The South Wedge has a sculpture of Nathaniel Rochester. The Susan B. Anthony neighborhood has a statue of the suffragist and abolitionist Frederick Douglass enjoying tea in the park on Madison Street.

But there's not much in the way of outdoor art to be found in Corn Hill, Rochester's oldest residential neighborhood.

"Signs are fine, but you can only do so many signs," says Elizabeth Holley, a representative of the Corn Hill Neighbors Association.

If Holley has her way, outdoor art will be one of the issues tackled in an upcoming Corn Hill design charrette, an informal method of guiding planning and development.

The Corn Hill discussions are in the early stages and no timetable has been set for the charrette.

Minutes from the association's monthly meetings indicate that the group may spend in the area of $20,000 on the project and that it may look for cooperation from the Rochester Regional Design Center.

Holley's family has lived in the Corn Hill area - it was called Rochesterville then - since the late 19th century. Corn Hill was an "OK" neighborhood when she was growing up, Holley says, but it went downhill with the arrival of absentee landlords who did not keep up their properties.

At one time, Holley says, there was talk of razing the entire neighborhood, and several properties were torn down. But the historic architecture and low prices triggered re-investment and Corn Hill emerged as a thriving urban village.

"It's home to me," Holley says. "There are people I've known for practically my whole life. We look out for each other."