I seem to recall a text at the Terra Cotta Warior exhibit at the ROM in Toronto which stated the future Emperor was advised to use fear rather than love to unite the war lords into a country because fear was a stronger emotion than love.
Do mostly suburbanites get red light tickets? What is the breakdown in dollars paid by city residents and others? Are all fines going to be based on ability to pay? A very confusing and possibly unconstitutional solution. Should red light cameras be removed?
You just don't understand customer service. The County Clerk had to be sure people were satisfied so they would come back again in ten years for their next passport.
Will someone please explain where and how these non-profits get the funding to build and operate these projects. Are we paying to destroy our own neighborhoods?
"It's better than what it was before, period." Faint praise for a 100 million dollar project. " Come on people, have some vision and shut up about taxpayer money." We are only talking about the retail part of the project and it does appear there was a lack of vision on the part of those involved. The taxpayers kicked in about 30 million dollars. I suspect there were many smaller and less expensive projects that would have been a lot more benefit to the Rochester community. One wonders what agreements were made regarding the repayment of those funds.
I don't know about Collegetown in Ithaca but the Dewitt Mall and the Ithaca Commons are interesting places with a large variety of shops and food venues to visit. They seem to have developed organically from older buildings over time and are inviting. There is also outside seating, art and greenery.
Rochester's Collegetown seems to be the opposite. I wonder what the designers were told to develop and the constraints that were put on them. I've only visited twice but found it lifeless, uninviting and uninteresting. I recall the era of plop art and this seems to be plop construction with little character. For example a Dinosaur Bar-b-Que in this area just wouldn't be the same.
There are other questionable projects coming along that will be seeking public funds. Local politicians don't seem to be able to vote for the public interest so we need to find a way to regain control of our money.
Re: “How the city made its Parcel 5 choice”
The theater sketch shows The Lion King 1997, Wicked 2003, Rent 1996 and Les Miz 1980. All from the past, not a living theater. Nothing I want to see, especially at a cost of one hundred million tax dollars. I prefer recent productions, both plays and musicals, in an intimate setting. I hope our local and state lawmakers will do the right thing. We need a right sized theater with recent productions of plays, musicals, dance etc. A living theater with opportunities for local talent. However the future seems to be streaming.
I keep hearing brick and mortar stores are not the future of retail. Is the same true of large arts venues and their cost? Many movie theaters are now streaming live performances of opera, dance, musicals and plays with original casts, an interesting and cost effective process. Seats are inexpensive, priced the same and most are good. If we are going to spend a lot of money it should be improving local bandwidth. It would be more equitable, more democratic, available to everyone, and improve our areas economic competitiveness.