What Going to the Ballpark Means to Me

October 16, 2019

Increasingly it feels as though society has become more isolated. Often we blame phones and social media, but those don’t necessarily have to isolate us. In the right context they can be used to bring us together and keep us involved with those that matter to us. Another usual talking point is the decreasing importance of organized religion in much of the country. While I don’t believe the specific religion is important, I do believe there is something about having a set aside time to be with others that you don’t work with and are not related to. Religion is not the only thing that brings people together, but in some ways it is the most apt comparison to how I feel about going to a ballgame.

Growing up, every family trip revolved around a baseball game. Pittsburgh, Toronto, New York, Cleveland, all great cities to visit and all have a major league baseball team. Two things were guaranteed on a family trip: church on Sunday and a baseball game Friday or Saturday, sometimes both. I wasn’t always the most interested in the game but I still loved the atmosphere at the big stadiums in these cities I always wanted to go to.

PNC Park

Yankee Stadium

Citi Field

Dodgers Stadium

This past year was the first time I had invested in season tickets for the Syracuse Mets (previously the Chiefs), but over the last decade or so I’ve attended more and more games each season. While I was raised in a family that loved baseball, it took going to games with two of my closest friends, Rebecca and Terry, in high school to revive my interest in the game. We’d borrow extra tickets from Rebecca’s parents, who had season tickets, and sit amongst their usual seat neighbors in section 207. At first it was just an excuse to hang out outside on a summer night, but quickly became something I just plain loved to do.

An article from The Athletic described baseball as a sport that you come back to as you get older. Some people stay with the game their entire life, others drift away and return, but almost always to the team of their childhood. That is something unique to baseball over most other sports; the dedication to a team and a place, not a big name player (which is often the case in the NBA and, at times, soccer). But there is a reason that you come back to baseball, and it may be that communal experience that, to me, is unlike other sports.

Over the last season in Syracuse I became one of those fans at a majority of games and began to recognize many of the same faces day after day. You don’t know them, but at the same time it’s nice to know they are there with the same spirit you have for the team. The GM wanders the stands and greets fans, often stopping to talk as he gets to know you more. Baseball has a pace that lets you wander the stadium and see people that you didn’t come to the game with but know they are there. While the game is the central focus, the social atmosphere adds to the experience and is part of why we think of our memories of coming to the ballpark with such fondness. These are the moments that remind me of church and the feeling of being part of a community.

This community continues online with local fan pages that post photos of kids and families at the ballpark and organized events to root for the team. In some ways, this fanbase feels more intimate because it’s for a minor league team in a smaller stadium. It lets the fans feel more connected to the game and to each other. These are some of the reasons I have focused so much on how to improve the area around NBT Bank Stadium as I feel the community of fans and neighbors deserve a place that reflects the communal aspect of the game of baseball. But these same feelings can be felt at major league stadiums, which is why fans make journeys to see their favorite teams play and why so many people wear baseball caps of those teams.

I may not consider myself to be a very religious person, but I do believe the ballpark is a special place that can help provide that sense of belonging that religion has in the past. How people find community does not matter, as long as they feel as though they belong. For me that is how I feel when I’m at the ballpark.

What Our Childhood Shows Taught Us About Cities

September 24, 2019

Since childhood we’ve been shown what our neighborhoods and cities could, and should, be like. Yet, we’ve continued to see our communities develop in ways that diverge greatly from these ideals. It’s time for us to look at what our childhood shows taught us about communities and how we can look to embrace these lessons moving forward. Three shows, more-so than any others, have stuck with me as I’ve grown up, and they each demonstrate the values of living in a diverse city; Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Sesame Street, and Hey Arnold!

Life Happens Out In The Street

One of the defining features of Sesame Street, as well as Hey Arnold!, is life on the street. Characters run into neighbors and friends, immediately jumping into personal interactions they would never have had if they were stuck in a car. Sesame Street centers around the stoop of the old brownstone, with the bodega around the corner. Characters weave in and out, much like the ballet of the street that Jane Jacobs describes in “The Death and Life of Great American Cities.” When there’s a problem, someone is always around to help out. When Big Bird or Elmo want to play a game, a friend is only seconds away from passing by.

Sesame Street Stoop

Hey Arnold! Stoop

Hey Arnold! finds the neighborhood kids in the street as much as they are in school. Baseball in the back alleys, snowball fights on the main drag, and dance battles in the middle of the road. More than any other cartoon, Hey Arnold! embraced its urban setting to tell truly urban stories. Stoop Kid could never have existed out in the suburbs. The Pigeon Man needed the urban setting to look over the city and become an urban legend. Without the common space of the street, these characters would never come to interact with one another.

Public Spaces/ Informal Places

Related to life on the street is the need for public, informal spaces. Mr. Rogers often spent time in his small front yard, interacting with his neighbors. While not fully public, the space was small enough that he was part of the public sphere without being on the street. He often used the space to invite in members of the community, like the local police officer or the mail carrier. Meanwhile, Hey Arnold! thrived on these informal spaces. The kids turned a vacant lot into a baseball field, and transformed an old oak tree into an impressive tree house.

Mr. Rogers' yard

Hey Arnold! vacant lot

Informal public spaces allow neighbors to interact and shape their community in ways that best suit them. While traditional parks and playgrounds are vital community assets, they often come with restrictions in how they may be used. Permits may be needed to throw gatherings, or use of a field may be restricted to leagues that have rented out the space.

In many communities, kids have no way to venture out on their own within their neighborhood. Parks must be driven to so they’re stuck in their backyards with limited to no interaction with the outside world. When they do get out to spend time with other kids, it’s often through leagues or scheduled/planned events. Communities, primarily suburban communities, have robbed our neighborhoods of informality, which leads to a lack of vitality.

On the Northside of Syracuse, where my family has lived for decades, we benefitted from having a large field behind my elementary school. With chalk, a couple cones, and a soccer ball, the field would be transformed every Sunday night into a massive soccer game. Dozens of kids from the neighborhood would flock up to the park to play, never being formally organized through the city but still a reliable occurrence. This is the type of informality a neighborhood needs to thrive.

Public/ Alternative Transit Is Key

While cars may appear in each of these shows, public transit and alternative transit shows up almost every episode. Mr. Rogers welcomes a small trolley into his home each episode to take you to the Land of Make-Believe. This trolley is inspired by incline trolleys found in Pittsburgh that have helped move residents up the steep hillsides for over a century.

Mr. Rogers' trolley

Sesame Street subway

Hey Arnold! bus

Sesame Street often features characters learning to ride bikes or rollerblade, and the set even features a subway stop. Each of these forms of transportation are easily accessible for kids and provide them with freedom to access the city. Hey Arnold! finds its characters on bikes or on the bus in almost every episode. They’ve grown up with a level of independence most kids don’t get to experience because they have access to transit. When kids have to be driven everywhere it limits their range of motion and decreases their independence greatly. We need to encourage kids to ride bikes, roller skate, or walk whenever possible. Sadly, many people live in communities where roads are unsafe for individuals not protected by vehicles.

Diversity!

While I have focused on the physical environment of the city so far, the most important lessons these shows taught us when it comes to community is that we should embrace diversity. Sadly, this is where our communities fail the most.

Look at the casts for each of the shows. Mr. Rogers often invited in guests of different backgrounds, whether different races, different abilities, or completely fantastic characters in the Land of Make-Believe. Sesame Street has continued to emphasize diversity in its casting decisions. Not only do human actors mix in with Muppets of various backgrounds, the human cast itself contains all different ages, races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. They often do segments introducing different languages, cultural backgrounds, and even deal with issues like homelessness. Sesame Street, more than any other show, has sought to be inclusive of everyone.

Hey Arnold! takes a more subtle approach than Sesame Street but still displays a truly diverse neighborhood that reflects the reality of urban life. Arnold’s boardinghouse alone represents a melting pot with boarders from Vietnam and Russia, some with different education levels, and others with varying upbringings. Once you start to look at the neighborhood the racial and ethnic diversity increases (Gerald and Phoebe), religious backgrounds diversify (Herald is Jewish), as do economic backgrounds (Lila’s family is impoverished while Helga comes from a generally well off family). Yet they all interact in a cohesive way that makes the neighborhood vibrant.

In contrast, the reality of our neighborhoods varies dramatically depending on where you live. As an example of this we can look at school district characteristics.

Below are two graphs that display different demographic characteristics among school districts around Syracuse, NY. One line will stand out from all other over and over again: the Syracuse City School District (Blue). Syracuse is a majority-minority district that also has high levels of English as a New Language (ENL) students, students with disabilities, and economically disadvantaged students. Why does this district stand out?

Ethnic Breakdown of School Districts around Syracuse, NySource: New York State Education Department — Ethnic Breakdown of School Districts around Syracuse, Ny
Source: New York State Education Department

Other Demographic Breakdowns of School Districts around Syracuse, NYSource: New York State Education Department — Other Demographic Breakdowns of School Districts around Syracuse, NY
Source: New York State Education Department

Every other district is overwhelmingly white, and most are far wealthier. Yet, Syracuse must provide extra services to most of its students, services that cost a great deal more to adequately administer than the district currently has. This has also limited who is able to get services. Many students who would get extra services in suburban districts must go without in the urban district due to budget constraints. The urban district must focus on those with the most needs, which can often leave behind those with lesser, but still significant, needs.

We have failed to live in diverse neighborhoods. Many have decided to live in neighborhoods where most of their neighbors look and behave like themselves. This is not what our childhood shows taught us. We have failed to live up to the standards we were taught and it’s time that we work to change that fact.

Let Us Focus on the Weak Links: We are Soccer, Not Basketball

August 15, 2019

Yesterday I stumbled upon a podcast by Malcolm Gladwell (and I know it's been out for years now) that really struck me. Most people know that I'm a big advocate for diversity and inclusion while also having very critical opinions of how our system is set up, specifically our education system. Within the first season of this podcast, Gladwell produces a three episode arc focusing on the inequalities of our education system and how brilliant kids from low-income families slip through the cracks.

The first episode, "Carlos Doesn't Remember," uses the story of a kid from LA who goes to one of the worst schools in the county and very nearly slips through the cracks before a wealthy donor finds him. This episode hit me hard as I think of all the people I went to school with in the city, or students I have worked with there, that I knew were smart but didn't have that support system to keep them going and keep them focused.

As I have driven up and down every street in the City of Syracuse this summer (400+ miles), it has become even more apparent how much place matters. Dividing lines make themselves known, and you begin to see where support systems exist and where life is a daily struggle. Families sitting on porches that are nearly falling in, attached to houses that barely have a roof. Yet we expect these children to focus on school while they barely have a physical home to go home to, if they have one at all.

Some of these students, much like Carlos, will see the value of education and put it above everything else. Not everyone is as strong as those few and will fall back into what they see around them. Many may join gangs to feel a sense of belonging, or need to leave school to help support their families that are struggling to get along. Yet we compare them to students who have every support system available to them, with comfortable homes and schools with adequate funding.

The podcast goes on to focus on the inequities in college attainment and access. Our society has become even more of a winner-takes-all reality. This is talked about in terms of cities often by Richard Florida, but is also more and more evident in our education system, especially higher education. Rich universities continue to get richer, while public and private universities that cater to lower income families are struggling to get by.

I will not be able to dissect these subjects as well as the podcast does, but the final idea of the podcast is worth noting. When you think of sports, some rely heavily on their best player while others are defined by their weakest link. Basketball teams can be carried by their very best players (think Michael Jordan or LeBron James). That single player can pick up the slack of the weaker players and allow a team to be competitive. Meanwhile, soccer is defined by the weakest player on a team. One goal that is made by a mistake can be the difference in whether a team wins or loses. Basketball is a strong link sport, while soccer is a weak link sport.

American society is a weak link society. We will only ever be as good as our weakest link, yet we spend our money and resources supporting our strongest links. It’s time for us to reorganize our priorities.

S1 E4: "Carlos Doesn't Remember"

S1 E5: "Food Fight"

S1 E6: "My Little Hundred Million"

View from 110 Grill at Destiny USA, photo from Syracuse.com

Reinventing the Syracuse Waterfront: Taking Back Destiny

July 19, 2019

Months ago I cam across an article promoting the views of Onondaga Lake from a new restaurant at Destiny USA. The above photo is that view. While there is a sliver of the lake visible, what you focus on is the sea of cars in front of you. I would never describe this as a “view of Onondaga Lake”, but instead a view of the parking lot.

This article stuck with me. Every time I traveled near the mall, be it to a baseball game or the Inner Harbor, I couldn’t help but think about how much space is devoted to parking lots around the mall. Destiny USA sits on just over one million square feet of land, but is surrounded by nearly three million square feet of parking. These lots sit over half empty the vast majority of the year, only filling up for a few days around Christmas. They create a barrier between the mall and the rest of the Northside as well as prevent the city from having access to the lake front. I believe it is time that we push Destiny to dig up the the parking lots in front of the Carousel, towards Onondaga Lake, and create a vibrant park/ plaza area, while also opening up some of the land for other development (perhaps some mixed-use buildings with true view of the lake).

While the mall does need a substantial amount of parking (at least until we improve our public transit system to a point where cars become more optional) it already has more than it needs. Just south of the mall, down Solar St., there are six enormous parking lots that were built as part of the Destiny USA expansion. The furthest lots are more often used by people attending festivals at the Inner Harbor than for shoppers at the mall. Losing the lots on the north side of the mall would not have a significant impact on the overall availability of parking. These large lots have more than enough empty spaces to accommodate these shoppers, and are easier to get to from I-81 and I-690.

A sea of parking lots outside of Destiny USA

Meanwhile, the newly freed up land can become an asset to Syracuse, providing one of the only opportunities for waterfront development and access within the city boundaries. Located along the Onondaga Creek Walk path and just beyond the Regional Market, this land is ripe for becoming public space that connects each of these attractions together.

The park should be an open area with plenty of seating and shade for neighborhood residents and shoppers to congregate. One idea would be to install a large fountain that can be transformed into an ice rink in the winter, much like the fountain in Clinton Square. This site would be incredibly popular during the holiday season, while also providing a way to cool down during summer months.

Flanking the park on either side should be mix-use development. This allows for the mall to expand its footprint to include more standalone restaurants topped by residential and office tenants. These buildings should incorporate green technologies, including green roofs and exterior foliage to embrace their settings within the park. The views from the upper floors or these buildings would rival any in the Syracuse area as it looks out over Onondaga Lake. Residents and office tenants would also benefit from access to the large green space and connections to the Onondaga Creek Walk and Loop the Lake trails.

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These trails could see an enhanced connection to the park and mall through a large pedestrian/bike bridge spanning the roadway and the railway. This bridge would provide an opportunity to create a visual icon for the city, tying together the natural beauty of the lakefront with one of our commercial centers. Below are some striking examples of what pedestrian bridges can be, and we should strive to create something unique to Syracuse.

While all of these ideas are clearly dreams, I do think it’s time for residents of Syracuse to push for access to their waterfront. We only have so much within the city, so it’s an incredible shame that such a large portion is blocked off by huge parking lots and the railroad. Taking back some of this space and providing enhanced public access on both sides of the railroads would give Syracuse a unique place to gather. It could also help improve the image of Destiny USA, which has often been criticized for the lavish tax breaks the property has been given. Giving back to the community and providing a unique green space to visitors will only enhance its economic position.

Public Transportation Needs More Than a Rail to Run On

June 1, 2019

Public transportation, specifically rail transportation, has been a hot topic lately. The Green New Deal resolution puts rail as a top priority when it comes to transforming our transportation systems (Ocasio-Cortez, 2019, p. 8-9). Numerous cities have voted on whether to increase taxes to support the expansion of rail transit (McDonald, 2018, para. 7). And New York, a city with more rail transit than any other in the United States, is considering adding its first streetcar in decades (Newman, 2018).

Each of these efforts are due to a desire to increase public transit ridership, reduce congestion, and lower greenhouse gas emissions to help combat climate change. While there is plenty of evidence to back-up the efficiency of rail transit over other forms of land transportation (Hoffrichter, 2019, para. 8), there has been less research performed on whether rail transit boosts public transportation ridership. This push for rail transit is admirable, but it is crucial that we understand if these investments lead to higher rates of transit usage. To fill this information gap, I performed a statistical analysis reflecting prior research in order to gauge rail transit’s effect on transit ridership in cities.

Variety in Demographics and Physical Environments

Previous research has focused on what demographic groups ride public transportation. Overall the research has shown that transit riders are more likely to be a lower income person of color. While less than 40 percent of the U.S. population identifies as a minority race, 60 percent of public transit riders do (American Public Transportation Association, 2017, p. 4). Median incomes for riders are $4,314 lower than median incomes for those who commute alone by car (Maciag, 2014, para. 2-5). While cities can promote diversity and inclusion, every city hopes to boost incomes instead of lowering them.

Research has also shown that individuals with a Bachelor’s Degree or higher tend to take rail transit over other forms of public transit; 70 percent of rail transit riders versus 51 percent on all forms of transit (American Public Transportation Association, 2017, p. 38-40). This dichotomy of riders, both highly educated and lower median incomes, suggests that transit is serving a diverse set of constituents across a diverse landscape.

There has also been discussion about what types of transportation work best in different physical settings. Often density is considered a key aspect in promoting public transportation, and low density has been cited by cities to justify investing in highways instead of public transit networks (Public Transport Users Association, 2019, para. 19). Others argue that there is a difference between density and walkability, stating that most residents live within easy walking distance to public transit (James, 2018, para. 6). While living nearby, their physical environment may be built in such a way that discourage them from using transit, perhaps a poor layout of the street network, or inclusion of cul-de-sacs (Stromberg, 2015, para. 8-11).

Finding Rail’s Place In The Equation

Each of these characteristics influence the viability of public transportation. In order to determine how rail transit factors into public transportation, data from the 2017 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates was collected for 100 cities. The cities range in size from Salt Lake City (pop. 194, 188) to San Francisco (pop. 864,263), avoiding smaller cities and large cities, such as New York and Chicago, who might skew results too far one way or the other. The census data was combined with Walk Scores (which serves as a proxy for the built environment) and the political party of the governor for each state (reflecting funding priorities based on ideology).

When tested on its own, cities with rail transit systems resulted in public transit ridership being over 7 percentage points higher than in cities without rail transit. This was a significant boost to the idea that rail transit is a worthwhile investment, but does not produce a full picture. To showcase the differences in the models, Rochester, NY is used as an example in the graph below, as it currently does not have access to rail transit.

Once we take into consideration demographic differences between cities, the presence of rail transit sees a slightly lower effect, with public transit ridership being over 4 percentage points higher in cities with rail over cities without. Still a significant boost in ridership that would seem to justify the expense of building out a rail system, but the results become more clouded when the physical environment of a city comes into play.

Accounting for walkability and density, rail transit becomes insignificant in terms of increasing public transit ridership. When cities are more walkable people are able to get most of what they need within walking distance, removing the need for a car. For trips outside of their neighborhood, they then must rely on public transportation, regardless of which form it is.

There are some limitations to the analysis performed, with the major issue being funding. While political parties view public transit differently and will prioritize it according to those views, it does not fully account for the differences in funding for each of these systems.

There is also the simple fact that some transit networks are better planned than others. While a transit system may have ample funding, if the network is not designed properly it will not be able to increase ridership. Rochester is an example of a city that is underperforming due to the design and implementation of its system.

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Recommendations

With the environmental crisis of climate change looming, we must continue to advocate for policies that promote public transportation and a more efficient city. While the data is not conclusive when it comes to the benefits of rail transit, it does point to some important steps cities can take.

Promote Dense, Walkable Neighborhoods

Through zoning and other comprehensive planning techniques, cities can emphasize dense, walkable development. This does not mean every city needs to be as dense as New York City or Chicago. This means producing neighborhoods where most errands can be done on foot. Reducing the need to venture outside of one’s own neighborhood also reduces the need for a car. Public transit will be used to connect these walkable neighborhoods, allowing residents and visitors to feel comfortable getting around without a car.

Plan Within Your Budget

Not every city can afford to build rail transit. Not every city can afford to build out a bus rapid transit (BRT) network. Cities must consider plans that provide the greatest service within their own budget. Houston opted to revamp their bus network into a grid like structure, understanding that not all commutes end in the downtown area anymore. This restructuring resulted in a noticeable increase in transit ridership without having to invest in a physical infrastructure (Bliss, 2018, para. 4 and 10).

Ensure Affordable Housing Around Transit

Lower-income residents and minority populations rely on public transportation to a greater degree than their higher-income and white neighbors. Ensuring that any development along transit lines includes a large portion of affordable housing will provide increased accessibility for those who need it the most. Protecting residents against gentrification is paramount to growing transit ridership and improving accessibility for those who need it most.