The intersection of Harrison and Almond Streets is currently close to a common site of car accidents coming off I-81. This rendering from the NYSDOT shows the planned future for the intersection under the community grid project.
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In 2019, Microsoft designated Syracuse as the location of its third “Smart Cities Technology” hub, a sign that a new wave of technology jobs in the city may soon arrive. In a recent Syracuse University panel discussing the significance of the designation for marginalized communities in the city, Syracuse Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens described that while jobs in Syracuse boomed during the Second Industrial Revolution, the city failed to anticipate the next boom and to prepare digital technology workforces during the Third Industrial Revolution.

As experts herald the coming of a Fourth Industrial Revolution around connectivity, the “Internet of Things,” and other smart technologies, Owens and other panelists said the city must prioritize providing community members of all skill levels with the training to take on the new work.

Fellow panelist Laiza Semidey, workforce manager of the Syracuse Surge program for economic development in the city, highlighted the issue that the community members with the most to gain from new opportunities in the city are often those without internet connectivity or a spot at the table in the city’s decision-making processes. “Those people are falling behind,” Semidey said. “Yes, there is opportunity for new businesses to come here with the shiny object where tech companies can come here and it can develop workforce opportunities for our community members, [but] we have to find the training. We have to bridge that gap.” Listen

When the viaduct comes down, I-81 will end and the community grid will start at this intersection of MLK Jr. East and Renwick Avenue.
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The NYCLU is advocating for the city to ensure the 600 students studying at STEAM at Dr. King, which sits a matter of feet away from the proposed access ramp, will have clean air and uninterrupted study during the 4-7 years the community grid is built.

Looking for ways to bridge the gap in Syracuse will be crucial to the ability of upcoming urban development plans to begin healing one of Syracuse’s deepest scars. As new attention and development comes to  the city’s supposed new “front door,” community activists and leaders are pushing to see new development on the city’s South Side and other locations that are now home to descendants of 15th Ward residents. 

Some community members worry that both direct and indirect consequences of I-81 will go on unaddressed or forgotten. A few blocks south of SU’s Carrier Dome, where the community grid will end and the existing I-81 will remain, once-connected streets on the city’s South Side now abut into the raised embankment where the highway sits.

Looking symbolically to these dead ends and the immovable wall that devalues their neighborhood, city residents hope that other community connections won’t come to the same fate.

Looking symbolically to these dead ends and the immovable wall that devalues their neighborhood, city residents hope that other community connections won’t come to the same fate.

Click and drag and use the interactive buttons to navigate between five different embankment dead ends on Syracuse’s South Side.
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And the connections that community members hope the city and state will address are not just in infrastructure. While the center-city viaduct coming down is a step toward connectivity in the city, the cure will come from resources invested in community-based centers, programs, and jobs. Former residents of the 15th Ward like Eloise Currie recalled their experiences growing up at the Dunbar Center, formerly at 950 Townsend St. and today on South State Street, which offered after-school enrichment, classes, and social events.

The Dunbar was well-known for its work connecting community members with resources to succeed, including Manny Breland, who grew up in the 15th Ward. Breland credits his mentor at the Dunbar for his graduation from the prestigious Central High School and his scholarship as one of the first African-American basketball players at Syracuse University.

But Currie isn’t confident that the resources she grew up with in Syracuse are being extended to the current and future generations. “I have a great-grandson,” she said. “And what is he going to come up to? What’s in store for him? You just don’t know, at least here in Syracuse.” Listen