[Sekkle]

You may have to be patient with these photos or reload the page or something – I had to use Imageshack since my Photobucket bandwidth is running low. Sorry about that.

I recently spent a week and a half on vacation in upstate NY. Most of that time was spent at a lake in Adirondack State Park, but my family and I drove down to Utica one day (it was supposed to be a rainy day – it wasn’t). I hadn’t been there since I was too young to remember.

Many upstate NY cities have been in decline for a while, and Utica is no exception. In the 1800s, Utica benefited from its location along the Erie Canal and became a textile industry hub. By WWII, though, most of the manufacturing had left for the South. In the mid 1900s, the population was over 100,000. Since then Utica has been bleeding people, though there has recently been an influx of immigrants from abroad, most notably from Bosnia, but also from Somalia and Southeast Asia. The current city population is under 60,000 with about 295,000 in the Utica-Rome metro area.

The downtown area was fairly quiet, but there were some people walking around. We drove around some rougher areas outside of downtown where there were more people out, but I didn’t get the feeling that they’d appreciate me sticking my head out of the car with a camera, so I didn’t get too many photos of those areas. There were some pretty nice old home that we drove by, too, many of which had been converted into doctors’ or lawyers’ offices.

This is not meant to be a comprehensive look at the city – we were only there for a couple hours, and I took pics of what I saw.

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Genesee St – the main street in downtown Utica.
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I knew I recognized it from somewhere…
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Pedestrian mall?
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6431/img3606pedmalluy6.jpg

And you thought the Liberty Bell was in Philly
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2773/img3609libbellwr7.jpg
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Set your watches
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I think all the rest of the photos were taken from the passenger’s seat in my parents’ car, so lower your expectations accordingly
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I wanted to see what this house would look like if it were built on a slope… :P
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I was pretty impressed by this apartment block…
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The end

[Evergrey]

Looks MUCH better than jmancuso led me to believe.

I love that slogan in the first pic... reminds me of: "Watch out, Utica! Springfield is a city on the grow!"

I hope you indulged in one of these while you were vacationing in Utica:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/BandW.jpg

[xzmattzx]

There are some nice buildings, like that Stanley movie theater and some of the houses, but Utica looks dead. You can tell from the scale of the buildings and their conditions that everyone has left.

[Thundertubs]

Great tour!
This is one of a very few northeastern cities I haven't been to. Some very impressive structures there for a small regional city. I also liked the pics of the storefronts and residential areas. That big red stone apartment building is stunning. The city does seem to emminate depression, though, in that Upstate kind of way.

I hope you don't get set upon by some new forumer named Uticaisbeautiful2008 or something. Oy.

[TinChelseaNYC]

This was a great tour. Sure looks kind of sad, though.

[stepper77]

Some good and some not so good neighborhoods, but, Utica has a lot of nice old buildings. Thanks!

[ShadowMaster]

Nice tour of Utica. The city contains some impressive classic brick architecture.



I hope you indulged in one of these while you were vacationing in Utica:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/73/BandW.jpg

Mmmmm Black & White cookies. One of my favorites... :yes:

[boden]

Great pics. Actually Utica is a pretty decent place....a very liveable city, and from personal experience far nicer than most would suggest.:tup:

[Wheelingman04]

It doesn't look too bad. I kind of looks a lot like Wheeling.

[Skyliner]

This was a great tour. Sure looks kind of sad, though.Having spent a fair amount of time there, I felt exactly the same sadness you spoke of. The place looks and feels like urban "death," yet there is such great potential to revitalize this city and turn it into a gateway destination once again.

[steve-o]

Now this brings back memories. I lived there my entire childhood until leaving for college and never returning. My whole family and most friends have since left. Really sad - the architecture is quite nice now that I look back at it.

The beautiful apartment building used to have an identical sister building that went up in flames in the late 80s. I remember being disgusted (even as a child) looking at it in ruin. Though it also scared the heck out of me that it was completely demolished in just a few hours. Not built very close to current codes I'd imagine.

The "black and white" cookie is known as a "half moon" in Utica. Speaking of it as anything but will stop music and get you immediately exiled by a local if they hear it. There is not much left in Utica except the past and their questionably invented/re-named foods.

Nice pics - thanks for the memories!

[WIGS]

you can see the grandeur Utica once had for a smaller regional city. sad to see it in its current state.
thanks for the pics
and I do enjoy "half moons" as you can acquire them here in Buffalo as well.

[DetroitSky]

Nice tour. I'll be visiting Utica next summer.

[kcexpress69]

Certainly a common sight in the northeast. :(

http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/5523/img3699whtwrhsdf5.jpg

There is quite a bit of grit, but it also looks as if quite a few buildings are renovated. Definately in a transition. Great shots!! :cool:

[KVNBKLYN]

I think this photo just about sums it up:

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/4868/img3613futurenq3.jpg

Only it seems in Utica that tomorrow is never today.

Like most of Upstate, it's got great housing stock, just not enough people to fill it.

[JManc]

great pics!



Mmmmm Black & White cookies. One of my favorites... :yes:

:no:

steve-o is right, referring to them as anything other than 'half-moons' will get ya run outta town by the few people that are left. plus, they differ from the black and whites sold elsewhere becuase they are more like cakes than actual cookies. the one in evergrey's post is not a true half-moon but the kind you'd find in NYC.

anyway, utica really tries to hang on to what it's got left but it just cannot compete against continuous job loss and the taxes. it's quite sad. my family is all still there except for a brother who moved to syracuse but all my friends in high school that were career orientated have long since moved away.

the area surrounding utica is actually a pretty decent place to live if you have a steady job becuase the scenery is amazing, the towns and villages are picturesque and the pace of life is a step back in time.

[stormkingfan]

The Amtrak station should have been included in the pics. It's the old New York Central station.

The inside is magnificant, but a little difficult to lens, unless you shoot a few from different angles.

[Sekkle]

^ sorry, I was only there for a couple hours.

[JackStraw]

Jumpin fuckin Jeepers!

I am going there in the first weekend of October. I am planning a trip to Northern New England. I leave work on thursday night, and I am driving 6 hours straight there and landing a hotel. Then going through the Adirondacks the next day, up through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Evergrey is right. Jmancuso makes it seem like it is hell on earth with one dude left living there.

You think this town could maybe sell some stuffed bears and wooden pipes for tourest going to the Adirondacks. The economy would pick up a little.

[JManc]

Jumpin fuckin Jeepers!

I am going there in the first weekend of October. I am planning a trip to Northern New England. I leave work on thursday night, and I am driving 6 hours straight there and landing a hotel. Then going through the Adirondacks the next day, up through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Evergrey is right. Jmancuso makes it seem like it is hell on earth with one dude left living there.

You think this town could maybe sell some stuffed bears and wooden pipes for tourest going to the Adirondacks. The economy would pick up a little.

with all due respect, evergrey never lived there, i have. the city may look OK from those pics becuase he hit several of the better parts of town but the economy is in shambles and most of the city reflects it. i never implied it was "hell on earth" and it will always be home to me.

btw ForAteOh, my parents lived in that apartment block (the obleston) when they first got married and there was a twin (the kanatenah) catty corner to it that burned down in 1994.

[JackStraw]

One would think it would be a desirable place to live being so close to natural beauty.

What was the economy there before it went to shambles?

[Sekkle]

^ According to what I read on Wikipedia, it had a pretty large textile industry, and was along one of the first stretches of the Erie Canal to open in the 1800s, so it was a pretty important city.

[JManc]

One would think it would be a desirable place to live being so close to natural beauty.

What was the economy there before it went to shambles?

textiles, radios, cutlery and the aerospace/defense industry. plus griffis AFB was in nearby rome. today, rome lab (whats left of griffis), the wal-mart distribution center, the casino and the prisons are the major employers.

yes, the natural setting is beautiful.

[pdizzle]

I was pretty impressed by this apartment block…

Agreed. Awesome-looking apartment block it is.

[steve-o]

[QUOTE=JMancuso;3737319]with all due respect, evergrey never lived there, i have. the city may look OK from those pics becuase he hit several of the better parts of town but the economy is in shambles and most of the city reflects it. i never implied it was "hell on earth" and it will always be home to me.

As a past resident, all I can say is - my thoughts exactly. JMancuso realized and expresses the fact that in order to progress or have a career, remaining in upstate ny (particularly Utica) was/is not an option. Its a city of rolling hills, beautiful architecture and fine food though plagued with few resources and too little vision to give it a real future.

At first I was surprised to NOT see Utica on the forbes top 10 fastest dying cities list that came out a few weeks ago. I only then realized it may have been on that list had it come out 20 or more years ago.

Unfortunately/fortunately, in the past 10yrs since my departure most of my family has since left so what I once considered "home" has been reduced to "the place I grew up".

[Luke Skyscraper]

I grew up in Utica and the pictures sure demonstrate nothing has changed since I left in 1977. Winters are hard there, they get a lot of snow. The highlight tour in Utica is the brewery. It used to be called the FX Matt Brewery, and also the Utica Club Brewery. I believe it is now called the Saranac Brewery. Anyway, they brew a lot of the smaller micro brews from around the country under contract. Many times I read the label from a micro brew in anywhere USA, and it will state it was brewed under contract in Utica, NY. The 1888 Tavern at the end of the tour is beautiful, and a couple of fresh beers await you. Really cool old player pianos as well, and singing beer mugs (Schultz and Dooley).:cheers:

[ColDayMan]

Great tour!

[stormkingfan]

^ According to what I read on Wikipedia, it had a pretty large textile industry, and was along one of the first stretches of the Erie Canal to open in the 1800s, so it was a pretty important city.

GE had a big presence there back in the day, too. Back in the 50's, my Dad worked there temporarily.

[TinChelseaNYC]

It was great looking at this again. If someone who died here back in the 1940's were to reappear and look around, they'd probably guess that there had been a war and we lost. This plays out in town after town across New York State. It's really sad. Such great bones. Utica has become a center for Serbian (I believe) immigrants, so that might be hopeful, particularly after Schenectady's big success with Guyanese immigrants who are rebuilding decaying neighborhoods and starting their own businesses. Immigrants are these cities' greatest hope (as was the case when they were founded). To them, it's a giant opportunity. But these two cities are actively recruiting them. Most immigrants probably don't know that Utica exists. So it's going out to find them. It's a step. Schenectady's population has stopped declining and it sure looks better than I've seen it look in 40 years. But it's probably a bit better off being closer to Albany than poor old Utica out there all lonely on the Thruway.

[Ex-Ithacan]

I must have missed this one first time around. Nice tour 480. Utica is a poster child for many of Upstate's cities. There's still hjope for a turn-around, but this economy might be one of the final nails in the coffin. :(

[denveraztec]

From the pics, it looks like a great place to grow up but maybe not stay. Thanks for the tour!

[SuburbanNation]

What a perfectly scaled and geographically well positioned city. Its not a matter of if but when the city will rebound - hopefully it can maintain its current urbanity. That city is as good as gold with retrofitted, infilled modern urbanity to augment its beautiful stone and brick soul.

[boden]

What a perfectly scaled and geographically well positioned city. Its not a matter of if but when the city will rebound - hopefully it can maintain its current urbanity. That city is as good as gold with retrofitted, infilled modern urbanity to augment its beautiful stone and brick soul.

Utica needs jobs, and it doesn't look like any are on the horizon. We have just come through one of the biggest booms in history and that didn't produce any....but who knows what the future holds? :shrug:
If you are of independent means it is a lovely area to live.

[Kevin]

I've only been to Utica once, even though I live only an hour west in the suburbs of Syracuse.

I ate loads of half moons growing up. All from local bakeries in the Syracuse area.

[RockHillJames]

I always wondered what Utica looked like.

Now I know! Danke!

[Chef]

I grew up in the Utica area. I always wanted Utica to be a great city but it never had the economy to pull it off. I left in 1987 when I was 18.

The thing that blows my mind which isn't expressed in these photos is the state of Corn Hill. I remember it as a dense urban neighborhood, on google earth it looks like there are 1 or 2 houses per block now. It looks like Detroit style urban prairie. It used to be full of beautiful but neglected 19th century homes. The local phrase is "Italian lightning". The mob sucked this town dry and then burned it down for insurance money when the economy collapsed. If there is a hell they will be answering for it. There is a form of depression that lives in places like Utica that people who aren't from places like that can't grasp. The last time I was there it was palpable and suffocating, it's not always bad, sometimes it can be fun and liberating in a way, but it is always there and it is real. Utica ought to be an awsome town, it has some good things going for it but it has a doomedness that can't be escaped in the end. It is hard to express properly, people who are from there probably know what I am talking about, you want it to be the greatest place on earth because it should be, but you can't escape reality. If everyone who was from there still lived there it would be f-ing awsome, but it isn't. It is the sort of city you love with everything you have but talk shit about because in your heart your love and reality cannot be reconciled. Being from the Utica area is a very conflicted thing.

Every city west of the Mississippi wishes it had a Utica in it's historic district.

[LMich]

From J's references to it I was expecting a hell-hole (and, yes, you are very hard on it and the so-called Rust Belt in general), but this looks like a very solid-looking city.

Looking at old Census data it seems the city population peaked at nearly 102,000 in the 30's and has fallen nearly half that (and it shows), but it seems the population decline has slowed way down if recent estimates are even close to reality.

I know that Utica here in Michigan would kill for this kind of building stock.

Great tour!

[Chef]

I know that Utica here in Michigan would kill for this kind of building stock.

This is the thing about Utica. In it's glory days it was a top tier small city. It is full of beautiful architecture. The problem is what has happened to it's economy in the last 40 years. It is Flint with density and great buildings. Most of these photos are from around downtown. Some of the old neighborhoods are almost totally gone. A photo tour of Corn Hill would show a lot more of this:

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8426/img3643abankf8.jpg

Corn Hill is about 20% of the city. In 1990 there were large parts of Corn Hill where 50% of the buildings were boarded up block after block, now it is urban prairie.

[olga]

Interesting tour, great pics. Thanks!

[JManc]

There is a form of depression that lives in places like Utica that people who aren't from places like that can't grasp. The last time I was there it was palpable and suffocating, it's not always bad, sometimes it can be fun and liberating in a way, but it is always there and it is real. Utica ought to be an awsome town, it has some good things going for it but it has a doomedness that can't be escaped in the end. It is hard to express properly, people who are from there probably know what I am talking about, you want it to be the greatest place on earth because it should be, but you can't escape reality.

exactly how i feel and i'm sure anyone from a down-trodden town like this can relate. the pictures don't tell the whole story.

as for cornhill, since the bosnians started moving in, they cleaned the area up somewhat; it's west utica that has gotten really bad particularly along the arterial near court and whitesboro.

[Jibba]

Great pictures. Another solid mid-to-small-sized NY town.