UTica Master Plan

[lioneljoe]

Utica's Master Plan. Any comments? For one I think its ridiculous to build a new Baseball field over a toxic dump while we already have a ball field at Murnane. Why not spend the money on upgrading the existing field instead of building a "Field of Delusions" ?

[corner]

spending what money there are no grants there is no plan on funding you know whats next is a tax increase to fund feel good projects that i promise will not bring one job, factory or company to this area...you want a worth while project dow what new york city does round up the drug dealers, gang bangers and their familes and anybody else deemed undesirable and ship them out of state on busses.

[clarencebunsen]

I enjoy reading novels written in the fantasy genre but this one seems lacking in both plot and character development.

[Deleted]

A better fitting title would be "The Utica Masturbation Plan". Building a new stadium with no teams to play there? These guys obviously play with it too much.

[dgriffin]

I haven't read the plan, just an article or two about it. I can't think of a city, small or large, that doesn't have some kind of revitalization plan, and most include tourism/leisure time activities. The small city of Hudson, NY has had a lot of success populating an old dilapidated district of downtown with bistros and boutiques. It convinced long standing businesses to relocate down there, too. Across the river from Hudson, the village of Catskill continues to improve its waterfront and downtown area to attract shoppers and professionals. My dentist is there, and it's a treat to walk the old sidewalks now cleared of bums and riff raff in favor of legitimate businesses. Ditto Kingston and its waterfront area, where restaurants and art galleries and small professional offices abound, as well as new housing units built in a brick colonial style for young professionals and retirees.

Poughkeepsie built a 5,000 seat baseball stadium in 1994 while negotiating with ball teams. It was a hell of commotion in the news for a while, but it got built in just a few months and today hosts the Hudson Valley Renegades as well as rock concerts, etc. A key to its success is location and accessibility from interstates. Murnane doesn't really have that, unless you consider the Arterial a highway.

So Utica has the canal and a shortstop position between the Adirondacks and a good portion of the world on their way to the mountains. I suppose the harbor area has some draw. It's polluted? Certainly so is Onondaga Lake ... the largest inland chemical bowl of soup I've ever seen ... but that didn't stop one of the most successful retail malls in the Northeast from locating on it's southern shore in what used to be called Oil City on Hiawatha Boulevard.

Money? Hey, it's only money! Don't say it's YOUR money. There's no such thing as YOUR money anymore. With a Democrat in the White House, it's OUR money. Hahahaha! (And when he gets replaced by a Republican, we'll be calling it THEIR money. If there's any left.)

[WestmoGuy]

Poor Dave Roefaro. His is so out of touch with reality. Good thing the master plan only cost over $300,000

How stupid wanting to build a stadium there. If they want, Buy all the houses on Rose Place or something and make more parking for Donovan Field where it is and develop the existing place. What the hell would they do with the existing stadium? Tear it down?

Another thing they talk about is access to Harbor Lock Road from Washington Street. that would go through where the projects were. I guess there is gonna be some type of levitation thing there because they only need to build the road over all the railroad tracks. A bridge over all that would be what 30-40 million dollars?

Poor Utica with such clowns running the show. Mayor Dave Potato and his side kick Dan LaBelly.

[dgriffin]

Has anyone noticed the "Get Involved" graphic on Utica's Master Plan web page shows everyone with their fists balled in protest!

[WestmoGuy]

hahahaha


figures dont it?

[Clipper]

WestmoGuy makes a point with his mention of the necessity for a bridge from Washington street, over the rail yard and into the harbor point area. For years people tried to get a bridge built to connect Leland Ave with Main St or Broad St., or to extend Mohawk Street to Herkimer Rd. When GE, Univac, CP and other industry was still alive and well in East Utica, people wanted more and better access to N Utica. Now they want to build a bridge to access a park and stadium that can be easily accessed from the Wurz Ave intersection with minor improvements and minimal construction of an access road. Only in Utica, where major road repair and neighborhood improvement is needed, would the mayor want to build a park on top of a hazardous waste site and spend all the money necessary to cap it over and make it safe. I damn sure would not want my kids playing there, and I would not spend much time exposed to the area either.

[dgriffin]

I haven't read the Master Plan. Bureaucratic boosterism makes me bilious. But there's probably not much other use for the Harbor area land. As Clipper says, wouldn't want to buy a house and have my kids playing there, but might take them for a ball game if deemed safe. Carousel Center welcomes millions in the old Oil City, which was washed by chemicals from Solvay Process, Crucible Steel, Meunch-Kreuzer. Just don't build a house there. And I personally wouldn't want to work there.
If I could even afford tickets and hotdogs for the family at CNY Stadium (won't be "Utica Stadium" you can bet), would not be coming over a bridge from Utica proper anyway, but more likely off the Thruway or the connector from the Arterial. In from the suburbs.
Besides all that, picture yourself a lackey for the Utica Chain of Command and you're tasked to come up with a Utica Master Plan. What the hell else would you do but copy what everyone else is doing around the state? And dream of someday working for an outfit with real vision, which you can bet won't be a government operation.

[Clipper]

Gee I wonder how this compares to remediation and redevelopment of the Love Canal area of Niagara Falls NY? I damn sure would not want my kids crawling around on the ground in THAT area.

[dgriffin]

I'm guessing from what I read that a limited use of such areas after whatever remediation is called for is considered safe. But I have nothing to cite that would satisfy me enough to buy or build a home there. And too, as we know, government has a habit of saying, "Problem? What problem?" when they no longer want to work on it or can't solve it. You never know who to believe.

Here's a view from the NY Times:

www.nytimes.com/1990/05/15/nyregion/government-says-abandoned-love-canal-homes-are-safe-now.html

[dgriffin]

What's interesting here (to me, at least) is the "real" reason behind the the Master Plan. Well, of course it's money! But The Herkimer Progressive had an interesting blog post this past March about the Los Angeles and Utica master plans:

"(they) ... allow(s) them the ability to demonstrate to both State and Federal authorities that they have a concrete and well thought out plan for public expenditure that will allow them to prosper in the future. This may be essential, as the Federal DOT has already signaled a shift in the future from funding individual projects, towards funding multiple projects that together will revitalize an entire region (think livability and complete streets initiatives)."

"With this in mind we here in Utica and the Mohawk Valley could look at a few options on how to proceed to secure funding for future infrastructure/economic development projects ... "

And ...

"One thing that our area suffers from is a lack of vision for the future or pride in what we have. A document like this can be a powerful way of allowing people to get involved with the renewal of their neighborhoods if they feel the vision offered in this document." (author's bolding)

SEE:
www.herkimerprogressive.com/2009/11/utica-master-plan-due-in-april.html

All of this is probably more important than the specifics at the moment, which can change. Since I don't live in the MV area, I need to ask if there is anyone on this forum who is familiar with "the public input" that reportedly was gathered for this plan?

[WestmoGuy]

I'd really like to smoke some of what Mayor Dave Potato is.
He really has no clue whatsoever what he's doing, does he?

Suprised someone from his "family & friends" didnt write the master plan for him. LOL ;D

[dgriffin]

Here's some background provided by Strikeslip in his Fault Lines blog:

strikeslip.blogspot.com/2010/07/uncovering-uticas-original-master-plan.html

"As Utica evolves in the future, both government and private initiatives need to reinforce each other to produce a better overall result rather than work cross-purposes to each other. A good master plan will produce synergies and help avoid wasted efforts. A good master plan will encourage redevelopment by providing a vision of the future that allows people to see where they might fit in and make their own success." - from Fault Lines