TGIF 12/18/20

'Twas a week before Christmas and all through the house, cats are sleeping, lights are blinking, we can finally see snow on the ground when we look out the window.

Presents are being wrapped (with no target date for being opened), things that were ordered weeks ago might get here by the end of the year (or not).

The annual gift-snack-making has happened (and hopefully we won't everything before we see people), cards have been sent and are being received - and none of this rhymes with house, does it? 

And you know what? Who cares if it rhymes or not? 

We are among the fortunate, and grateful to be. We're healthy, our friends and families are healthy, and we're working to keep it that way.

We're thankful for the frontline workers who are giving so much, seeing so much, dealing with so much, and sacrificing so much. 

We're thankful for essential workers, the people who are keeping the grocery stores and gas stations and drug stores and doctor's offices and veterinarian's offices and post offices and tire stores and bird food stores open. 

We're thankful for the DPW and sanitation crews, the police and firefighters who are keeping us safe. We're thankful for the people who are providing meals to families, and seniors. And for the teachers, administrators, other school personnel, bus drivers and cafeteria workers who care about, and tend to our community's children.

We're thankful that we've had the opportunity and that we have the wherewithal to provide some support to local businesses, local charities, and local social service organizations during the pandemic. We wish we could do more - we always wish we could do more.

We are thankful for the scientists who developed the vaccines, the companies that manufacture them, the people who are moving them from point A to point B to point us, when it is our turn. And we are thankful for the people, including friends, who participated in the trials of the vaccines, who took a chance on everyone else's behalf.

We're thankful for our local leaders, who have done everything they can to maintain public health and promote local businesses, who have let data dictate their decisions, who have asked us to do what's right, who have been open with us, who have cried alongside us when community members, our neighbors, were lost.

Today is the last day of Hanukkah; it's a week before Christmas; 8 days until Kwanzaa; five days before Festivus. 

However you celebrate, whatever you celebrate, whenever you celebrate, and even if you don't, warm wishes to you and yours. 

TGIF, everyone.

The Update Desk: One Corner at a Time (Again)

It's been a while since I last talked about the new Salt City Market that's coming to downtown Syracuse.

I first wrote about it in June 2018, when we learned that the Allyn Family Foundation (AFF) was planning to revitalize one of downtown's 'parking lot corners' into a mixed-use facility.  Here's an excerpt from that post:.

Early last month, the AFF announced the formation of a new nonprofit organization, the Syracuse Urban Partnership, which will develop our old parking lot into a mixed-use building with apartments, space for philanthropic agencies to collaborate (the AFF will have offices there), and a 'food hall' similar to those we get to see in larger cities like Philly's Reading Terminal Market. The market is designed to help make it possible for folks to get into the restaurant business, such as the ones who have been featured at the With Love project.

In January, I was happy to update that the AFF, in addition to having vision, also had ears. There was a contest to name the new food hall, but the choices that were presented for a community vote, well, they fell short of our expectations.  Here's an excerpt from the update post.

I vaguely remember the social media post where we could vote, and the overwhelming number of comments asking why it didn't mention Syracuse or the Salt City; I might have even given a 'like' to a suggestion with one of those in the name, if I remember correctly.

And it turns out, the AFF listened to what people wanted, and the name has been chosen: the Salt City Market. It's perfect, and it's a perfect example of ensuring the kind of community buy-in that the organization is looking for. Maarten Jacobs, one of the AFF folks, said

We want this to be a space that people feel they have ownership of the minute it opens.

That was a huge step for the project, I think - right from the get-go, the AFF cemented their commitment to having this really be a project that's both of and for the community. And now, where do things stand?

There's moving forward nicely, actually.

Throughout the summer, aspiring market food vendors have been able to test their items with community members; one vendor a week has been featured in the Salt City Market Takeout Friday program at the Westcott Community Center.

Even better, the groundbreaking for the $25M complex was held this past Monday. The Foundation's Executive Director Meg O'Connell noted

This project has been years in the making and it's really coming together today to acknowledge the diverse talents of our residents and also acknowledging that to be a prosperous city, we must with intention, work to provide opportunities that are inclusive for all. 

Continuing to stress the diversity aspects of the market, here's part of what project leader Maarten Jacobs said about the supportive nature of the space:

The idea is to create an environment all under one roof where all walks of life can come and experience the diverse flavors of Syracuse. We're intentionally with primarily entrepreneurs of color, both native born as well as new residents in our community.

I've been excited about this project from the beginning, and now that construction has started, I'm looking forward to seeing this vision come to fruition.

And speaking of vision, the photo above is a rendering of the building from SaltCityMarket.com  -- it's definitely something to look forward to.  Stay tuned!

The Update Desk: One Corner at a Time

Last June, I did a Grains of Salt post about changes coming to a highly visible corner in downtown Syracuse, where a new non-profit corporation had proposed putting up a city market/office/residential structure that would offer a number of opportunities:

• a 'food hall', along the lines of what we see in other cities like Philadelphia; here, there'll be spots for local chefs who were unable or not yet ready to open their own restaurants;
• office space for non-profit organizations, allowing for greater learning and collaboration between them, and
• housing for a mix of incomes, instead of everything being in the $2K/month range, as seems to be the case lately with our new downtown units. 

Last fall, the Allyn Family Foundation (AFF), which is running this project announced that things had been moving along and they'd come up with a couple of names for the market, and they asked for a community vote.

That's where things got interesting - and today we have an update.

Grains of Salt (v39): Innovation Station

Grains of  Salt

What's a city to do when there are more services needed than it can possibly provide?

Try something completely different, that's what.  And that's what Syracuse is looking to do, by joining the Startup in Residence  (STiR) program.

STiR works with city and state government partners to formalize 'challenges' that startups from around the world can apply - think of kind of a matching program. A scope of work is developed and then over a sixteen week residency, the government and startup collaborate on researching, designing, building and testing solutions. If, at the end of the residency, the agreed-upon scope of work and requirements are met and a good relationship has been developed, the government secures the services of the startup to implement the solution. Sounds like a really cool program and one of those 'win-win' situations we hear about so often:

• governments get innovative solutions to problems, as well as a partner to implement them;
• startups get access to customers that are looking for what they have to offer, vs. having to generically pitch their ideas
• and citizens get proven solutions to problems that may otherwise go unsolved.

Syracuse put five challenges out for consideration:

• Autonomous snow clearing technology for sidewalks. We have miles of them, and many of them are not the perfectly smooth concrete that we see around office buildings or shopping mall. Instead, they're busted concrete, or asphalt on top of concrete, or full of roots and dirt and what not.  Bottom line? We need something that's going take a beating and keep clearing the snow. This one's important, not only because we get a lot of snow, but because uncleared sidewalks put residents on the street - school kids, the disabled, and the elderly among them.

• Crowdsourcing platform for low-income renters to obtain loans for their security deposits. This one's interesting - come up with a way to connect people who are willing to do short-term small dollar loans for folks who need help pulling together the deposits for apartments. This can be overwhelming for people, particularly those who are forced to move for reasons outside their control (landlord issues, code violations, 'included' utilities not being paid, and so on).  Sadly, Syracuse has a high percentage of residents who are 'housing unstable' who could be helped by this type of program. The solution being looked for would be similar to Kiva.org, a global platform that connects lenders and small business owners.( Here's a glimpse into US lending opportunities, in case you're unfamiliar with this program - I was.).

• Data analytics platform for waste management. While there are some rules and regulations governing how much and what kinds of trash can be put put for pickup by the Syracuse DPW, we're data-challenged and can't track who might be violating the rules. In addition, without good data, it's hard to optimize the routes and pickup schedules, increase productivity, help us with sustainability, and, frankly, help generate revenue by being able to provide who's violating the rules and collecting fines when they do. It's also a good thing for neighborhoods as a whole, and particularly for folks who live near the ones who break the rules. 

• A permit-management platform. This challenge seeks a way to centralize and track all transactions related to the permitting process for the city. The current process is outdated and cannot accommodate the reality: multiple departments being involved in the review and approval process, frequently working concurrently on the same application. It's a cumbersome process for the city, and an annoying one for applicants, who may be asked to provide the same information multiple times. The ideal solution would provide transparency for the city and for applicants, establish a solid workflow for applications, and track and archive all of the comments, decisions, questions and so on. And, of course, there's money to be saved if this one comes to fruition - increased productivity and better instructions for applicants are just a couple of opportunities on that front. Customer satisfaction is also an almost guaranteed outcome.

• Citizen engagement tool for the Trauma Response Team (TRT). I have to confess I was no aware we had a TRT in Syracuse. The TRT is currently dispatched, along with police and EMS, when a trauma occurs in the community, and members act as moderators between citizens and law enforcement. Without an effective messaging and engagement platform, they're left relying on word of mouth and social media to reach out with ongoing communications, which is hardly ideal. Engaging stakeholders and increasing trust may help lead to a reduction in violence, too. 

I'm intrigued by the whole STiR program, by the challenges Syracuse has put on the table, and by the continued outreach to any willing partner to help find solutions to problems. I'm looking forward to following these projects as they progress. 

Grains of Salt (v37): Public Art for Syracuse

Grains of Salt

I visited my Philadelphia cousin a few years back, and remember being struck by the murals on the walls all over the city. Here's a blog devoted to the artworks - check out the photo galleries in the toolbar and you'll see why they caught my eye.

I remember thinking how cool it was, instead of looking at blank walls on buildings and bridges, that there was art everywhere, in all kinds of neighborhoods, and that it was not marred by graffiti.

How cool, I thought, if something like that could happen here in Syracuse someday...

Now, I know we have a handful of murals, including S.ALT CITY, on the side of the M. Lemp building, which is made from hundreds of QR codes and commemorates the city's salt making heritage; the street scene in Columbus Circle; and Clinton Serenade, depicting downtown Syracuse and the Erie Canal on the side of the NBT Bank on Salina Street.

We might never reach Philly heights when it comes to murals; after all, they've been at it for a while, it's a much bigger city, and so on - there are even books about them. But we're taking baby steps here in Syracuse, we are.

Two murals were recently completed under the railroad bridge on South Salina Street near Tallman St.  Syracuse illustrator London Ladd created the murals celebrating visits to our city by Frederick Douglass (1861) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1961).  Here's a video of Ladd talking about his murals.

London Ladd Murals from The Girl Mirage® on Vimeo.

Another project recently announced is aiming high -- 12 murals in 12 weeks. This one's an effort of the public art pilot program 315Alive and will be headed by the Spark Contemporary Art Space on East Fayette Street. One mural, "The Hub of the Bicycle World," has been approved by the city's public arts commission, for the walls of the old Stearns Bicycle building.

In case you're not familiar with Stearns bicycles, this article from the Onondaga Historical Association highlights a race between a six-passenger Stearns bike and a NY Central train back in 1896. Ah, the good old days, right?

While Ladd's murals were funded from money Syracuse University pays the city (in lieu of taxes), the 315 Alive/Spark project is relaying on a GoFundMe page to raise $12,000 which will be supplemented by businesses and local foundations, with some $40,000 needed to help pay for insurance, permits, fees, materials and artist stipends.

Want to learn more, or donate?  Here's the link to the fundraising page. And for more info on public art in Syracuse, check out this link.

How cool it would be...