Wear to Where

Wear to Where is a series using fashion and geography as a starting point for discussions on current attitudes (Circa. 2015) on the nature of place in Rochester, New York and the surrounding communities. 

The series was created for the website Rochester Subway as a showcase for local boutiques and makers to bring a homegrown sense of Rust Belt chic to the varied spaces that make the area unique. Paired with commentary, I wanted this series to be an exploration of the spaces, issues, models and clothing that are often overlooked.

You can find the original series at Rochestersubway.com.

The Inner Loop

The Inner Loop is a particularly good place to start this series for two reasons. The first, since construction began in the 1950s The Inner Loop has divided the City of Rochester socially, politically, economically and racially. It is telling that this road is the boundary between the richest and poorest legislative districts in Rochester. If there ever was a tangible symbol of the problems with our often divided city, it is The Inner Loop.

The second is that tomorrow this place will cease to exist. The Inner Loop (at least this part of it) is slated to be filled in. Where this shot was taken will be underground and a new place will emerge from a bit of Rochester’s old, and sometimes ugly, past. By burying this part of our past, we get the unique opportunity to start to build a new place. What will that place be?

Lock 33

At a cost to the New York taxpayers of just about half that of the Louisiana Purchase 14 years earlier, “Clinton’s Ditch” faced the rancor of the New York State Legislature and the animosity of the statewide press. It is hard to overstate the impact the investment taxpayers made in building the canal had on the development of Rochester and New York State. Now, it is almost impossible to imagine a project like the canal ever being built in today’s political climate and maybe that is not such a good thing. In this edition of Wear to Where we stop by Lock 33 and ask, “What’s the big idea?”

Over the past decade, I have been fortunate to be involved in some great projects that never got off the ground because a handful of politicians thought spending taxpayer’s money was a bad thing on general principles. Going through the political history of the canal, one thing becomes immediately clear — the canal was built at a time in New York when the state’s leaders had big ideas and were not afraid to spend money to make those ideas happen.

It was not that spending tax money was easier in the time of DeWitt Clinton, Martin Van Buren and Tammany Hall cronyism, but the notion that big ideas were what New York State needed and that big ideas cost money, was something that even bitter rivals could agree on. Now, too often it seems that preventing a political rival from executing their idea is just as good as having your own. In service of that, the easiest way to block any idea is to simply say it will cost the taxpayer’s money. Some taxpayers don’t even need to hear the idea because they have been convinced that politicians only have bad and costly ones.

To me, the canal is a reminder that we are better people when we have big ideas. Not considering an idea because it simply costs money is not a reason in itself. Even Clinton’s bitter rivals had to admit that instantly cutting grain shipping prices to a tenth of overland transit made the canal a wise investment and led to western expansion in New York. Now, as the state continues to lose population (myself included) to places with warmer climates yet far less developed infrastructure, I want to suggest that it is time to consider investing some real money into big ideas upstate.

Another nuclear power plant (we have the transmission lines)? High-speed rail that connects Rochester to Manhattan in two hours (the right-of-way is already there)? How about the five best public high schools in the country? Anybody?

Big ideas change places in ways thrift never can. Let’s remember, just like the canal, Rochester, was not created by cheap, visionless New Yorkers. Excelsior. 

Grocery Store

For those of us who have friends and family in town for the holidays, one of the most difficult things to explain to outsiders about this place is Rochester’s grocery store obsession. In this holiday edition of Wear to Where we stop in at the grocery store and pick up a few things.

From the remodeling of the East Ave. Wegmans, to the buzz surrounding the opening of Hart’s Grocers downtown, to last week’s announcement of COMIDA tax breaks for a new store in College Town, the role of the grocery-store-as-neighborhood-economic-driver has now been firmly established in our tax policy.

While there is always room to debate tax priorities, one only has to look to Mise En Place which opened in the South Wedge in 2008 to see how a local store that caters to the needs of a neighborhood can act as an anchor for economic development. How then do we explain the fuss we make over something that people from other places take for granted? Could it be that while we as a community remain divided over so many things in our city we have found at least common ground on something?

Stone Tolan Orchard

In this edition of Wear to Where we brave the cold to visit the oldest house in Monroe County — the Landmark Society’s Stone-Tolan House and their heirloom apple orchard.

If you are a native Rochesterian, odds are you have been to the Stone-Tolan House (but maybe not since your fourth-grade field trip). To the applephile (the non-Steve Jobs kind), the orchard is a classic example of the type that was often part of small local farms, with the tasty heirloom apples developed in New York in the early nineteenth century to match.

The house itself is a teaching museum of local pioneer life complete with a tavern and kitchen built to accommodate small gatherings of locals and travelers. Standing on the grounds on chilly days like we have been having, it is hard not to imagine how difficult it was for people back in 1792 to make it through the winter. It is hard enough here sometimes in 2015.

The days and nights between New Year’s Eve and the nebulous arrival of spring can be a challenge for Rochesterians. This past week has been cold (you can see it in Danitza’s face), some days among the coldest on record. Too many times I have heard that the social life of Rochester effectively shuts down in the winter. True, we are not Montréal but a place that has largely chosen to orient towards summer with our festivals and events. Still, we too have these long, cold months. So here is the question: Are there ideas we have not tried that could better bring this community together during the winter or is it just too cold to go outside?

Irondequoit Bay Bridge

Next in the Wear to Where series, we look to the Irondequoit Bay outlet swing bridge. For years this span of 180 feet has been less of a unifier than a divider in this community, but New York Senator Chuck Schumer has an idea (or rather wants someone to come up with an idea) that could change that permanently.

This past week, Schumer called for $70,000 in federal funds to study ways that both boats and cars can get through the narrow Irondequoit Bay outlet. Since the current bridge opened in 1998, it has been an imperfect solution to a vexing problem for all involved. From November to April, the bridge is open and the beach communities of Irondequoit and Webster are connected on land via Culver Road and Lake Road. But from April to November, the bridge is moved aside and boats flow between these two towns. 

“Right now, this situation is a lose-lose,” said Schumer. “The boaters are unhappy half the year. The motorists and the businesses are unhappy half the year.”

In many ways, it is a classic urban planning problem that pits the needs of residents, businesses and visitors against one another. Schumer has called for a federal study to look at solutions to the bridge problem, but this may be a good place locally to begin a larger discussion within our community about our priorities.