In a Sunday page one story in July, the Post Standard in Syracuse began a discussion of the importance of a revitalized Downtown Syracuse to the Central New York region. The article made extensive use of interviews to answer the question, "What makes a cool Downtown?"
The story drew wide ranging reactions from readers which appear on the paper's web site http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/what_makes_a_cool_downtown.html
An insightful look at another of the signature Smart Growth issues -- suburban sprawl -- appeared in the opening installment of a series in Albany's Times Union that also began last month entitled, "A Changing American Dream."As part of their "Capital Region at the Crossroads" series, the story was followed almost immediately by strong reaction via Web site comments.
The story and comments are available at:http://blogs.timesunion.com/crossroads/?p=15
The series in both papers has been ongoing,with interesting stories continuing this month. The Post Standard initially attracted 80 replies on their blog about their page one story on August 3 that reported Downtown Syracuse was regarded as a safe place by most people they interviewed. The reaction of readers who commented was decidedly mixed, however: http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/staying_safe_downtown.html
The Times Union ran an August 1 story headlined "Leaving Suburbs for the City" which drew 10 interesting and sometimes extended comments from readers who also have different views of the article's main thrust: http://blogs.timesunion.com/crossroads/?p=47#comments
