First impressions, when suboptimal, can be the nail in the tourism coffin. Such was the fate of Syracuse when I, as a disciplined drifter, looked to add the Central New York city to my list of recurring day trips. Time, however, has me reconsidering.
The Fateful Day
It was April 2, 2016, and the Syracuse University men’s basketball team had unexpectedly made the Final Four, meaning the timing was right to make the 85-mile drive east under the guise of soaking in the vibe.
My family knew that the good times would be tempered by urban exploration which, unlike in Downstate New York, can be somewhat akin to touring ancient ruins.
In the case of Syracuse, this should have been no surprise. The city of 148,620 (metro 662,057) is, after all, named after the one in Sicily, itself known as a goldmine for Greek and Roman ruins. And its story—well, it’s the American story most associated with empty buildings.
It started with a canal (the Erie Canal) through the city, perfect for transporting salt from nearby salt springs. They called the place Salt City.
Obviously, the sodium-chloride economy wasn’t meant to last forever, and the manufacturing industry stepped in to fill the void. As companies like Smith Corona, Carrier, General Electric, and General Motors showed, Syracuse was built to build stuff.
Along the way, there was a Great Migration, misguided housing policy, puzzling highway construction, and suburbanization. All that would have been endurable if not for the eventual loss of industry, also known as the process that took the meat off the bones and left a bloody carcass.
Sure, there was a prominent university—the one with the basketball team that had drawn me to town—but one school can only do so much to mask abandoned buildings, blatant segregation, and conspicuous poverty.
It was easy to see on that spring day why an NBA team had skipped town decades earlier.
It was also easy to see why in 2011 the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra had been forced to declare bankruptcy and fold. At the time, the city’s population was experiencing a slow and steady decline from its peak of 220,583 in 1950. In fact, the entire metropolitan area was barely treading water.
Soon, Syracuse started to receive national attention—for its unenviable child poverty rate.
All this came with an annual gift of 127.8 inches of snow—and no mountains.
In other words, ever since Syracuse University lost that Final Four game, I’ve rarely been back.
But…
As a self-declared dumptown guy, whether through shameless optimism or just blindness, I still have hope.
And Syracuse, almost a decade later, through a glass-half-full lens, has it, too.
As of the 2020 Census, the city’s population is finally increasing again.
In 2022, Micron Technology announced that—with the help of federal funding—it would build a massive semiconductor manufacturing facility in suburban Syracuse, the largest of its kind in the United States.
In 2023, work began on a much needed highway removal project, the goal being to remove a 1.4-mile elevated stretch in downtown that serves as both an eyesore and a barrier to economic development.
Suddenly, with some 21st-century cheer, the bones that have survived the test of time are looking remarkably sturdy.
As a reminder, this is the city on a lake (Onondaga Lake), next to a series of other lakes (the Finger Lakes), themselves home to hundreds of wineries. On one of those Finger Lakes is the town of Skaneateles, perhaps the most charming in the entire state. A little farther is a truly Great Lake called Ontario.
Next to Onondaga Lake can be found one of the country’s largest malls (Destiny USA), the New York State Fairgrounds, and a beautiful 17,500-capacity amphitheater.
Somewhere nearby is the Everson Museum of Art, designed by I.M. Pei, also known for his work on the Louvre Pyramid and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, to name a couple.
Other local attractions include:
- The zoo
- The Museum of Science & Technology
- The Erie Canal Museum
- The historic Landmark Theatre
In keeping with the arts theme, Syracuse has been recognized as one of the ten most arts-vibrant midsize metros in the country. Ultra-cultured types know that a French immersion experience, otherwise known as the border of Quebec, is a mere three hours away.
Syracuse University is thriving, complemented by steady growth at Le Moyne College and State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical Center. Adding to the scene are the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Onondaga Community College. This emphasis on higher education and related fields partly explains why Syracuse recently showed up at a respectable number 59 on a list of 382 metro areas by per-capita GDP.
The aforementioned canal has become a relic of the past, but modern transportation includes I-90, as in the one that extends from Boston to Seattle, making it the longest interstate highway in the country. Also in the mix are Amtrak and a surprisingly serviceable airport with direct flights to not only East Coast hot spots but also Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Nashville, Dallas, Denver, and Las Vegas.
Elsewhere, tucked in Armory Square—a trendy Syracuse neighborhood—is an Italian joint that has been repeatedly recognized as one of the best spots for pasta in the US.
It goes by the name Pastabilities.
Meanwhile, casual Syracuse observers, including initial doubters like myself, are left to wonder if the Salt City—the one that gave us Tom Cruise, Richard Gere, and Post Malone—could once again become the city of possibilities.
One thing is for sure: I’ll take the homemade pasta—with a side of hope.
