“Cool” in Rochester
is the youth-oriented Park Avenuearea,
or the East End-Alexander area on a summer night, with crowds from clubs and bars
spilling out onto the sidewalks. But there’s lots to
experience in the city. And lots of development under way or
in the planning stages. Alongside large-scale ventures, such as the HighFalls entertainment district and
new riverside housing development, are smaller
projects. Not even projects, really, but efforts: the efforts of residents to
enliven their neighborhoods.
Whether you like scoping out
multimillion-dollar ventures or little neighborhood treasures, you’ll learn a
lot about the city by exploring it.
Downtown
Some people would love to dismantle
part of Rochester’s Inner Loop, the highway system that
circles downtown and cuts it off from its surrounding neighborhoods. But
downtown is a neighborhood itself. And while Sibley’s department store no
longer dominates the retail scene, and Midtown Plaza, the nation’s first indoor
mall, waits for redevelopment or dismantling, other
things are springing up or being planned.
The biggest of them is the Renaissance Square project, the combo transit
center, performing arts space, and college campus. New housing continues to be
developed downtown, the latest being the high-end Sagamore near from the Eastman
Theatre.
There is housing throughout the
center city, however: in historic row houses and contemporary townhouses in the
Gibbs Street area, lofts in converted commercial buildings, and a good amount of low and
moderate-income apartments.
Downtown houses many of the region’s
arts venues, of course — and then there’s the proposal — conceived by
artist Kenichiro Sato — to create a mosaic of 10,000 photographs on a wall
of SUNY Brockport’s MetroCenter
on St. Paul Street, part of
his idea for a Rochester Outdoor Museum of Art.
On downtown’s northwestern edge, in
the HighFallsdistrict, attempts to create an entertainment district have
struggled, but businesses — particularly those with a creative focus — are
being drawn to the area.
On the western fringe is a
neighborhood of historic importance: the Susan
B. Anthony Preservation District, with a beautiful small park and Victorian
homes that include Anthony’s own, now a museum.
Southeast
The efforts of neighborhood
associations and the Landmark Society have preserved much of East Avenue‘s historic appeal, including many
mansions and churches. Nearby Park
Avenue, with its
cafes, restaurants, and boutiques, has become the Mecca
for 20-somethings. And nestled beside CobbsHillPark on the Brighton-city line is
one of the city’s most charming small neighborhoods, the Cobbs Hill area.
One of the area’s most recent
successes is ArtWalk,
an “interactive museum without walls,” with sculpture and curbside gardens
lining University Avenue.
Perpendicular to University is North Goodman, the location of Village
Gate Square and the Arts & Cultural Council.
While Village Gate’s north side already showcases a gigantic mural, look for a
new one soon, the folks at the Arts & Cultural Council hint.
For a different
feel, stroll down Monroe Avenue, with its eclectic mix
of attractions. On the western end: the fine Greek restaurant, the Olive
Tree; the popular bar known as the Bug Jar, and Wadsworth Square, the small
Victorian neighborhood whose attractions include the Abundance Cooperative
Market. Walk the length of Monroe
to the Brighton line and you’ll pass Gitsis
Texas Hots, an all-night diner, and Show World, the
adult entertainment business whose owner, angered by neighborhood activists,
painted part of his building bright green. Just before you cross into Brighton
is CobbsHillPark, whose hilltop offers one of the
best views of the city.
In the distinctive South Wedge, neighborhood residents and
businesses have preserved not only the area’s numerous moderate-sized
19th-century houses and buildings but also its important economic mix. South
Avenue boasts a mix of bohemian businesses and
restaurants. Developers recently purchased an abandoned building and empty lots
at South and Gregory and plan a green grocery store and a
commercial-residential mix.
At South and Alexander, artist PepsyKettavong and others have
been at work in a small pocket park, featuring intricate gates. And check out
the hip Boulder Coffee Co. at Alexander and South Clinton,
with the phenomenal mural along the exterior.
The southern part of the city also
includes two of the region’s most important green spaces: Highland Park,
with its extensive collection of lilacs, and the large, beautiful Mt. Hope Cemetery, where guided tours
will take you past the gravesites of such notables as Susan B. Anthony and
Frederick Douglass.
Southwest
Urban by Choice.
That’s the 19th Ward Community
Association’s motto (and also the name of their merchandise line), and it
reflects the pride of the neighborhood’s residents, who set out more than 30
years ago to nurture a strong, racially integrated neighborhood. Some of the
city’s most active residents, 19th Warders remain intensely involved in
schools, housing, and community development. For 20 years, they have been
pushing for a “college town” at Brooks and Genesee. That
initiative moved toward reality a few months ago when ground was broken on the
long-awaited Brooks Landing project,
which will include hotels and a coffee shop.
The city’s southwest quadrant abounds
in murals. Black Bart remains the
icon of a building on the corner of Genesee and Columbia
Streets, and Jefferson Avenue
boasts perhaps the largest collection of murals in the city, including a
depiction of Noah’s Ark on the
side of a church at Cady Street.
The Corn Hill Preservation District, bordering downtown, melds new
apartments and townhouses with some of Rochester’s
oldest houses. A neighborhood focal point is Plymouth
Circle, with its park and gazebo. Each July, the
Corn Hill neighborhood association hosts one of the region’s largest, most
popular art and crafts events, the Corn Hill Arts Festival.
Along the river, the much anticipated
Corn Hill Landing project is nearing
completion. The $20 million project will feature riverfront housing, retail,
restaurants, and office space.
Northwest
Part of the city’s northwest is
dominated by the massive Kodak complex, but there’s more to this area than an
industrial park.
Soccer fans and city officials alike
are eagerly awaiting the completion of PaetecPark, the new stadium for the professional soccer team, the Rochester
Rhinos. Located near Lyell
Avenue, PaetecPark
will join neighboring Frontier Field in creating a sports neighborhood just
north of downtown. Also in that neighborhood: efforts are also being made to
decorate lampposts or create murals, including art projects along the sound
barriers that separate the area from Route 490.
Driving north, you’ll see “In the Garden,” a muralcreated by local artist Rick Muto on
the post office at Dewey and Lexington Avenues. More art is tucked away near
the Maplewood YMCA: the “Seat of
Remembering and Forgetting.” Park your car, walk down the river-gorge path,
and soon enough you’ll see this seat surrounded by large sculptures etched with
faces and hands. Then wander through the Maplewood
Rose Garden, home to the annual Maplewood Rose Festival.
All the way north, in the Charlotteneighborhood, is one of the city’s
most important treasures, the port and lake area. The ferry’s gone, but there’s
been plenty to enjoy in Charlotte
all along: restaurants, night life, a lighthouse museum, the landmark Abbott’s
custard stand, and OntarioBeachPark, with its beach, pier, summer
concerts, and historic carousel. And big plans are in the works: a riverside
village with commercial and residential spaces and a marina.
Northeast
Rochester’s
northeastern quadrant is a typical slice of an American city: within a few
square miles are large homes housing upper-income families, solid working-class
neighborhoods, and some of the city’s poorest areas. It’s an area of Latinos,
African-Americans, Polish-immigrant descendants, and WASPS, of ethnic foods and
lovely old churches, of dense residential areas and the city’s beautiful SenecaPark along the Genesee River Gorge.
And it’s an area served by strong community organizations like North East Area
Development and the 14621 association.
Here, too, are hidden treasures. On
walks along North Clinton Avenue,
Albert Algarin, president of the North Clinton
Merchant’s Association, points to bright yellow and red facades on commercial
buildings. These, he says, have been painted to represent Latin American
culture.
Community activists’ efforts may be
rewarded soon with the development of La
Marketa, a long-awaited Hispanic marketplace.
Although the city is still finalizing some details, reports are that ground
will soon be broken.
Other things to watch for: mural
artist Shawn Dunwoody’s plan to create, with Avenue D Recreation Center youths, a relief on the facility’s front
wall, and a proposed biking-hiking trail that will run from near the Seneca
Park Zoo southward to St. Paul and Scrantom Streets.
The northeast area is also home to
what many call Rochester’s coolest
feature: the Rochester Public Market, a bustling indoor-outdoor marketplace offering everything from fresh fish to
imported cheeses. North of the market is Greater
Rochester Urban Bounty, a community-run garden. Some of the produce is sold
at the public market.
Rochester
City Living, a program designed to help those interested in learning more
about life in the city, has a great website for researching different
neighborhoods: http://rochestercityliving.com;
232-4663.
Thanks to the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester for helping
compile lists of murals and other city art projects. The agency, along with
many neighborhood groups, also helped fund many of the art projects listed.
This article appears in Mar 22-28, 2006.
