When we last spoke, it was Halloween, and we were on the eve of our first zoning board of appeals and preservation board hearings. It’s now March and we’ve been to two hearings for each board, and spoiler alert, we’ve received approval(s) from each. Yay! But now that we’re here, let’s take a look at the process and all the fun we had…
Yesterday we took a bike ride down inside the Inner Loop with Matthew Ehlers to see how Rochester’s “big fill” was progressing. Quite nicely I’d say. But once filled, the next question becomes, what will fill the void.
RocSubway reader Ben Voellinger pointed us to a recent document posted to the City’s website that outlines recommendations for future development(s) along the new Union Street. Thanks Ben! Let’s take a look…
From local development to just plain news of the weird, here are your RocLinks for this past week (and WOW, what a week for development here in Rochester)…
I’ve been writing Filling in Columns for over 2 years now (starting with this one on Exchange Street), and I’ve realized that it’s high time to have a discussion about my vision for the column, what I write, and why I write it…
The Rochesterian has blogged several times about the need to create a link between Frontier Field and Sahlen’s Stadium… and how Rochester needs someone like Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula to invest in a Harbor Center type of development centered around Rochester’s sports arenas. I don’t disagree. Rochester’s stadiums (and the neighborhoods around them) could, and should be a much bigger draw.
Last April a local businessman named Jerry DeCarolis sent me a concept plan he put together called “Stadiumville.” I was impressed. But this plan was so ambitious, and so broad-sweeping, I wasn’t quite sure how seriously to take it. And so I ended up sitting on the document – until now…
One of the best places to put additional density is near public parks. Why you ask? Well, that’s an excellent question. Not only do parks double as excellent backyards that homeowners don’t need to mow, but they provide excellent views (that will never go away), and density around parks makes the parks themselves more attractive to passers-by.
All of this translates to adding housing around pre-existing parks. This should be a priority for the city. While I am hoping to tackle a master plan for Brown Square Park (by Frederick Law Olmsted, no less!), let’s start out with something a little smaller…
Well, dear readers, I must admit that this is not exactly what I had planned when I left you the last time. That said, please bear with me while we look at something a little bit different.
John Baker, Steve Gullace, Chris Gullace have proposed to construct a new gym and a 48 unit apartment building at 759 Park Ave . The gym would be for the Talmudic Institute next door, while the apartments would be for rent. This has, not surprisingly, drawn a raft of criticism from the residents of the Park Ave neighborhood…
Welcome back! Last week we looked at a block that almost had it all. This week, let’s see what we can do on a much larger scale with a block that needs a little more work. A roughly 600’x600’ square mega block at the southern entrance to downtown. There are a few good things going on here; Geva Theater , Capron Lofts , Plan Architects . And, a few not so good; a sweeping highway off-ramp, a GIANT parking lot across the street from TWO garages, and random weedy surface lots…
Welcome to the first post in what will be an ongoing series called Filling In. One of the key elements of any great city is a tightly knit urban fabric. Whether you’re in New York City, San Francisco, or our own beloved Rochester, building an appealing city scape at a human, walkable scale promotes health, wealth, and wisdom. We’ve also learned that parks next to parks next to barren windswept plazas don’t put butts in seats, as they say. With that in mind, Filling In aims to explore vacant or underutilized pieces of Rochester in an effort to rebuild or strengthen our built environment. The aerial photo above was taken in 1929, when downtown was dense and energetic. And here is a reminder of what we’re up against…
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After the Erie Canal was rerouted south of downtown Rochester, the Rochester
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