Downtown Syracuse

Downtown Syracuse is the economic center of Syracuse, New York, and Central New York, employing over 30,000 people, and housing over 3,250. It is also one of the 26 officially recognized neighborhoods of Syracuse.

Location in Syracuse

Downtown Syracuse, as the rest of the city, grew as a result of the city's salt industry and its location on the Erie Canal.

For over a century, it was also the retail and entertainment center of Central New York, with large department stores such as Chappell's, The Addis Co., Flah's, E.W. Edwards, Woolworth's, Grant's, Lincoln Stores, The Mohican, David's, Kresge's, Clark Music Co., Dey Brothers, and Sibley's. This attribute began to fade with development of large suburban malls, with the final blow in 1992 when the combined Addis & Dey's department store became the last major store to leave downtown.

South Salina Street between Erie Boulevard and West Onondaga Street was the main north-south artery of Downtown Syracuse and was among the busiest streets in the city. The area has seen a great deal of revitalization in recent years with projects such as the conversion of the historic Syracuse Trust Building into luxury condos, a project engineered by local developer Peter Muserlian. More development projects are planned.

In 1835, the "nature of the soil and the flat surface of the ground" in the village rendered the construction of stone pavements necessary. An ordinance was passed authorizing the paving with cobblestone of Salina Street from Fayette to Church Streets and Genesee Street from the west line of Clinton Square to Hanover Square. Additionally, sections of Water, Warren and Franklin Streets were paved.

The paving of these streets also made it necessary to pave the public squares, or the work would be "incomplete." A sum of $4,500 was raised with general tax. During the same year, sidewalks of brick were ordered to be constructed along all paved streets and squares where they had not already been laid including Salina Street from Washington Street to Onondaga Avenue.

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Wikipedia