Mayor Bob Duffy pointed to plenty of positives in his State of the City speech last night: Paetec and ESL are planning projects downtown, downtown housing is growing, and crime's down. Early in his speech, he talked about the city's "march to greatness."

But Duffy's no naïve optimist. The city's progress, he said, is "not a sprint, it's a marathon." And marathons, said Duffy - a marathon runner himself -are "long and arduous, and sometimes painful."

He warned against quitting. He said that Rochesterians are resilient. And, he said, "we are going to make Rochester the best mid-size city anywhere in which to live, to work, to start a business, and to raise a family."

But as he noted, the city's challenges are enormous. The violent-crime rate may be down at the moment, but the culture of crime continues to have a strong grip on some inner-city neighborhoods. Young men shoot each other to settle arguments, and witnesses to murders are either afraid to speak up or believe they should protect the killers. The city's budget problems will force Duffy to cut back on services. And while there is new housing development in some neighborhoods, in others, abandonment and population loss are forcing the city to demolish houses.

There were few surprises in the speech. Neighborhood Empowerment Team offices will be consolidated and reduced. And the mayor emphasized that while the Rhinos have been rescued, "the future of the Amerks and Knighthawks is uncertain."

"The pattern of unpaid creditors, litigation, tax liens, and unsupportable debt that plagued the Rhinos at Paetec Park is repeating itself with the Amerks and Knighthawks," Duffy said. "We simply cannot work with current management, given its past performance, shaky legal position, and current finances."

The full text of Duffy's speech is available at the City of Rochester website.