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Three Definitions of Affordable Housing - “Affordable housing” has at least three different meanings in Central New York right now, and as more and more people are talking about housing, those conflicting definitions are confusing our conversations on the topic. The first and most common meaning is something like ‘reasonably priced housing.’ Housing costs were pretty low and pretty stable around … Continue reading Three Definitions of Affordable Housing →
Rome’s Bus Network Redesign - Centro’s newly announced service update for Rome offers a glimpse of how the transit authority might improve service in Syracuse. Rome’s new network features higher service frequencies on high-ridership routes, a clockface timetable, and on-demand service to cover lower-ridership areas. Centro currently runs six bus lines in Rome. The routes with the highest ridership (accounting … Continue reading Rome’s Bus Network Redesign →
Replacing connections removed by urban renewal - When the Syracuse Police Department moves its main offices out of the Public Safety Building on State Street, City Hall should build a path through the property to reconnect Downtown with the neighborhoods immediately to its east. City Hall built the present Public Safety Building as part of an urban renewal project explicitly designed to … Continue reading Replacing connections removed by urban renewal →
Centro’s post-pandemic ridership recovery - More people rode a Centro bus in September 2023 than in any month since October 2019. That marks the first time post-pandemic monthly transit ridership in Syracuse has exceeded any pre-pandemic mark. This is good news for Centro, but the ridership trends leading up to September tell a slightly more complicated story about the state … Continue reading Centro’s post-pandemic ridership recovery →
Big new apartment buildings are good - The large apartment buildings going up around University Hill expand housing opportunity in surrounding neighborhoods, and that’s a good thing.  These buildings—505 Walnut, Theory Syracuse, The Marshall, UPoint, etc—attract a lot of scorn because they’re big, new, expensive, and primarily marketed to university students. ‘Why’ a lot of people ask ‘do we need more luxury … Continue reading Big new apartment buildings are good →