Have you ever done something so crazy you started to question your own sanity? A few weeks ago a little voice inside my head said, “DUDE, you should totally organize a flash mob!” Most sane people would have chuckled to themselves and ignored the voice. Not me. I listened to it.
So now here I am, asking you to join me for what could be the most insane (yet wildly entertaining) 5 minutes that downtown Rochester has seen in quite a while. If you’re feeling a little bit crazy, the details are after the jump…
Here’s something that turned up in the RocSubway email box a few weeks ago and we thought it pretty neat. Rochester expatriate Marshall Allen designed this Greater Rochester / Monroe County subway map for no other reason than to satisfy his own geeky curiosity. Sounds familiar. We’ll add this one to our collection of fantasy Rochester subway maps…
Here’s some exciting news… Trolleys will be returning to Rochester’s streets this summer! Though not the electric kind. Philip Szal will be starting Rochester Pedal Tours, a pedal powered trolley that guests can take around downtown as a way to bounce between their favorite restaurants and bars…
The City of Rochester has issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) to adaptively reuse, redevelop, and operate five former bus shelters on Main Street in downtown Rochester, NY. The deadline to respond is June 26 and successful proposals are expected to be announced by July 31…
In 1870 Ellwanger & Barry (and other wealthy investors) owned a spot along the west bank of the Genesee River gorge known as Maple Grove. At the time, the Lake Avenue streetcar line stretched all the way to this point, and in an effort to stimulate traffic on the trolley line, they had built Rochester’s first water-side resort; the Glen House…
On Monday April 27 at 7pm, Rochester Bicycle Film Festival will present its first of three films, Power to the Pedals, and panel discussion with the filmmaker and other cycling advocates at Little Theatre…
Rochester’s Southeast Quadrant will take part in Community Solar NY, a program designed to make investing in solar power easier and more affordable for local residents and businesses. The Solarize Flower City program kicks off with neighborhood workshops starting in May, where residents and business owners can learn about the program…
A few weeks ago we took you on a trip to Van Lare Wastewater Treatment Facility to see where Rochester’s dirty water goes to get cleaned up. It was there that we learned of an extensive deep rock tunnel system that that captures major storm runoff until it can be treated. Known as the Combined Sewer Overflow Abatement Program, or CSOAP, this system saves over 1 billion gallons of sewage from overflowing into the Genesee River and Irondequoit Bay each year.
More importantly, this means there are 30 miles of giant smelly tunnels beneath our city just waiting to be explored! Come on let’s go…
[PLEASE NOTE: This was an April Fools posting. Joke’s over.]
RochesterSubway.com has just learned of preliminary plans for what’s being called the Rochester Southern Communities Active Transportation (R-SCAT) project. By building on Monroe County’s original 1947 highway plan, Rochester, Brighton, and Henrietta have agreed to the construction of a new, multimodal connection from downtown Rochester to the New York State Thruway…
Joe Henderson (34) was an earth science teacher at Rush Henrietta Central School District before graduating last year from University of Rochester with a Ph.D. in Education – with a focus on environmental education. Joe has taken many 8th graders on field trips to Frank E. Van Lare Wastewater Treatment Facility . And today, he’s arranged to bring all of you, RocSubway friends…
At a cost to the New York taxpayer of just about half that of the Louisiana Purchase fourteen years earlier, “Clinton’s Ditch” faced the ageless and indestructible rancor of the New York State Legislature and the animosity of the press statewide. It is hard to overstate the impact the investment taxpayers made in building the canal had on the development of Rochester and New York State. Now, it is almost impossible to imagine a project like the canal ever being built in today’s political climate and maybe that is not such a good thing. In this edition of Wear to Where we stop by Lock 33 and ask, “What’s the big idea?”…
Density of people is good for cities. Density of cars is not . More people create more demand for local shops and services, which, in return, attract more people. Businesses seeking talent are attracted as well, and the city benefits from increased sales and property tax revenue and by increased utilization of its existing infrastructure. On the other hand when a lot of people are living in a small area, and all of those people own cars, we run out of places to put them. A winter like this one just makes us feel the pain a little more…
You may remember an article I posted more than a year about new plans for an Aldi store in Irondequoit on Hudson Ave. At that time I suggested the building should front the street/sidewalk, instead of being set back behind the parking lot. I thought the result would have been a development that would be more accessible to people who might choose to walk in off the street.
My suggestion was met with all kinds of wisdom from the project architect who has since set me straight. I now understand why it is better community planning to put your buildings in the middle of parking lots…
Protected bike lanes for the full length of Main Street. This was the request from local cycling advocate Harvey Botzman in an email late last week to City officials and other cycling advocates. The east end of Main Street in downtown Rochester is about to undergo a complete reconstruction, but bike lanes aren’t part of the plan. Additionally, the City is working on a plan to improve pedestrian connections and enhance the stretch of East Main Street between the Public Market and Neighborhood Of The Arts.
So with Main Street under the microscope, now is the time for all of us to demand, not ask, for a healthier mix of transportation options and amenities for Main Street. Harvey is leaving no gray area. He’s calling for “protected bike lanes for the full length of Main St. from Winton Rd. to Mt. Read Blvd.” and here’s why…
A local collective of artists/illustrators known as Hope Mountain have been publishing art books in Rochester for the past 4 years. Now they’re in the middle of Kickstarting this year’s Volume 5 and they’re asking for our help…
I just returned from a trip to Strong Memorial Hospital to visit Debbie, a cyclist who was seriously injured and taken by Mercy Flight to Strong after being hit and left to die by a drunk driver near Palmyra last week.
Debbie is recovering satisfactorily, but is badly hurt and clearly in pain. Her nurse says she asks if she will be able to ride a bicycle again. The answer is “yes, but not tomorrow.” She was clearly touched and pleased to have a visitor and to know that we care…
This week’s Fun Foto Friday is a snapshot from 1893. That’s Nick Brayer, an engineering contractor working on a new sewer beneath Front Street in downtown Rochester. In his hands is a tin box. It’s not a sewer pipe. It’s actually a time capsule and he’s preparing to lay it at the project site to be buried. Looks like quite the event; a crowd of neighborhood kids have formed behind him to get in on the photo op.
Fast forward to 2015 and the burning question for readers of this blog will undoubtedly be: Where is this capsule now? And what’s inside…
I wrote you back in December about the issue of sidewalks not being shoveled. After every snow storm there are large areas of sidewalks that are not shoveled throughout the city. I think it’s great that the City of Rochester provides supplemental sidewalk plowing. However, I think many people think it’s now the city’s job to shovel…
Tucked away in a remote corner of downtown, facing the back side of the Geva Theatre and surrounded on all sides by parking lots, stands this unassuming brick house. In downtown Rochester there are several lonely buildings like this one, still hanging on long after its neighbors have all been read their last rites.
I admire old little structures like this. Maybe it doesn’t have a glamourous story to tell. But it’s stuck it out for the last 150+ years – from Rochester’s boom, all the way through the toughest times this rusty city could throw at it. Whenever I’ve visited Geva Theatre I’ve taken notice of this one and wondered if it would find new life…
The New York Museum of Transportation presents a 40-minute slide talk on the Rochester Subway. The show is at 1:00 p.m., Sunday, January 11, 2015 and is free with admission of $5 adults and $4 under age 12. Images from the museum’s vast photo archive portray the Rochester Subway from construction, through operation, to its abandonment almost 60 years ago. The presentation of B&W and color slides will be narrated by the museum trustee, Jim Dierks…
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
Industrial & Rapid Transit Railway (the “subway”) was built in
its place as a link between the five different railroads and interurban trolley
lines that served the Rochester area. As the industrial landscape of Rochester
changed, and highways replaced the railroads, the Rochester subway gradually
became a relic of a bygone era. In 1956 the subway was abandoned and much of
its route was converted into Interstate 490 — built to connect Rochester
with the New York State Thruway (I-90). Read more about the history of the Rochester Subway.
RochesterSubway.com exists to help spark
public dialogue around how we can better connect the neighborhoods of Rochester
NY, surrounding communities, and their cultural offerings. Rochester’s
future is written in her past. Let's rediscover it.
![On Thursday, June 18, at exactly 9:07a.m. we're going to start the biggest spontaneous dance party ever to take place in downtown Rochester. For the exact location and to learn the dance moves, watch the video. [IMAGE: ReconnectRochester.org]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-flash-mob-01.jpg)
![Greater Rochester and Monroe County fantasy subway map. [IMAGE: Marshall Allen]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/monroe-county-subway-map-01.gif)
![Rochester Pedal Tours coming July 2015. [PHOTO: BuffaloPedalTours.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/pedal-tours-01.jpg)
![The City of Rochester has issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) to adaptively reuse, redevelop, and operate five former bus shelters on Main Street in downtown Rochester, NY. [PHOTO: Hennebery Eddy Architects, Inc.]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/portland-bus-shelter-coffee-kiosk.jpg)
![In 1870 Ellwanger & Barry (and other wealthy investors) owned a spot along the west bank of the Genesee River gorge known as Maple Grove. At the time, the Lake Avenue streetcar line stretched all the way to this point, and in an effort to stimulate traffic on the trolley line, they had built Rochester's first water-side resort; the Glen House. [PHOTO: 'Rochester's Lakeside Resorts and Amusement Parks' by Donovan Schilling]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/glen-house-rochester-ny-01.jpg)
![Rochester’s Southeast Quadrant will take part in Community Solar NY, a program designed to make investing in solar power easier and more affordable for local residents and businesses. [PHOTO: Ruairí, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/solarize-flower-city-01.jpg)
![Let's explore Rochester's deep rock sewer tunnels! [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/csoap-deep-rock-sewer-tunnel-rochester-00.jpg)
![Grab your nose plugs. Today we're going inside Frank E. Van Lare Wastewater Treatment Facility. [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/van-lare-water-treatment-plant-rochester-00.jpg)
![It is almost impossible to imagine a project like the canal ever being built in today’s political climate and maybe that is not such a good thing. In this edition of Wear to Where we stop by Lock 33 and ask, 'What’s the big idea?' [PHOTO: Clarke Condé]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/rochester-fashion-wear-to-where-erie-canal-lock-33-01.jpg)
![When a lot of people are living in a small area, and all of those people own cars, we run out of places to put them. A winter like this one just makes us feel the pain a little more. [PHOTO: Joseph Crescente]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/alexander-street-snow-rochester.jpg)
![Harvey Botzman, a local cycling advocate, is calling for protected bike lanes for the full length of Main Street in Rochester. [PHOTO: J. Stephen Conn, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/main-street-protected-bike-lanes-01.jpg)
![A local collective of artists/illustrators known as Hope Mountain is Kickstarting to produce a new book and put some artwork on Main Street. [Image: Peter Lazarski]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/hope-mountain-02.jpg)
![Scott Wagner, a local cycling advocate, visited a fellow cyclist who was seriously injured last week by a drunk driver. [PHOTO: ✿Low✿, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/lonely-bike-in-snow.jpg)
![Nick Brayer preparing to lay a time capsule under Front Street, Rochester. 1893. [PHOTO: Rochester Municipal Archives]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/front-street-time-capsule-rochester-ny-01.jpg)
![Sidewalk snow removal is a safety issue that requires action from all of us. [PHOTO: Nearsoft Inc, Flickr]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/snow-sidewalk-02.jpg)
![Tucked away in a remote corner of downtown Rochester, facing the back side of the Geva Theatre and surrounded on all sides by parking lots, stands this unassuming brick house. [PHOTO: RochesterSubway.com]](https://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/st-marys-place-01.jpg)
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