Cornell, city of Utica use grant to create R2G urban-planning studio

UTICA — Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Oneida County and the city of Utica on Monday announced a downtown-development partnership and grant funding that they’ll use to help cover its cost.

CCE and the city of Utica are creating a Rust to Green (R2G) urban-planning studio at Utica City Hall that seeks to support community development and sustainability projects in the region, CCE said in a news release.

The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, Inc. awarded a grant of $100,000 to help pay for the project, CCE said.

In conjunction with state, federal, in-kind and private-project funding estimated at $1 million, CCE will provide equipment and staffing to help design and package downtown-development projects for funding and implementation, the organization said.

The Rust to Green New York Action Research Initiative is a network of Cornell University educators, researchers and students working with community partners to identify and design strategies addressing the problems and needs of New York’s Rust Belt cities, according to the website for Rust 2 Green.

R2G Utica launched in 2010, the website says.

The idea for an urban-planning studio came from the “Big Think” forum that Cornell University organized last October.

Community members attending the forum offered ideas for creating a “revitalized and sustainable” community in Utica, according to CCE.

The city and Cornell University have designed a “sustainable” model that will have private and public-sector partners identifying and implementing “actionable” projects that respond to local assets, needs, and opportunities, CCE said.

The partners include the university, community, institutional and governmental sectors.

As the year progresses, the city of Utica will use community input to advance projects in four target downtown neighborhoods. They include the Bagg’s Square district; Brewery district (Varick Street area); Oneida Square / Genesee Street district; and the International district (Bleeker Street area).

Downtown connections to the waterfront will also be a priority, CCE said.

The city and CCE are organizing teams in each corridor to help complete “priority” housing, streetscape, and commercial-development projects, the organization added.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com