lovely (and climate controlled) building they can be proud to wait for their bus in. It has also freed Main Street up to be Main Street, rather than a waiting room.
Rochester Local Capital, a group that seeks to "create local wealth and revitalize communities through the generation of profitable small businesses," opened up Hart's Grocery downtown. Hart's joins with more established institutions like the Little Theater and Java's and Spot coffeehouses in providing what people have come to expect from neighborhoods.
Local developers have been able to overcome the inherent negativity that has come from being on the wrong side of an historical arc. They don't see the danger in the opportunity, they see the opportunity in the danger.
When these improvements are complete comes the even bigger challenge: overcoming the psychological block. In the field of Innovation Studies there is a group called the "early adopters." These are the first people to get on a new trend that improves peoples' lives. If you are a Rochester-area resident reading this piece, you are probably one in this instance.
As early adopters we urgently need to experience the new Downtown Rochester. We need to work in it, we need to walk through it, and we need to party in it. Then we need to tell everyone about it.
The castles are being renovated and the moat is being filled in. Let's get living.
