Downtown Syracuse

Downtown Syracuse is the economic center of Syracuse, New York, and Central New York, employing over 30,000 people, and housing over 2,000. It is also one of the 26 officially recognized neighborhoods of Syracuse.

History

Downtown Syracuse, as the rest of the city, grew as a result of the city's salt industry and its location on the Erie Canal.

For over a century, it was also the retail and entertainment center of Central New York, with large department stores such as Chappell's, The Addis Co., Flah's, E.W. Edwards, Woolworth's, Grant's, Lincoln Stores, The Mohican, David's, Kresge's, Clark Music Co., Dey Brothers, and Sibley's. This attribute began to fade with development of large suburban malls, with the final blow in 1992 when the combined Addis & Dey's department store became the last major store to leave downtown.

South Salina street

South Salina Street between Erie Boulevard and West Onondaga Street was the main north-south artery of Downtown Syracuse and was among the busiest streets in the city. The area has seen a great deal of revitalization in recent years with projects such as the conversion of the historic Syracuse Trust Building into luxury condos, a project engineered by local developer Peter Muserlian. Many more development projects are now in planning stages with the news of the relocation of Syracuse's main Centro bus terminal.