Syracuse, NY

[Keith-in-Jax]

Awesome set!!!! Thanks

[KCtoBrooklyn]

Fantastic building stock!

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Shasta

That said, as an outsider that spent 4 years in the Finger Lakes for college, I enjoyed Rochester a lot more than Syracuse.

Rochester is significantly bigger, richer, and more cosmopolitan than Syracuse, with more of a corporate and cultural base.

That said, Syracuse does have some nice attributes. Nicer topography than Rochester, Syracuse U. campus is very attractive, huge mall (for those into that sort of thing), and good historical stock downtown.

I attended Cornell, and honestly we didn't go to Syracuse or Rochester for much of anything. Ithaca had everything we needed, and IMO Ithaca is really the "Ann Arbor" version of Upstate NY (I think much better than Ann Arbor, but I'm highly biased ).

If we wanted a "city", then we took the frequent Cornell bus into NYC.

[The ATX]

I LOVE this building:

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by Crawford

If we wanted a "city", then we took the frequent Cornell bus into NYC.

And where is that NYC of which you speak; north or south of there?

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

How many times do we have to say "city populations are irrelevant for comparison due to dramatic variability in municipal regimes" on this forum?

Canadian cities tend to have larger populations than U.S. counterparts because Canadian city boundaries are over-bounded instead of under-bounded. Hamilton, for example, has an area 17 times that of Syracuse.

Hamilton city - 519k in 1,138.11 km2
Winnipeg city - 145k in 66.4 km2

When comparing Metro populations, Syracuse is clearly on the same tier as Hamilton and Winnipeg. The big difference is that Syracuse ranks as the 80th largest metro in the U.S. while it would rank as 10th in Canada... being perceived as a "big city" in a country with so few large urban areas.

Metro Winnipeg - 730k
Metro Hamilton - 721k
Metro Syracuse - 662k

Using your method, we could say something ridiculous like "Calgary is twice the size of Denver", when in reality Calgary is half a Denver.

What I’ve learned from this site is that American metro areas are huge and can’t be compared to Canadian ones, which accounts for why American cities seem small than their numbers indicate. But while I agree that comparing some of these stats is like comparing apples and oranges, that doesn’t change the fact that Winnipeg and Hamilton are much bigger than Syracuse. The urban area of Winnipeg is about the same size as the urban are of Rochester, for example, although Winnipeg probably has a bigger downtown and more business in general because it’s also both the regional centre for a large area and the capital of the province.

The technical definition of urban area might be a better comparison, in fact, but even there the criteria are different inflating American numbers relative to Canadian ones.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area#Canada
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area#United_States

Here are aerial views of the three at the same scale.
Rochester
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=roches...gl=ca&t=k&z=11
Winnipeg
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=winnip...gl=ca&t=k&z=11
Syracuse
https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=syracu...gl=ca&t=k&z=11

Btw, you’ll have to excuse Razor. His knowledge of Canada outside of his small part of it is not very strong, and he’s a bit insecure which leads him to constantly subtly try to minimize and generally put down other parts of the country.

[Razor]

^ Give people enough rope and they will eventually hang themselves. Enuff said.

[Tedious]

The Niagara Mohawk building is so rad. Lots of Romanesque in there as well.

Also I notice that driving through Cuse the city gives off a bigger feel than driving through Buffalo. Not sure if it's the topography or that your fabric is more in tact or what.

[Allan83]

Originally Posted by Razor

^ Give people enough rope and they will eventually hang themselves. Enuff said.

I know I should just let it go, but since this is a skyscraper site...

Highrise buildings according to the database on this site:
Winnipeg – 145
Syracuse – 42
Regina – 40

Buildings over 249 ft:
Winnipeg –18 (including 9 over 300)
Syracuse – 3
Regina – 5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...gs_in_Winnipeg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...cuse,_New_York
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ings_in_Regina

[Razor]

^ Look Allen, I actually drove in an around Syracuse..As well, I've been to Saint Catherines, Oshawa,Sudbury, and Kingston many times (lived in Oshawa) which are all roughly 150'000 people +/-...Syracuse, by far is more built up then either of these cities...It's definitely on the same scale as a Hamilton..There's no way that city only has a metro of 150'000. I don't care what lists of buildings you link on here..Just go visit it sometime.

...Cheers


To everyone else, thank you Syracuse for being so close to Ottawa..Every now and then, all I have to do is convince my wife and her shopping friend that they are due for a trip to that "Destiny" mall, and I'm batching it for a full day ha...Again, great bones and kewl buildings in Syracuse. Thanks for posting these pics.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Allan83

I know I should just let it go, but since this is a skyscraper site...

You do realize that "number of highrises" isn't really related to city size or importance, right?

[Fortunate4Now]

Originally Posted by Crawford

You do realize that "number of highrises" isn't really related to city size or importance, right?

Exactly. Case in point - Washington, D.C.
This discussion should be related to the architecture of Syracuse and not a 'whose is bigger' inferiority complex which seems to pop up in every thread...

[TransitEngr]

I'm a New Yorker.... so the Chrystler is one of my favorite art Deco Buildings (and the American International Building)...

But Holy Shit.... the Niagra building you have in this thread is just A BEAUTY!!!
I'M IN FUCK'N LOVE.

ROCK ON MAN.... ROCK ON.

[OhioGuy]

Such a wonderful collection of beautiful old architecture. Thanks for sharing!

[Wheelingman04]

I really wish I wasn't so tired when driving back from Montreal or I would have done and extensive tour of Syracuse and Rochester.

[Wheelingman04]

I must say Syracuse has some of the best downtown architecture l have seen and having a large university in the core of the city is a boon to the economy in that city

[Ex-Ithacan]

Great set. As noted, Syracuse has a wonderful collection of older buildings. Always loved the Niagara Mohawk, and it's good to see the renovation it was undergoing when I was last there is now complete. I really wish the Hotel Syracuse building could be put to use. It's a grand old rascal, but has been essentially vacant for nearly a decade.
I'm pulling for Syracuse to come out of its economic malaise, and reverse the population drain.
Thanks for the pics.

[dc_denizen]

Cheap, beautiful housing, big university, close to finger lakes, Adirondacks, and NYC/Canada for travel, what's not to like? I was there in winter and the downtown square was fairly active even then. Not a bad place, climate is always going to be an issue for some people but I wouldn't mind living in Syracuse.

[dc_denizen]

PS When comparing populations, wouldn't urban area be a better metric than MSA or municipal boundary? Since the definition is kind of similar between the US and Canada-

Syracuse 411,000
Winnipeg 672,000
Regina 193,000
Rochester 723,000

link

[Wheelingman04]

Syracuse is a nice size city with most of the amenities you need and bigger cities nearby. I could live there. I don't mind the snow.