Like many cities of its size, Syracuse had a robust electric streetcar and rail network by the turn of the 20th century. By the 1950s much of that network had been dismantled. Red-lining and suburbanization had left the core of the city hollowed out, no longer maintaining the density or land uses necessary to support rail transit. The first image shows the streetcar system at its height of 88 miles in the 1930s overlaid on the earliest aerial image I could access, from 1956. The urban form is generally similar and you can get a rough idea of what the network looked like.

In addition to the hollowing out of the core, the new freeways had led to an influx of automobiles on legacy infrastructure. As with other cities, this convinced many of the need to remove what were at the time viewed as obsolete streetcar systems (aka tram, or "light rail" in today's language) in order to free up space for cars. Moreover, because streetcars generally served the redlined areas directly adjacent to downtowns (in Syracuse's case, the 15th Ward), there was little political will to revitalize systems which were of the most use to those in "blighted" areas (aka citizens of color and recent immigrants). Despite a short-lived revival from 1995 - 2008 with the “OnTrack” commuter rail, today Syracuse has no rail transit. However, reminders of the past can still be seen. In the 5th image (courtesy of @syracusehistory) abandoned streetcar tracks can be seen poking through the asphalt.

Today, rail is likely not the solution. Given Syracuse’s contemporary density the focus should be on the bus. Syracuse’s Centro bus system serves the city reasonably well, but much could be done to improve service, including increased frequency and dedicated bus lanes.t all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference