What Will the Lakefront Look Like in 10 Years? Ted Baker Asks the Bloggers

Our most recent interview on Finger Lakes Morning News focused on--what else?--lakefront development. Host Ted Baker led off with a discussion of a post that highlighted a new argument offered in support of Building 12. The argument was, in short, that lakefront condos were key to bringing college graduates back home to Geneva. Augustine repeated the theme of the post, that it is not a lack of housing--at least, not lakefront condos.--keeping people from returning, but rather a lack of jobs.

Capraro rightly pointed out that Geneva has a strong service industry, including education and tourism, that provides a core set of jobs for graduates. People taking those jobs shouldn’t be looking for a suburban enclave, and if the right housing were available, they’d likely prefer downtown. To that end, repopulating the downtown core and improving conditions in Geneva’s existing neighborhoods must take precedence over new construction on one of our best assets.

Ted then asked us to respond to resident Cynthia Hsu’s appearance on the show earlier in the week. He characterized Hsu as the voice of “the opposition,” but Capraro was quick to point out that she is a vocal advocate for public participation, and while the public may not agree on every point, there is consistent agreement amongst the public that their voices should be heard and taken into consideration. This, Capraro said, is indicative of a renewed sense of civic engagement locally, regionally, and even on the national level.

Augustine stated that, from Council’s perspective, public participation is both necessary but sometimes hard to take. When the public agrees with the direction things are going, everything’s wonderful. But in reality, people are more likely to speak up when they disagree with things. At that point, she said, it’s the responsibility of the Council to consider the ideas and arguments being presented without getting their hackles up about the way in which the ideas or arguments are being presented. A forthcoming post on trust and public participation will shed some more light on those ideas.

As he closed the interview, Ted asked us what we thought the lakefront would look like in 2015 or 2020, about 10 years down the road. Augustine responded that she hoped that a focus on downtown would have paid dividends by then, and Capraro emphasized that enhanced programming on the lakefront would mean seeing more people on the lakefront and coming from there into downtown (and vice versa). Some exciting prospects, and definitely possible so long as Geneva’s government and her people are moving in tandem towards that shared vision.

We are truly grateful for Ted Baker, WGVA (1240AM), and all the staff at the Finger Lakes Radio Group for continuing to allow us a forum to discuss these pressing issues. We know that Ted is doing his best to bring a fact-based point of view on a variety of public issues, and that he takes his role as a member of the press seriously as it relates to good governing. This interview is available for your listening pleasure in the NoStrings Radio Archive. We look forward to continuing the tradition in 2009!