"Manlius, and Skaneateles, and Tully aren't going to exist if the city of Syracuse doesn't."

Over at The Atlantic Alan Semeuls looks at some of the factors that contributed to the concentrated poverty in the city of Syracuse, including discriminatory lending and housing, the construction of I-81 right through the heart of the city, and sprawl. "The story of how poverty became one of the defining characteristics of Syracuse is specific to the city and the region, but in some ways it is illustrative of the many policy decisions that have made all American cities more segregated by race and income over the last 15 years." (Though it's mentioned, the article maybe underplays the effect of the large loss of manufacturing jobs over the last 50 years -- a trend that's continuing.) [The Atlantic] [Brookings] [Syracuse.com]

Comments

How does Albany compare with Syracuse on this front? Whenever I visited Syracuse, I always got the impression it was way more dangerous and crime-ridden than Albany, but it could've just beenthe sections I had visited.

Albany was damaged heavily in the 20th century, but nothing like Syracuse. I can't speak to the crime as I've never really felt unsafe there. However, this might be simply because there is just nothing at all going on. It seems utterly abandoned much of the day. Most of the downtown, with the exception of one or two streets, is a parking lot. It's a very depressing place from which I'm happier than usual to return to Albany.


Funny, growing up in the Syracuse area in the 70's, it was pretty busy, relatively vibrant, and kinda interesting. It felt similar to the Albany of today. I often spent time downtown, and worked maybe two miles from downtown on the Central Avenue equivalent.

Much of the manufacturing cratered after we left in 79. I suspect that's when everything else imploded.

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