Great Midtown Video
This made the rounds a year ago, but is worth repeating.
There’s a priceless old piece of Rochester boosterism out there: a 1963 video called “Rochester: a City of Quality”
This section about Midtown is available thanks to the Malls of America Blog.
Watch it, and comment (please,) on similarities to Ren Square.
(Update: I just realized that the video was made shortly before Rochester’s 1964 race riot, which makes the urban optimism seem hopelessly sad)
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“I...
This kind of goes hand in hand with your post above regarding the media and the war.
“Quality people with quality jobs, making quality salaries buy quality merchandise…”
So I suppose everyone wanted to be “quality” in those days. Isn’t it ironic that today, quality has been replaced with “quantity”…corporate greed, suburban kingdoms…
“He who dies with the most toys wins” - right?
The lack of ANYONE of color is so obviously apparent in this film. At least it’s good to look back and then forward and see we have made some progression as a society towards ending prejudice and discrimination, although the look ahead shows we still have a long way to go in making this a place where the playing field is equal and level for all - and everyone has the same opportunity to play and win.
I trust you’ve seen the spoof on this video.
I noticed the race thing, too.
On the other hand, it’s not too hard for a Rochester suburbanite to go for weeks without speaking to a non-white person, so maybe things aren’t really so different…
Rochester: a City of Poverty
I’ve seen it. How far we’ve sunk.
I just got back from visiting Montreal with my wife, and as we walked down St. Catherine’s (street filled with boutiques and fashion stores) we commented on how much better the “quality” of their merchandise is compared to Rochester. We just have a bunch of big box stores and malls. Even Eastview leaves much to be desired.
Its disspointing to think that Monroe County once had a sense of fashion (McCurdy’s, Foreman’s, Sibley’s, etc.) cenetered downtown, but has since - in large part - discarded the value of its City for the greater monotony of the suburbs.
I’ve been to a number of other cities in America, where folks have come to realize that economic development goes hand-in-hand with urban renewal. Why our elected officials (Repubs) are so behind the curve is beyond me! All they seem to care about is playing political games. They appear to have lost their desire, long ago, to look past political affiliation and ideology, in favor of improving our quality of life.