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City of Syracuse
A view of the Downtown Syracuse skyline
Seal
Location of Syracuse within the state of New York
Coordinates: 43°02′49″N 76°08′39″W / 43.04694, -76.14417
Country	United States
State	New York
County	Onondaga
Government
- Mayor	Matthew Driscoll (D)
Area
- City	25.6 sq mi (66.4 km²)
- Land	25 sq mi (65 km²)
- Water	0.6 sq mi (1.4 km²)  2.15%
Elevation	380 ft (116 m)
Population (2000)
- City	147,306
- Density	5,871/sq mi (2,266.8/km²)
- Urban	402,267
- Metro	732,117
Time zone	Eastern (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Area code(s)	315
Twin Cities
- Chiayi City	Taiwan
- Tampere	Finland
FIPS code	36-73000
GNIS feature ID	0966966
Website: www.ci.syracuse.ny.us

Syracuse (locally IPA: [ˈsɛrəkjuːs], sometimes pronounced /ˈsɪrəkjuːs/ or /ˈsɪərəkjuːs/ by non-natives) is a city in Central New York, USA. According to the 2000 census, the city population was 147,306, and its metropolitan area had a population of 732,117. It is the county seat of Onondaga County and the economic and educational hub of Central New York, a region with over a million inhabitants. Syracuse is also well provided with convention sites, with a downtown convention complex and, directly west of the city, the Empire Expo Center, which hosts the annual Great New York State Fair. Syracuse was named after the original Syracuse, a city on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy.

The city has functioned as a major crossroads over the last two centuries, first between the Erie Canal and its branch canals, then of the railway network. Today, Syracuse is located by the intersection of Interstates 90 and 81, and its airport is the largest in the region.

Syracuse is home to Syracuse University, a major research university, as well as several smaller colleges and professional schools.

History

Early history

Erie Canal at Salina Street, Syracuse

The Syracuse area was first seen by Europeans when French missionaries came to the area in the 1600s. A group of Jesuit priests, soldiers, and coureurs des bois (including Pierre Esprit Radisson) set up a mission, known as Saint Marie Among the Iroquois or Ste. Marie de Gannentaha, on the northeast shore of Onondaga Lake, at the invitation of the Onondaga Nation, one of the five constituent members of the Iroquois confederacy.

The State Tower Building in Syracuse (rear).

The mission was short lived, as the Mohawk Nation hinted to the Onondaga that they should sever their ties to the French, or the Onondaga's guests would suffer some horrible fate. The men in the mission caught wind of this and left under cover of a cold night in March. Their entire stay was less than two years. The remains of the mission have been located underneath a restaurant in nearby Liverpool. There is now a living history museum in Liverpool that recreates the mission.

Just after the Revolutionary War, more settlers came to the area, mostly to trade with the Onondaga Nation. Ephraim Webster left the Continental Army to settle in 1784, and Asa Danforth, another revolutionary war hero, and Comfort Tyler, whose engineering skill contributed to regional development, arrived four years later. All three settled in Onondaga Hollow south of the present city center, which was then marshy. Salt was discovered in several swamps in Syracuse, which brought more settlers to the area, and eventually gave the city the nickname "Salt City".

19th century: industrial growth

Syracuse during its golden years. This picture is of South Salina Street circa 1915.

The original settlement went through several name changes until 1824, first being called Salt Point (1780), then Webster's Landing (1786), Bogardus Corners (1796), Milan (1809), South Salina (1812), Cossits’ Corners (1814), and Corinth (1817). The U.S. Postal Service rejected the name Corinth upon its application for a post office, stating there was already a post office by this name in New York. Because of similarities such as a salt industry and a neighboring village named Salina, the name Syracuse was chosen, after Syracuse, Sicily.

In 1825, the Village of Syracuse was officially incorporated. Five years later, the Erie Canal, which ran through the village, was completed. In 1848, Syracuse merged with nearby Salina to become the City of Syracuse. The opening of the canal caused a steep increase in the sale of salt, not simply due to the improved and lower cost of transportation, but because the canal caused New York farms to change from wheat to pork, and curing pork required salt. As salt production climbed, the processing became increasingly mechanized, and local industry became more generalized; population grew to 5,000 by 1850, from 250 in 1820, making it the twelfth largest city in the Union.

The Village of Syracuse and the Village of Salina were combined into the City of Syracuse on December 14, 1847. Harvey Baldwin was the first mayor of the new city.¹

Jerry Rescue Monument, Syracuse.

Syracuse is actively renovating former industrial areas into usable space today. One example is Franklin Square.

Abolitionism and the Underground Railroad in Syracuse

Syracuse became an active center for the abolitionist movement, due in large part to the influence of Gerrit Smith and a group allied with him, mostly associated with the Unitarian Church in Syracuse, as well as with Quakers in nearby Skaneateles, supported as well by abolitionists in many other religious congregations. Prior to the Civil War, due to the work of Jermain Wesley Loguen and others in defiance of federal law, Syracuse was known as the "great central depot on the Underground Railroad". On October 1, 1851, William Henry, a freed slave known as "Jerry" was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Law. The anti-slavery Liberty Party was holding its state convention in the city, and when word of the arrest spread, several hundred abolitionists broke into the city jail and freed Jerry. The event came to be widely known as the "Jerry Rescue". ²

Industry and education in the late nineteenth century

The salt industry declined after the Civil War, but a new manufacturing industry arose in its place. Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, numerous businesses and stores were established, including the Franklin Automobile Company, which produced the first air-cooled engine in the world;^{citation needed} the Century steam car company; and the Craftsman Workshops, the center of Gustav Stickley's handmade furniture empire.

Syracuse University was chartered in 1870 as a Methodist-Episcopal institution.

Medical Institution of Geneva College was founded in 1834. It is now known as Upstate Medical University, the most prestigious medical college in the Syracuse area, one of only four in the State University of New York system, and one of only five medical schools in the state north of New York City.

Twentieth century

By the twentieth century, Syracuse University was no longer sectarian, it has grown from a few classrooms located in downtown Syracuse into a major research institution. It is nationally well-recognized for its college basketball, college football, and college lacrosse teams. Le Moyne College was founded in 1946; Onondaga Community College in 1962.

World War II sparked significant industrial expansion in the area: specialty steel, fasteners, custom machining. After the war, two of the Big Three automobile manufacturers (General Motors & Chrysler) had major operations in the area. Syracuse was headquarters for Carrier Corporation, Crouse-Hinds traffic signal manufacturing, and General Electric had its main television manufacturing plant at Electronics Parkway in Syracuse.

Syracuse's population peaked at 221,000 in 1950. Immigration from abroad introduced many ethnic groups to the city, particularly German, Irish, Italian, and Polish. African Americans had lived in Syracuse since Revolutionary War days, but between 1940 and 1960, some of the three million African Americans who migrated from the south to northern cities also settled in Syracuse. In the 1980s, many immigrants from Africa and Central America also moved to Syracuse, as they did to many northern cities — sometimes under the auspices of several religious charities. However, these new Syracusans could not make up for the flow of residents out of Syracuse, either to its suburbs or out of state, due to job loss. The city's population slowly decreases every year.

Much of the city fabric changed after World War II, although Pioneer Homes, one of the earliest government housing projects in the US, had been completed earlier, in 1941. Many of Syracuse's landmark buildings were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s. The federal Urban Renewal program cleared large sectors that remained undeveloped for many decades, although several new museums and government buildings were built.

The manufacturing industry in Syracuse began to falter in the 1970s. Many small businesses failed during this time, which contributed to an already increasing unemployment rate. Rockwell International moved their factory outside New York state. General Electric moved its manufacturing operations to Singapore. The Carrier Corporation moved its headquarters out of Syracuse and outsourced manufacturing to Asian locations. Nevertheless, although city population has declined since 1950, the Syracuse metropolitan area population has remained fairly stable, even growing by 2.5 percent since 1970. While this growth rate is greater than much of Upstate New York, it is far below the national average during that period.

Geography and climate

Geography

A view of Downtown Syracuse from University Hill.

Syracuse is located at 43°2′49″N 76°8′40″W / 43.04694, -76.14444 (43.046899, -76.144423)³.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.6 square miles (66.4 km²), of which, 25.1 square miles (65.0 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.4 km²) of it (2.15%) is water.

The city stands at the northeast corner of the Finger Lakes Region. The city has many neighborhoods which were originally various villages that joined the city over the years. Although the central part of Syracuse is flat, many of its neighborhoods are located on small hills such as University Hill and Tipperary Hill. Land to the north of Syracuse is generally flat while land to the south is hilly.

About 27 percent of Syracuse's land area is covered by 890,000 trees — a higher percentage than in Albany, Rochester or Buffalo. This is despite the Labor Day Storm of 1998, a derecho which destroyed approximately 30,000 trees. The sugar maple accounts for 14.2 percent of Syracuse's trees, followed by the Northern white cedar (9.8 percent) and the European buckthorn (6.8 percent). The most common street tree is the Norway maple (24.3 percent) followed by the honey locust (9.3 percent). The densest tree cover in Syracuse is in the two Valley neighborhoods, with 46.6 percent of their land covered by trees. The lowest tree cover percentage is found downtown, which consists of only 4.6 percent trees.⁴

Onondaga Creek as it flows under the bridges near Franklin Square.

Syracuse's main water source is Skaneateles Lake, one of the country's cleanest lakes^{citation needed}, located about 20 miles (30 km) southwest of the city. Water from nearby Onondaga Lake is not drinkable due to industrial dumping that spanned many decades, leaving the lake heavily polluted.⁵ Incoming water is left unfiltered^{citation needed}, and chlorine is added to prevent bacterial growth. For periods of drought, there is also a backup line which uses water from Lake Ontario.⁶

Onondaga Creek, a waterway that runs through downtown, flows northward through the city. There are plans and aspirations to create a creek walk that will connect the Lakefront and Inner Harbor to Franklin Square, Armory Square, The Valley, and ultimately the Onondaga Nation. The creek is navigable, yet can be quite a challenge as its channelized nature speeds up its flow, particularly in the spring, when it may be dangerous. Drownings of youngsters resulted in fencing of the creek through some residential areas.

Climate

Some of Syracuse's statistical weather averages

Syracuse is known for its snowfall. Boasting 115.6 inches (293.6 cm) on average,⁷ the Syracuse metro area receives more snow on average than any other large city in the United States.⁸⁹ Syracuse continually wins the Golden Snowball Award, among Upstate cities. Its record so far is 192.1 inches (487.9 cm). The high snowfall is a result of the fact that the city receives both lake effect and nor'easter snow. Snow most often falls in small (about 1-3 inches/2-8 cm), almost daily doses, over a period of several days. Larger snowfalls do occur occasionally, and even more so in the northern suburbs.

One notable blizzard was the Blizzard of 1993, during which 42.9 inches (109 cm) fell on the city within 48 hours, with 35.6 inches (90.4 cm) falling within the first 24 hours. Syracuse received more snow than any other city in the country during this storm, which shattered a total of eight local records, including the most snow in a single snowstorm.¹⁰ A second notable snowfall was the Blizzard of 1966, with 42.3 inches (1,070 mm). Ironically, virtually no snow fell during the Blizzard of 2006, where the Catskills and New York City saw over two feet (60 cm) of snow fall in about one day.

Syracuse's hottest month is historically July, with an average high temperature of 82 °F (28 °C), while its coldest month is historically January, with an average high temperature of 31 °F (-1 °C). The Record high of 102 °F (39 °C) was recorded on July 9, 1936 and record lows of -26 °F (-32 °C) were recorded on January 26, 1966 and February 18, 1979.

While the average high during summer is around the low 80's, when adding humidity, daily highs extend upward in the mid-80's to mid-90's and are seen commonly throughout the city and its suburbs. Days just shy of 100 °F (38 °C), such as 96 or 97 °F (36 °C), are not uncommon in and around the city with the humidity factored in. However, days of 100 °F (38 °C) are uncommon, even with humidity taken into account. Syracuse summer nights are usually upper-60's to upper-70's, sometimes just dipping below 80 on some days. However, on a rainy night, it isn't uncommon for a nighttime low to drop below 60; though, just as in playing a game of chance, rainy nights can also be in the lower 70's.

A few recent summers in Syracuse have been warmer than previous ones in the city and, like in some other places in the nation, previous records have been broken. For example, the summers of 2005 and 2002 were, respectively, the hottest and second-hottest summers on record.¹¹

Temperatures

Weather averages for Syracuse, NY
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °F (°C)	70 (21)	69 (21)	87 (31)	92 (33)	96 (36)	100 (38)	102 (39)	100 (38)	97 (36)	87 (31)	81 (27)	72 (22)	102 (39)
Average high °F (°C)	31.4 (-0)	33.5 (1)	43.1 (6)	55.7 (13)	68.5 (20)	77 (25)	81.7 (28)	79.6 (26)	71.4 (22)	59.8 (15)	47.4 (9)	36.3 (2)	57.1 (14)
Average low °F (°C)	14 (-10)	15.5 (-9)	24.2 (-4)	34.9 (2)	45.8 (8)	54.6 (13)	60.1 (16)	58.8 (15)	51.1 (11)	40.4 (5)	32 (0)	20.9 (-6)	37.7 (3)
Record low °F (°C)	-26 (-32)	-26 (-32)	-41 (-41)	7 (-14)	15 (-9)	34 (1)	44 (7)	40 (4)	25 (-4)	18 (-8)	1 (-17)	-26 (-32)	-41 (-41)
Source: 12 2008-07-17

Demographics

As of the census¹³ of 2000, there were 147,306 people, 59,482 households, and 30,335 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,871.0 people per square mile (2,266.8/km²). There were 68,192 housing units at an average density of 2,717.8/sq mi (1,049.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 64.26% White, 25.35% African American, 1.13% Native American, 3.37% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.23% from other races, and 3.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.27% of the population. Syracuse has experienced almost yearly population declines, the city's total population falling by 33% to 147,306 from its 1950 peak of 220,583 inhabitants. The largest ancestries include Irish (15.9%), Italian (14.1%), German (12.2%), English (7.6%), and Polish (5.0%).[1]

Syracuse has historically enjoyed a relatively diverse ethnic population, including sizable Irish-American, Italian-American, Polish-American communities. Currently the city has a growing Latino population, and is also a resettlement center for refugees from Bosnia, Cuba, Sudan (the "Lost Boys") as well as Bantus.

There were 59,482 households out of which 30.46% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 12.65% were married couples living together, 14.84% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.58% were non-families. 38.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 3.11.

Syracuse's racial makeup in 2000

In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 16.8% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 17.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,000, and the median income for a family was $33,026. Males had a median income of $30,312 versus $23,997 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,168. About 21.7% of families and 27.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.1% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Syracuse's economy has faced challenges over the past decades as industrial jobs have left the area. The number of local and state government jobs also have been declining for several years. Syracuse's top employers are now primarily in education and in the service industry. University Hill is Syracuse's fastest growing neighborhood, fueled by expansions by Syracuse University and Upstate Medical University (a division of the State University of New York), as well as dozens of small medical office complexes. Historically, salt springs around Onondaga Lake were an important source of salt that was distributed throughout the north-east via the Erie Canal; Irish immigrants working in this industry created the local dish of salt potatoes.

Top employers

The top employers in the Syracuse region and the size of their workforce, as of January 1, 2006:

• Syracuse University: 7,371
• State University of New York Upstate Medical University: 6,400
• National Grid USA: 4,989
• Wegmans Food Markets: 4,717
• Oneida Nation and Oneida Nation Enterprises: 4,700
• St. Joseph's Hospital Health Center: 3,307
• Magna International: 3,000
• Verizon Communications: 2,750
• Penn Traffic Company: 2,700
• Lockheed Martin Corp.: 2,350
• Loretto: 2,204

(source: Syracuse Post Standard)

Syracuse skyline, from downtown at left to Carrier Dome at
Syracuse University at right, from northwest.

Bristol-Myers Squibb, founded by alums of nearby Hamilton College, has a complex near the Eastwood district.¹⁴ Time Warner Cable has based one of its divisions in Syracuse.¹⁵

Today the Syracuse area has few extremely large employers, but rather many smaller ones, which provides for a certain amount of stability. Additionally, eight of the area's top eleven employers are in education or the service industry, which tend to be much more stable than the manufacturing industry.

The Syracuse area's unemployment rate of 5.0 percent is comparable to the national rate of 4.8 (March, 2006). Throughout 2006, the area has continued to gain jobs over the previous year's figures. During February and March 2006, the area's job growth rate tied with New York City for the highest in the state.¹⁶

Neighborhoods

The 26 Syracuse neighborhoods

The City of Syracuse officially recognizes 26 neighborhoods within its boundaries. Some of these have small additional neighborhoods and districts inside of them. In addition, Syracuse also owns and operates Syracuse Hancock International Airport, located on the territory of four towns north of the city.

Syracuse's neighborhoods reflect the historically divided population. Traditionally, German- and Polish Americans settled on its westside; Jewish American on its eastside; Itailian Americans on the northside; and African-Americans on its southside.

Business districts

Besides the dominant Carousel Center shopping mall in the Syracuse's Lakefront neighborhood, many of the city's more traditional neighborhoods continue to have active business districts:

• Downtown: Armory Square has replaced South Salina Street as the main retail and dining area of Downtown Syracuse. Armory Square has around 30 dining establishments, around 20 pubs, bars and clubs, and over 50 other retail stores. Similarly, but on a smaller scale, there is the Hanover Square area as well.

• Eastwood: Calling itself "the village within the city", this former village still has a retail corridor along James Street.

• Little Italy: A neighborhood with Italian origins, Little Italy (part of the Near Northeast neighborhood) has several blocks of bakeries, restaurants, pizzerias, shops, and services.

• University Hill: Marshall Street, along with its terminus South Crouse Avenue, is lined with stores, bars, and restaurants, primarily to cater the student population on "The Hill", as well as the over 25,000 people who work there daily. Additionally, East Genesee Street at the northwestern corner of the neighborhood has several retail establishments as well.

• Westcott: This neighborhood, located east of University Hill, is also inhabited by many students. Westcott Street offers small stores and restaurants for their needs.

Eastwood	Armory Square	Tipperary Hill	Strathmore
Clinton Square	Hanover Square	University Hill	Westcott
Franklin Square	Carousel Mall	Inner Harbor

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools

Residents are assigned to schools in the Syracuse City School District [2].

Colleges and universities

Syracuse University's Crouse College.

Syracuse's major research university, and its largest employer, is Syracuse University, located on University Hill. It had an enrollment of 19,082 for the 2006-2007 academic year¹⁷

Surrounding Syracuse University are two State University (SUNY) schools, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Also serving Syracuse are Le Moyne College on the city's eastern border, and Onondaga Community College, which has its main campus in the adjacent Town of Onondaga and has two smaller campuses downtown and in Liverpool. A branch of SUNY's Empire State College is located in downtown Syracuse, along with a campus of the nationwide Bryant & Stratton College. A campus of ITT Technical Institute also calls the Syracuse metropolitan area home, also located in Liverpool.

Other colleges and universities in the area include Cornell University and Ithaca College in Ithaca, Hamilton College in Clinton, Oswego State University in Oswego, SUNY Cortland in Cortland, Morrisville State College in Morrisville, Colgate University in Hamilton, Cazenovia College in Cazenovia, Wells College in Aurora, and both Utica College and SUNY Institute of Technology in Utica.

Public libraries

Onondaga County Public Library operates Syracuse's public libraries [3].

Arts and culture

The Niagara Mohawk Building (now owned by National Grid USA), an example of art deco.

An up-to-date directory and events calendar covering all of the visual and performing arts in Syracuse is available at SyracuseArts.net.

Performing arts

Live jazz music is the centerpiece of two annual outdoor festivals in Syracuse, the M&T Syracuse Jazz Festival, Polish Festival as well as the CNY Jazz Arts Foundation's Jazz In The Square Festival. Performers in the last five years have included Chuck Mangione, Joshua Redman, Smokey Robinson, Branford Marsalis, The Bad Plus, Randy Brecker, Stanley Clarke, Jimmy Heath, Terrence Blanchard, Slide Hampton, Bobby Watson, Dr. John, and Aretha Franklin. The Polish Festival hosted Grammy winners Jimmy Sturr and his Orchestra, polish music legend Stan Borys and Irena Jarocka, Grammy nominee Lenny Goumulka, LynnMarie & The John Gora Band.

Syracuse is home to the 75-member Syracuse Symphony Orchestra (SSO), founded in 1961. The SSO is under direction of Daniel Hege; its former Music Directors include Frederik Prausnitz and Kazuyoshi Akiyama. The orchestra performs over 200 concerts annually for an audience of over 250,000.

The Clinton String Quartet has been active for over 15 years and is based in the Syracuse area. All four members are also members of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra.

The Syracuse Friends of Chamber Music for more than a half century have presented a series of concerts by various chamber ensembles.

The Society for New Music, founded in 1982, is the oldest new music organization in the state outside of New York City, and the only year-round new music group in upstate New York. The Society commissions at least one new work each year from a regional composer, awards the annual Brian Israel Prize to a promising composer under 30 years of age, and produces the weekly "Fresh Ink" radio broadcast for WCNY-FM.

The Syracuse Opera Company is a professional company that generally performs three operas each season. It was founded in 1963 as the Opera Chorus of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and became independent in 1973. In addition to full performances, it offers several free outdoor concerts each year in Armory Square, Thornden Park, and elsewhere. The company has an annual budget of $1 million and is the only professional opera company in upstate New York.

The Syracuse Shakespeare Festival is a charitable, educational, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to performing the works of William Shakespeare. It was founded in 2002 and is best known for its annual free Shakespeare-in-the-Park program at the Thornden Park Amphitheatre that has attracted more than 12,000 people since its inception.

Syracuse Stage presents experimental and creative theater; a number of its productions have been world premieres and have moved to Broadway^{citation needed}. The venue was designed by its most famous former artistic director Arthur Storch. Its current artistic director is Timothy Bond.

Redhouse is Syracuse's newest professional theatre. Opened in 2004, Redhouse is a small theatre housed in a converted hotel, that offers performances by local, national, and international artists, and hosts regular exhibits in its art gallery, and screenings of independent films.

Syracuse is also known for a large contemporary music scene, particularly in the heavy metal, Hardcore, Ska, and Punk rock genres.^{citation needed}

Museums & art galleries

Group of statues displayed outside the Everson Museum of Art

The Everson Museum of Art, which opened in 1968 in a building designed by I.M. Pei, features one of the most extensive pottery collections in the United States along with works of American art, dating from the 18th century to the present. This collection includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, photography, and video.

The Erie Canal Museum is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Erie Canal and its role in Syracuse's growth.

The International Mask and Puppet Museum is a museum in Little Italy focusing on masks and puppets, the later of which are also used in educational performances for children.

The Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology is a museum located in the Armory Square neighborhood that features exhibits in science and technology and also houses the city's only IMAX theater.

The Onondaga Historical Association Museum & Research Center, located at 321 Montgomery Street downtown, features exhibits on the past of the Syracuse region, and contains historical archives relating to the area's history. Its exhibits include a presentation of the history of the Underground Railroad.

The Warehouse Gallery is located at 350 West Fayette Street in The Warehouse. It is a part of the Coalition of Museum And Art Centers (CMAC). This new contemporary art center exhibits, commissions, and promotes work by emerging and accomplished artists in a variety of media. The programming attempts to engage the community in a dialogue regarding the role the arts can play in illuminating the critical issues of our times.

The Spark Contemporary Art Space is located at 1005 E. Fayette St. in the Downtown area. Spark is run by Syracuse University graduate art students, but is a venue for a diversity of non-university affiliated events. The gallery's directors curate and organize art and music related events, while local artists can rent the space to hold their own events. With the initiation of a monthly video screening series in 2001, Spark became one of the leading venues for video art in Syracuse. Spark Video provides the community an opportunity to see video work from local and international artists.

The Delavan Art Gallery is located at 501 West Fayette Street in an old farm equipment factory. It has a 3,800 square feet (350 m²) of exhibit space, and, on several other floors in the building, houses the studios of a number of area artists. It has shows which usually open on the first Thursday of the month. It showcases a wide variety of work, from multi-media sculpture to hyperealism.

The Point of Contact Gallery is located at 914 East Genesee Street. The newest member of the Coalition of Museums and Art Centers at Syracuse University, it is a space dedicated to the exploration of the verbal and visual arts and home of the Point of Contact Art Collection. It is a cross-disciplinary open forum for the essential discussion of contemporary art. A showcase for contemporary artists from around the world, with a strong prevalence from Latin America. The Point of Contact collection comprises over 200 original pieces created especially for "Point of Contact", the book series, since 1975. Photography, collage, drawings, paintings and three-dimensional works form this rare collection.

Recreation

Upper Onondaga Park in Strathmore

The City of Syracuse maintains over 170 parks, fields, and recreation areas, totaling over 1,000 acres (4.0 km²).¹⁸ Burnet Park includes the first public golf course in the United States (1901) and Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Other major parks include Thornden Park, Schiller Park, Sunnycrest Park, and the joined Onondaga and Kirk Parks. There are 12 public pools, two public ice rinks, and two public nine-hole golf courses in the city.

Right outside the city proper, along the east side and north end of Onondaga Lake, is Onondaga Lake Park. The adjacent Onondaga Lake Parkway is closed to vehicular traffic several hours on Sundays during the summer months, so it can be used for walking, running, biking, and rollerblading. During the holiday season, the park hosts Lights on the Lake, a two-mile (3 km) drive-through light show.

Transportation

Public transportation

Syracuse is served by the Central New York Regional Transportation Authority, or CNYRTA. The CNYRTA operates bus service in Syracuse and its suburbs, as well as to outlying metropolitan area cities such as Auburn, Fulton, and Oswego.

The Pyramid Companies have also proposed a monorail linking the university to the airport via downtown, their proposed Destiny Resort, the transportation center, and their proposed DestiNY Technology Park. The cost of such a line has been estimated at $750 million.

In 2005, local millionaire Tom McDonald proposed an aerial tramway system, called Salt City Aerial Transit (S.C.A.T.), to link the university to the transportation center. The first segment from Syracuse University to downtown has been estimated to cost $5 million, which McDonald plans to raise himself. Due to the perceived low operating costs, the system could run continuously. As of late 2006, the project remains in the planning stage.¹⁹

Commute

Interstate 81 (foreground) and Interstate 690 interchange in Downtown Syracuse

According to the 2000 Census, this is how people aged 16 and over commute to work:

• 65.9% drive alone
• 13.7% carpool
• 10.1% walk
• 6.8% use public buses (CENTRO)
• 0.6% bike
• 0.2% use a taxicab
• 0.013% use elevated rail (OnTrack, now defunct)

Syracuse currently ranks 50th in the United States for high transit ridership and 12th for most pedestrian commuters. 38,332 people commute daily into Onondaga County from the four adjoining counties (2006).²⁰

Rail

The city lies on Amtrak's Empire Service, Lake Shore Limited, and Maple Leaf lines.

The Empire Service runs several times daily from Niagara Falls to New York Penn Station, with major stops in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, and Albany along the way.

The Lake Shore Limited connects Syracuse to the same cities as above (except Niagara Falls), but continues westward from Buffalo to Chicago via Cleveland and Toledo, and eastward to Boston. This train completes one roundtrip daily.

Also completing one roundtrip a day, the Maple Leaf follows the path of the Empire Service train, but continues to Toronto.

Amtrak's station is part of the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center.

A regional commuter rail service, OnTrack, was active from 1994 until it was discontinued in 2007 due to low ridership. Its sole route connected the Carousel Center to southern Syracuse, often extending to Jamesville in the summer.

Bus

Greyhound Lines and Trailways provide long-distance bus service. Both also use the William F. Walsh Regional Transportation Center located in the northern area of the city.

Air service

Syracuse is served by the Syracuse Hancock International Airport in nearby Salina, near Mattydale. The airport is served by 17 airlines (9 major), which provide non-stop flights to destinations as far away as Dallas-Fort Worth, as well as several daily flights to other important airline hubs and business centers such as Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, [[Pittsburgh, , and Washington, DC. Six cargo carriers also serve the airport. New York City can be reached in under an hour flight.

Major Highways and Roads that serve the Syracuse Area

Syracuse's four interstate highways link the