Hi all,
Thank you for a great April meeting of the Syracuse Urbanism Collective on Tuesday!
We invited Chief Development Officer for the City of Syracuse, Eric Ennis, to speak about his work for the city and to engage in a Q&A with meeting attendees. If you’re unfamiliar with that role, he oversees planning, zoning, economic development, intergovernmental affairs, assessment, and the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency (SIDA). This turned out to be a great discussion! We presented about the process to create zoning text changes and some proposed examples, bike infrastructure opportunities related to the I-81 Viaduct Project, and our new public policy short lists that we rolled out starting yesterday.
Eric presented about his work with SIDA, the Downtown Revitalization Initiative programs on West Onondaga and South Ave, and housing including projects at the Syracuse Developmental Center site, near the I-81 Viaduct Project area, and at the Maria Regina campus. He also spoke about the mayor’s goals to engage young people in the future of this city, the role of the nightlife coordinator position related to third spaces and vibrancy outside of the 9-5 (which the city will hire for soon), Micron, and more.
In response to your questions, Eric discussed plans for multiple development sites around the city, a prioritization of New Urbanist principles for new development, zoning, the design of townhomes, and more.
Upcoming events include:
- Forum on Active Transportation w/ SMTC. April 29, 3:30-5pm, zoom meeting
- City of Syracuse Budget Hearing w/ Public Comment. April 29, 5:30pm, City Hall
- Syracuse Parks Cleanup. May 2, 9am-noon, various locations
- Southside Walking Tours with PACNY. May 3, 17, & 24, 2-4pm, various locations
- Design Team Meeting. May 7, 6-7pm, Salt City Market
- Public Policy Team Meeting. May 11, 6:30-7:30pm, Salt City Market
- Bike to Work Day with Moving People Transportation Coalition. May 15
- Open Up Downtown with the Downtown Committee. May 16, 10am-3pm, 2 Clinton St
- Armory Square Creek Cleanup with the Creek Rats. May 17, 11am, In front of Nobody’s Wine Bar
- Moving People Transportation Coalition. May 20, 4-5:30pm, CNY Philanthropy Center
- Urbanist Book Club (Finish the book: Streetfight). May 20, 6:30pm, Salt City Market
- SUC Syracuse Mets Fundraiser. May 21, 6:30pm, NBT Bank Stadium
- SUC May Monthly General Meeting. May 26, 6pm, Central Library
- Onondaga Creek Art Float with the Creekrats. June 6
All events are also listed at syracuseurbanism.org/calendar
Please also join us in watching the Syracuse Mets on May 21. $5 of each ticket goes toward our programming and projects! We truly appreciate your support! You can join us at this link: https://www.gofevo.com/event/Syracuseurbanismcollective
As always, you can reach us at contact@syracuseurbanism.org. To join our email list, visit https://syracuseurbanism.org/join/.
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Regards,
Baxter Hankin
President of the Syracuse Urbanism Collective
