There's a commentary at Rust Wire that draws the connection between cupcakes and crime. Bear with us here:
I think it has a lot to do location of these stores and how they have become inseparable from the issue of class. Recently, an undergraduate at UC Berkeley plotted the location of cupcake stores in San Francisco against the location of gang shootings. Wouldn’t you know it? It was a match. That’s because cupcake stores were being located in rough “gentrifying” neighborhoods. I want to be very clear that I don’t think gentrification is really a problem in Cleveland or Detroit or Youngstown. The problem in these cities is concentrated poverty and vacancy. And middle-class people and their dollars should be welcomed in these cities unconditionally. Still, I feel a little guilty. It seems the go-to recipe for neighborhood revitalization in so many of our cities is these types of enterprises: boutiques, food trucks, fancy restaurants. These types of businesses have the effect of making very poor neighborhoods the sites of very conspicuous consumption.
So is the cupcake a simple of economic divide, or a talisman of progress that overshadows more significant economic contributions? Or just yummy?
Southern Tier income
My-Ly Nguyen at the Press & Sun-Bulletin has a look at income numbers for the Southern Tier, courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Included among the findings: Broome County ranks 28th in the state for per capita income, Tompkins County comes in 32nd, and Chemung County comes in 37.
Modeling downtown
Rochester city planners are looking for bids for 3D modeling software to help shape the future of downtown, reports Brian Sharp at the Democrat and Chronicle:
The idea is that, with such a model, the city can better review and plan for downtown development, market the downtown to developers and businesses and work through a planned update to its center city master plan. Ultimately, the map could include underground utilities, tools for traffic and parking analysis and more. Downtown is growing faster in population than officials thought, with the 2010 Census revealing 4,430 people living inside the Inner Loop. With 632 new housing units under construction or proposed, that population is expected to grow. But it isn't housing alone. The Rochester Downtown Development Corp. tallies $646 million in announced construction, renovation or public works projects in the greater downtown area.
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