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Sense of Place: Lessons from Elsewhere

June 13th, 2013

The following is a guest post submitted by Joel Helfrich.
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It is through the process of defining what we want as a town that we are becoming a real community. It is through the act of participation that we change.

This is not simply a story of not-in-my-backyard. It is the unfolding tale of how a small community … is rising to its own defense, saying, we believe we have a stake in the future of our own community, which we choose to define beyond our own boundaries of time and space and species…

A crisis woke us up. A shared love of place opened a dialogue with neighbors. We asked for help. We found partners. We used our collective intelligence to formulate a plan. And then we had to search within ourselves to find what each of us had to give.

In my private moments of despair, I am aware of the limits of my own imagination. I am learning . . . that imaginations shared invite collaboration and collaboration creates community. A life in association, not a life independent, is the democratic ideal. We participate in the vitality of the struggle.

…We trust—and trust is imperative—that we can create an economically viable and ecologically sustainable plan for the town, the land, and its creatures…

In our increasingly fundamentalist country, we have to remember what is fundamental: gravity—what draws us to a place and keeps us there, like love, like kinship. When we commit to a particular place, a certain element of choice is removed. We begin to see the world whole instead of fractured. Long-term strategies replace short-term gains. We inform one another and become an educated public that responds.

— Terry Tempest Williams, author and environmental activist, in The Open Space of Democracy

Please share your thoughts regarding sense of place and environmental consciousness. What does the quotation above mean to you? Are these words, originally detailing efforts to think critically and preserve wild lands in Southern Utah, applicable to Rochester? Do they relate to loss of the Hojack Swing Bridge, the Cataract Brewery buildings, St. Ann’s tower, Our Lady of Mercy rectory in Greece, and the proposed demolition of the Iola Tuberculosis Sanitarium campus buildings for CityGate? Is there a community of people out there that cares about development in general in Rochester or in particular in the city, the rate and, more significantly, types of “growth” that we are witnessing, the loss of more of Rochester’s historic fabric, and the limited number of projects with any “green” features and elements? What are your thoughts?

• • •

About Joel Helfrich:

Joel Helfrich is a father, educator, historian, and activist who works on animal rights, environmental, historic and sacred sites preservation, and social justice issues.

Tags: Cataract Brewery, CityGate, demolition, Greece, historic preservation, Hojack Swing Bridge, Iola Campus, Iola Tuberculosis Sanatorium, Joel Helfrich, Our Lady of Mercy, Rochester, Rochester NY, St. Ann's Community, Terry Tempest Williams, The Open Space of Democracy

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 13th, 2013 at 7:58 am and is filed under Opinion, Reader Submitted Stories, Urban Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

4 Responses to “Sense of Place: Lessons from Elsewhere”

chase tyler says:

June 13, 2013 at 9:10 pm

There was no hope for Iola. I thought it was creepy, having the abandoned hospital among the ones still in use.
Charles says:

June 16, 2013 at 9:40 am

My thought Joel is conversations like this and websites like this are a step in the right direction.

I also think supply and demand is in affect and while we care, most of these decisions are being based on market analysis and the majority of people don’t really care about this stuff.

That is why I am a fan of comprehensive plans that forecast the direction we want to head as a community versus just responding to ever new situation.

Thanks .
Brendan Bulson says:

August 21, 2013 at 11:32 am

Not that we need more housing but use Danvers, Mass. as an example of how to repurpose a hospital campus. The buildings may not all be there but the main buildings walls are still there. Now it is high end apartments.
Colleen C. says:

August 11, 2015 at 11:23 am

Does anyone have further info about image #2?

I’m wondering if you could point me in any directions to discover photos or more info regarding the Charlotte & Summerville rail stations (are there such a thing?) my ancestors were affiliates with:

Casto Pasquale “Charles” Gagliardi
Birth 21 MAY 1877 • Italy
Death 07 MAY 1920 • Irondequoit

per 1920 census records, he was a “station boss” and his son, Nicolas, was a machinist at a Summerville rail station.

Address on 1920 census records indicated that he lived at 13 St. Paul St in Summerville. (Main office for RW&O Ontario Secondary from Irondequoit or Charlotte? idk)

1917 WW draft registration states Pasquale was Section Foreman of Rome Watertown RR Station on Lake Ave for NY Central RR, (Charlotte Station which recently housed a plumbing business?) lived in house on RR property in Irondequoit, and had PO address of Charlotte RR Station. (I assume this was the RW&O: Rome, Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad, commonly known as The Hojack Line) The “The Story of the Rome Watertown and Ogdensburg Railroad” by Edward Hungerford didn’t have specifics about a “Charlotte RR Station”

Thanks!
@AdventuresNY

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Sense of Place: Lessons from Elsewhere

About Joel Helfrich:

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