Binghamton Revitalizing Around Livable Downtown

Binghamton, in New York’s depressed, de-industrialized southern tier is undergoing a major revitalization effort to bring residents, businesses, shoppers and tourists back to its historic downtown area. After years of watching residents and businesses leave the city’s core for the suburbs in New York and other states entirely, Binghamton is trying to win back its place as a regional center of gravity under their “Restoring the Pride” campaign. Local residents have participated in local neighborhood assemblies and have started to see some real progress on their campaign to re-make the city. And they are doing it around many of the principles of the Livable Cities movement.

Creating places for people to sit and relax downtown.

Narrowing streets to reclaim public space.

Making pedestrian crossings safer and more visible.

Creating car-free streets for a thriving downtown Farmers Market.

Building an exten sive bicycle path network.

Converting bridges to dedicated bike and pedestrian paths.

Restoring the waterfront commercial district.

Residents and business owners seem to like the changes!