(That’s two AHL inspired headlines this month)
I had the most interesting experience while hanging out at my favorite local farm last weekend. I was in conversation with a father who described how beneficial the experience of being on a farm had been for his “city kids”. As the family seemed clearly to be middle class my interest level ratcheted up quite a few notches. His wife corrected him: “Suburban kids”. As the gathering included friends and family, my family and I being in the former group, I had to ask where they were from; Rochester, New York I was told.
The conversation continued. I was eager to talk to people who so readily accepted a connection to a hard luck northern tier industrial city like Rochester, as those people are few and far between in the suburbs of Springfield. In that vein, and as the conversation continued, I made reference to just how similar Rochester and Springfield are. Not even his reflective sunglasses could hide that the comparison made my discussion partner cringe; I mean he literally, visibly, winced. “In population I suppose.” He then went on to proudly defend Rochester in a very measured but assured way.
With a facility indicative of experience in a classroom setting he asked me about Springfield’s economy referencing jobs in particular. I mentioned that most of the region’s major employers were in the city from Baystate and Mercy medical centers to the second largest corporation headquartered in Massachusetts, MassMutual, along with a handful of colleges, Big Y, and Smith and Wesson: “The problem is that the people who have the best jobs choose to live outside the city. The region is actually very prosperous” I concluded.
When we got home after the party I went right to Wikipedia. I was very surprised at what I saw. Instinctively I think of Rochester, and Syracuse, and Bridgeport, and Scranton and perhaps a dozen or more other cities in the northeast as being, essentially, the same as Springfield. Given the obviously strong visceral response I had seen when I compared Springfield to Rochester I assumed that I was going to find data which confirmed that perhaps my assumption in that regard was a bit hasty and inaccurate. Indeed it was. I’m sure the City of Rochester has a lot going for it, maybe as much or more than Springfield in ways that can’t be measured, but what I was startled to find was that Rochester is in pretty rough shape demographically, even when compared to The City of Homes.
People often perceive Springfield as having a violence problem; I was surprised to see that Rochester had over 3 times the homicide rate of Springfield. Springfield is thought of as poor; Rochester’s per capita, household, and family incomes are anywhere from 10%-20% lower than Springfield’s. In terms of population Rochester has lost roughly 1/3 of its population, losing 120,000 people since its peak; Springfield’s population loss has been around 10%, losing almost exactly 20,000, leveling off, and actually growing slightly over the last 40 years; Rochester has lost nearly 10,000 people per decade just since 1980.
I also found it interesting that Rochester’s 209,000 people are spread out over almost 90 square miles. If Springfield were to annex Chicopee and West Springfield it would still cover 15 fewer square miles but have a population of 238,000.
It sounds like I’m picking on Rochester, but that’s not the purpose of my post. What I want to know is, how does a place in such demonstrably worse shape than my hometown illicit such pride from its suburban inhabitants when I find it a challenge to find anyone, resident or suburbanite, who has a kind word to say about Springfield? It could be that I just met the only well-to-do people outside of Rochester who feel kindly toward it, and I just happen to be acquainted with only naddering nabobs of negativity in Western Mass, but I don’t think so. Is it just so much further from Boston and New York City that expectations are lowered? I’ve often thought one of Springfield’s biggest problems to be its proximity to two of North America’s standout cities and therefore expectations are too high.
In further conversation the family revealed that they live in a community which borders a community which touches Rochester. If we ever see a day when people in Southwick, Hampden, and Belchertown feel about Springfield the way these folks feel about Rochester it will be a marker of tremendous progress.
I wonder what the Rochester people say when they are *in* Rochester? Baltimore suburbanites proudly say they are from Baltimore – but they talk trash about the city itself, and won’t go there except for ball games or to take out-of-town visitors to upscale tourist sites.
Perhaps you bumped up against this unspoken rule of etiquette: “I can grouse about my family, church, city, etc., but you cannot.”
One mistake in your article- the City of Rochester has only about 37sq miles, so I think in that way it is comparable to Springfield & probably has a higher population density, despite greater population loss. Also, the population loss has greatly diminished. The next census will probably show either an essentially flat population or even a small amount of growth. We are experiencing quite a large amount of population growth in our downtown as old buildings are converted to apartments & new buildings are constructed. The downtown population will probably pass the 10,000 mark by the next census.
Take a look at this article from Strong Towns, https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/6/13/3-rochester-neighborhoods-and-why-they-work from a couple of weeks ago. These are neighborhoods that people from the region are familiar with & frequent often & there are others as well. Does Springfield have comparable neighborhoods? This could be one reason why Rochester suburbanites are less likely to dis the city. Another possible reason that Rochester suburbanites identify more strongly with the city is that the 146__ zip codes with Rochester mailing addresses extend far into the suburbs, something I don’t think happens in most other cities. Just a theory! Finally, while we are not as close to Boston & NYC, we are only about 3 hours from Toronto, certainly another of North America’s great cities.
Do you have a link on the sq miles? I used Wikipedia, usually the city data is fairly accurate in my experience.
Either way losing 110,000 in population and 40,000 since 1980 is substantially greater than Springfield’s loss: 20,000 total and level since 1980.
I’ll read about the neighborhoods later, Springfield has McKnight, Forest Park Heights, Atwater…loads of historic districts. Interesting details you mention. Springfield was too far ahead of the curve on downtown housing, old factories, classic buildings, schools, all turned into condos and lofts in the 70’s but many turned into housing for the poor when “urban living” didn’t become a thing in the 80s-2000.
Cool stuff, thanks for the info!
You are correct re sq miles: I will make a correction. Back of the envelope makes density more or less equivalent between the two, thank you, I either misread the entry or it was in error. It was the entry I linked to.
Apologies!!
I think you nailed it with your proximity conjecture — Rochester is far enough away from the big cities to have developed its own identity (Toronto is in another country, so it doesn’t exert the same pull). Springfield and Albany/Schenectady/Troy (and maybe Hartford? I don’t know it as well) are both great places to live, but both suffer from Northeast Corridor envy. The same is true of many NC cities (notably, Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point and Greenville) in relation to Raleigh/Durham and Charlotte.
Maybe Rochester has better implemented a compact pedestrian-friendly downtown with lots of restaurants and entertainment? Those are the things that suburbanites judge cities on.
You certainly find plenty of reasons to criticize Springfield in this blog. Can’t fault other people for doing the same. (Just kidding. Sort of.)
Found this after commenting. It sounds like Rochester has the same perception struggle with the local populace as Springfield.
https://theurbanphoenix.com/2017/06/03/revival_triangle/
Thanks
I try to be even handed with Springfield. I love the place, but we have issues!!
Rochester is a much larger metro than Springfield (1.1 mil vs.700,000). It also has a very proud history. Not that unreasonable for someone to wince at that comparison.
Larger cities fell much harder than smaller ones. Springfield also seems to have a much smaller African-American population than Rochester (30 vs 90k), which would mitigate the race based white flight that destroyed so many big city (including Rochester) neighborhoods.
Springfield is probably more similar to Syracuse than to Rochester.