8/19/2019 2009.09.17 Urban Decay, American Decay Cut Out

1/1

 EDITORIAL O BSERVERS

OPINIONS Thursday, September 17, 2009

beg to differ. The centers of many

cities stand in disrepair. Rochester

masks the first floor windows of its

unused buildings by putting color-

ful, larger-than-life photos behind

them. Behind the windows residesonly emptiness.

Since its height in the fifties,

Rochester’s population has fallen

over 125,000, or 48 percent, to about

206,000. Yet, the Rochester metro-

politan area has grown slightly to

almost 1.1 million. While Americancities have shrunk, suburbs have

grown. Yes, Rochester does have

great vibrant areas, particularly

around East and Monroe Avenues.

But it’s more than Rochester I’m

talking about — it’s our nation.

 What am I calling for? A return

to city and countryside and the

restriction of suburbia.

 Aesthetically, Europe, especially

northern Europe, is the model to fol-

low. Policy makers, who in the fifties

had encouraged sprawl by building

highways and allowing easy home

financing, should now discouragesuburban growth, and instead build

residential areas in cities much like

Paris or Berlin. Retail and markets

Urban decay, American decay  You want to know where Ameri-ca’s gone? It’s gone to the suburbs.

 And, at least on an aesthetic level,

that’s been the death of America.

Last week, I ran northward on

the west bank of the river and on

to the abandoned railroad bridge

near Towers. I walked on the rotting

wooden planks of the bridge where

faded and forgotten graffiti extorted

struggle, proclaiming, “Fight with

Malcom X in your heart and in

 your fist.”

I ran again, continuing northamidst urban decay and past the

fittingly named Flint street where

two shuttered factories remain with

signs warning no trespassing.

I crossed the river, first passing

Corn Hill, and then turned south,

past rubble — the remains of de-molished public housing — toward

the University.

 Where does the wealth of our na-

tion lie? A simple trip to Pittsford

Plaza gives the answer.

Out of America’s vastness, we’ve

created our own little kingdoms of

single family homes on the outskirts

of cities, adorned with strip malls

and shopping plazas. We’ve created

boring houses and ugly develop-

ments filled with lonely and insecure

people trying to fulfill a vacuous

 American dream.

 Are the suburbs pleasing to theeye? The endless rows of nearly

identical houses, seas of gray park-

ing lots and imposing big-box stores

should be built in cities, so people

shop where they live. When we de-

velop small towns, we should build

them like villages — dense clusters

of buildings — surrounded by com-

mon land or forest.

Then we can establish mass

transit. Mass transit does not

work in suburbia simply because

people live dispersed enough that

cars are the most efficient form of

transportation.

 We should bring retail back to

the cities and out of the big boxstores. We should turn empty lots

into parks and plant trees and we

should encourage mixed-use lots.

More than all of this, we need to cut

the source of urban decay, and that

is the expansion of suburbia — the

root that sucks our cities dry.Is focused change feasible? It’s

going to take a lot more than just

me to make it so.

 As I ran back to campus on the

east side of the river, past the demol-

ished projects, an old man, sitting

and watching the sunset, raised his

brown paper bagged bottle to me and

said, “Be Careful! The fish in that

river are big enough to eat you!” We

both shared a laugh.

I made it to the same railroad

bridge again as the sun set a deep

crimson. On the rotten planks,

saplings were beginning to grow.The rusted iron remained.

Otis is a member of 

the class of 2011.

 ANDREW 

•

O PINIONS

 E DITOR

OTIS