Why Won’t the Renaissance Square Idea Die Already?
- Image via Wikipedia
It’s been a while now and we’re all sick of talking about, but somehow Renaissance Square keeps making headlines. Today a snippet appeared about the project in the Democrat and Chronicle:
Weekend fundraiser bring in $100,000 for RenSquare
Renaissance Square planners held a fundraiser over the weekend brought the project $100,000 closer to its goal.
The event was held Saturday at the George Eastman House. Entry for the two-hour event was $1,500.
The proceeds will go to help fund the rest of the private fundraising campaign, which aims to raise $20 million.
The project, which includes a bus terminal, a campus for Monroe Community College and a performing arts center, needs $55 million to be fully funded. The project’s total cost is $230 million.
Planners hope the rest of the funds will be raised from state government.
You’ve got to love the grammar on that headline. Here was a great comment followed by a great reply on D&Cs article page:
At $1500 a pop only 66.66 people had to attend to raise $100,000 for the Renaissance Square proposal. That is hardly a representative show of support from the citizens of Rochester or Monroe County. It is clearly apparent that this project does not have the support of the taxpayers.
You made a valid point. If only 66 people bothered to show up for this fundraiser, that is an indication just how popular the idea of Ren Square really is. Perhaps the next fundraiser will be to purchase time from a local TV station and raise money that way via a telethon.
My suspicion to the reason this idea won’t die? It’s a big project. Big projects get pushed through by powerful politicians because they are big projects for big contractors. Little seems to matter to these people, like a depression, lack of public support or lack of private donors. When business gets slow for the contractors they turn to the government to give them some work.
Photo from renaissancesquare.net
Even if they finally raise the needed money for the project, it should still not be built. Projects like these always go over budget and the city hasn’t even figured out how to fully fund the operation (except through borrowing). Look at Paetec, they downsized their project for the times, its time to do the same for Renaissance Square. MCC doesn’t need a new campus - few have put together a coherent argument as to why the current location couldn’t be upgraded. The location is wrong for the bus station. The demand for the theatre is lacking. Let’s not allow this nonsense to continue.
So what if we miss out on a couple of big shows a year? Can’t we be content without having our own Radio City? I don’t understand why taxpayers should be burdened with this huge project. I understand that they are in the final stages of fundraising which will come from private donations, but the operating funds will come from many sources - including tax dollars. We’ll get to foot the bill if the revenue falls short.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=369f2aa2-8bcc-49af-bd53-ead5c917de84)
(10 rating, 2 votes)
Loading ...
I know Andrew — this project has bothered me since its inception. I like to call it the land version of the fast ferry. We clearly need some re-development projects, but who is Ren Square catering to? If we need a bus station, there are other ways to do it?
I think we should focus on smaller issues first, like housing. Rochester keeps getting things out of order and that's why we're not as successful as we could be. For instance, the soccer stadium was really unnecessary as an early redevelopment project. Maybe you or I can dig up that article that lists the steps to Urban Renewal. Do you remember it? Remember how stadiums and theatres were last on the list, and how housing was first? Developers are creating some great new housing, but I think if Ren Square somehow happens, many people will be disappointed and will flock to blame Duffy, when they should have been against it the whole time.
Urrggg
Alica, I agree with your comparison to the Fast Ferry. I like to call RenSquare a “Land-Ferry” because it sounds funny and people instantly understand.
You're right about housing. There are plenty of underused office buildings that could be converted to housing on the cheap. With more people living downtown there will be more demand for larger projects like this.
Also, about that article - I do remember it but I wouldn't know where to look for it. Perhaps if yoou could find it and post a link to it here or in a new article that would be great!
Hi Andrew,
I've been following this blog for a little bit now, I am a U of R student but currently am taking a semester at NYU. I am returning to Rochester for next semester, and would love to help write stuff for this blog as well as introduce you to an idea I think you might find interesting. I'm sure you are versed in monetary theory and understand fiat/real money. I strongly believe it is imperative that people get out of paper money and into real money as soon as possible, and when I return to Rochester I will be working to get this going in Rochester as well as NY in general. The American Open Currency Standard (http://www.opencurrency.com) is a new 100% silver currency with the benefit of a nationwide network of merchants who are already accepting the currency as payment. My goal is to build a similar network of AOCS merchants for Rochester to help reintroduce real money into the local economy. Let me know your thoughts, look forward to speaking with you!
Gabe Sukenik
Hey Gabe,
I had noticed you commented on the site before and I thought you might be from UofR. I'm excited to meet you in person when you get back to campus next semester. I bet it's been pretty crazy in New York City with all of this financial crazyness going on.
If you'd like to start posting before the start of the semester during break just let me know. It might be easier if you start before school gets intense again. I can't wait to hear more about that American Open Currency Standart that you're talking about. It would be great if you could write something about it here as a way to introduce the idea to the Rochester audience. You never know who might find the post and we could probably get a number of merchants to jump on board.
Let me know if I can help you get started. Peace.
Andrew,
Sounds muy bueno, I'd love to try to write an article about AOCS and helping Rochester get out of paper money. I'll write the article as an introductory plan for the local Rochester economy to protect itself from the crisis yet to come. I'll get working on it after Wed (my last final). Have you ever heard of the Liberty Dollar before? If not, check out http://www.libertydollar.com, they have some great stuff on the site with plenty of info. They originally started in '98, but the Liberty Dollar model was falling short because they were not actively attracting merchants to join in. With the launch of AOCS and the Free Lakota Bank (http://www.freelakotabank.com), the whole game has changed. Besides developing a national merchant list of people accepting AOCS, the Free Lakota Bank is the first non-fractional reserve, 100% silver reserve bank ever - no FRN's allowed. So people now have a place to safely store their silver as well, which is a huge advantage in the market. Silver can also be transferred to other Lakota Bank accounts online, making it useful for even larger business transactions.
Well in any event, I look forward to meeting you next semester, I'm amazed to learn of more truthers on the Rochester campus! I'm sure we'll have plenty to talk about come January…wanna help me try and take over the Campus Times? Haha, we got our work cut out for us…
Gabe
gabriel.sukenik@gmail.com (in case we wanna converse in non-blog format)
Sounds good!
Sounds good!
Leave your response!
This week last year...
Calendar
Interesting Stats
Most Commented
Latest Comments