The South Side of Syracuse has the potential to become a magnificent inner-city revival story. Beautiful parks, engaged citizens, historical architecture, and community institutions make this neighborhood stand out in greater Syracuse. In spite of these strengths, however, the neighborhood has been decaying economically for many years. Median incomes, new business investment, and home values are among the lowest in greater Syracuse. Jobs have been declining at the same time homes have become more expensive to maintain and insulate, causing many resi­dents to feel a heavy financial burden.

In addition to economic problems, environmental challengesare manifested in high rates of asthma and lead poisoning, affecting many of the community’s children. Like many inner-city areas across the country,
Syracuse’s southside has seen its economic base and standard of living decrease since the late 1980s. In spite of the many complicated reasons for the decline, a strategy for rejuvenation can bring extensive, durable change.

The Sustainable South Side Initiative is a visioning process to identify and bring to life a durable, wealth-generating community on the South Side. It is a strategy to identify and harness untapped natural and human resources in order to enhance the lives of citizens and provide them with better access to financial, environmental, and cultural resources.

More specifically, it will be an analysis of the flow of economic and natural resources within the neighborhood and how those resources could contribute even more wealth to the area. Natural resources are integral to quality of life and economic prosperity, but they could be used far more efficiently than they currently are. How much rain could be used to water gardens and flush toilets instead of getting dumped into Onondaga Creek? Are trees planted strategically to shade houses and lower summer cooling costs? How many watts of sunlight could be turned into electricity for homes? Could locally produced mini-turbines capture some renewable wind energy? How much biomass can be converted into valuable products such as compost for gardens and methane to fuel stoves?

The goal is to increase the amount of resources that stay in the community and foster economic development. After all, a dollar spent with a local business can then be respent on other local businesses, while a dollar that is spent outside the community economic zone rarely makes it back.

This helps to show why the southside has had such economic trouble in the past; a very high rate of the money that enters the community in the form of wages is spent elsewhere.

These outputs of money and capital include payments on any service that is not immediately provided for in the neighborhood.

But, homes can be heated with community-produced fuels, such as solar panels or fast-growing willow for wood stoves.

There are two inherent advantages to creating fuel locally. First, manufacturing fuel sources in the vicinity of the neighborhood would keep money from flowing out of the community.

Second, procuring resources locally would stabilize the cost of energy. Addressing the cost of energy alone would keep resources in the community, which could then be used for home renovation, investment in schools and businesses, and other long-term community uses.

The Sustainable South Side Initiative will help bring urban rejuvenation to an area ripe for change and will be an effective strategy for creating wealth and increasing the quality of life for residents.

By identifying and analyzing natural and economic resource flows, the southside can better manage existing strengths and build long-term community growth. Recharging the southside economy is important to the residents
of the community and the entire Syracuse area.

Reestablishing the core and southern edge of the city as a green, attractive, and profitable region will lead the rest of the city and others across New York State toward a future that we all can be proud of.

–Grayson Fahrner, Cornell ‘08

The Initiative aims to show how ideas and best practices from all over the country can help the Southside make better use of these natural resources for the betterment of its citizens.

Additionally, the Initiative will conduct a flow analysis of economic assets in the area. This will be accomplished by a comprehensive economic audit, which will analyze the community’s inflows and outflows.