BY MARIA THOMAS

The ideas for making this community more livable are not new. Many generations before us set the groundwork. However, over the next 25 years, Rochester can greatly benefit from the innovation and creativity of the next generation and from having more young professionals living, working, socializing, and raising children in our city.

Growing up, the anticipation and excitement of taking the bus trip to Main Street downtown would be almost too much to bear for me. There was just so much to see and do, with window shopping at McCurdy's, eating cheesecake at the Sibley bakery, and, of course, being mesmerized by all of the Christmas decorations and animated characters.

Today, there is still an excitement, especially among young people, around the East Avenue area of downtown, with restaurants, coffee shops, and festivals, and families are creating new memories by seeing concerts at the Eastman Theatre. However, I would be very surprised if families make day trips out of visiting Main Street anymore. A community's Main Street is a gateway and an introduction to that community, and ours leaves a lot to be desired.

We may never see Main Street as a major shopping center again. Yet within 25 years we could have a new and differently vibrant Main Street. Many young professionals would love to live in the downtown vicinity. Many of them work downtown, and many more socialize in the area. But many of the new residential units downtown are prohibitively expensive. They are beautiful, but most young professionals a few years into their careers cannot afford them.

Within the next 25 years, I envision a Main Street where young people live, play, shop, and eat. All it takes is a few innovative developers with the encouragement of local government to consider young professionals when planning future development.

Although some people on local blogs and radio shows insist that the city is unsafe, thousands of young people actively choose city living. They choose it for its convenience and proximity to events and entertainment. Providing affordable living downtown would grow the number of young people living there and add to the energy of this community.

However, due to the perceived state of the City School District, for many young professionals with children, living in the city is not an option. As many college graduates are moving into the city, many more are leaving because of one life-changing event: the birth of children. This leads to a school district that lacks economic diversity and to a community that loses its families and its tax base to support city programs and projects.

Over the next 25 years, I envision a community in which all political parties work on finding solutions that dramatically improve our schools, in an environment in which many more options like charter schools are provided. For example, Rochester Preparatory School, a culturally diverse charter school, had math scores that beat its suburban counterparts in Pittsford. If other city schools had similar scores, families would not be moving out of the city in the numbers they have been over the last three decades.

We need to remove legal, policy, or practical barriers that impede the educational options for children living in this city. In 25 years, we will realize that education is our first priority, with all education options on the table. City education will be a viable option for those young people who are able to leave and will be an asset to those who have no other choice.

Finally, in 25 years young professionals will be active members of non-profit and government boards and committees. These boards will adopt age-diversity recruitment practices, realizing that young professionals have the skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm to benefit organizations in a rapidly changing information age while allowing young people a voice in a community they will inherit.

Rochester native Maria Thomas, a project manager with the City of Rochester, is president of Rochester Young Professionals, is on the advisory board of the NextGen Rochester philanthropic group, and is active in the Rochester Children's Scholarship Fund.