ROCHESTER, NY- With Halloween behind us and election time upon us, neighbors and preservationist in Rochester’s Susan B. Anthony neighborhood are finding that a powerful ally from the spirit realm in the form of Susan B. Anthony herself has joined their efforts to save a local historic church from being demolished and replaced with a dollar store. I recently had a chance to communicate with the dead (via her Facebook page) to find out what Rochester’s most acclaimed suffragette is spinning in her grave about.

The New York Times carried an excellent article this weekend about how the GOP became the anti-city party. The point was, actually, that waging a culture war against urban areas–where 80 percent of the country lives–might not be such a smart move, even from a purely political stance. The party’s 2012 platform makes almost no mention of cities, outside of the usual dog-whistling. The Times estimates that Mitt Romney’s chances of winning this election are 15 percent.
As far as political antagonism toward cities goes, I don’t feel like I need to …

As our faithful readers are well aware, Rust Wire has been very critical of Cleveland’s regional planning agency, NOACA, namely because we — and by that I mean editor Angie Schmitt, the person writing this — think(s) the agency has played a critical role in the sprawl that has devastated greater Cleveland’s urban areas. We don’t think anyone at NOACA is a terrible person, per say. We just thought — and again by we, I mean me — that they are just terribly old-fashioned, in the sense that they see …

I had my first opportunity to attend ArtPrize in Grand Rapids last Saturday. My oh my, have they ever hit upon a huge economic development success. Touted as the world’s largest open art competition, covering more than three square miles in the city’s central business district, ArtPrize is simply mind-boggling, inspiring, amazing, and entertaining all at the same time.
 
 
 
 
 
 
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All told, in 2102, you could see 1,517 entries (from 45 states and 56 countries) on display at 161 venues by walking the entire nine mile trail. It is quite amazing. ArtPrize offers a …

It’s been a while since the Phillips 66/Del Taco saucer at Grand and Forest Park Avenue has been in the news. Rumors have heated up recently about two future tenants set to occupy to landmark building once threatened with demolition. Owner Rick Yackey argued last June at a Board of Aldermen hearing that while the Council Towers complex was historic and justified in its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the former gas station, turn burrito stand, was only listed by geographical happenstance.

By Roldo Bartimole
The problem with school reform is that the real solution doesn’t lie in the school but outside the school – in the home, on the street, in our social life, in our justice system, in our politics, in its financing and in the poor conditions many of our children – and adults – must exist. And the history.
The times are not good. The times have not been good. For many.
As someone who has been writing for more than 50 years, few articles stand out in my mind.
One, actually …

This post originally appeared on Streetsblog.
Let’s say you’re a Rust Belt city trying to dust off your stale image and compete in the 21st century. You would think the last thing you would want to do is prevent able-bodied people in your region from working, especially those who are most economically vulnerable.
But you’d be wrong! Perrysburg, Ohio, a suburban neighbor of Toledo, where I was born, is taking a page from Detroit, carving out big parts of the region to exempt from transit service.
The Toledo Blade, in an article that …

Rust belt cities have numerous neighborhoods that are sometimes called “transitional.” Unfortunately, its not always clear which direction they are transitioning. On one hand, these neighborhoods often offer proximity to downtown or another immobile amenity such as waterfront or a university. This makes them desirable to young professionals, couples without children, and some parents who choose to raise their children in an urban setting. On the other hand, these neighborhoods have far more housing units than households due to decades of sprawl and filtering. This keeps rents low and means the neighborhoods cannot offer the exclusivity always found in gentrified core neighborhoods of the coastal cities.

 
Recently a new mural, the second this summer, was completed on the Glenwood business corridor on the south side of Youngstown. The mural project is part of collaboration between the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, a local community development corporation, and the Youngstown Playhouse, one of the oldest active community theatrical groups in the country.
The mural itself was designed and executed by local artist Christian Mrosko. Its themes represent both the playhouse’s mission of providing local live theater, and the character of the surrounding African American neighborhoods.
 
 
 
 

 
– Sean Posey
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The city of Cleveland, City Hall — it has a reputation for, well, not a whole lot positive. But the truth is city residents, Cleveland boosters — as we are all more or less — try to give them the benefit of the doubt, most of the time. They’re generally well-meaning, we’ll give them that. They don’t have a lot of money, we all understand.

But wow, sometimes you read something like this in the Plain Dealer and you really have to marvel at exactly how low expectations are, even within City Hall.

This weekend the PD published an article about how bicycling advocates are frustrated with the pace of progress in the city of Cleveland.