After living on Westcott Street for two years, Quinton Fletchall was ready for a change. Three years ago, in search of something more, Fletchall moved downtown into an apartment above Pastabilities in Armory Square.

“I was kind of getting tired of the Euclid, off-campus scene; both the nightlife and everything else and I enjoyed being downtown,” Fletchall said. “I just enjoyed the restaurants and the galleries and everything better.”

Downtown Syracuse has seen vibrant growth in recent years. Of the people in the downtown area, 40 percent are associated with one of the hospitals or universities on the Hill said Lisa Romeo, the director of communications for the Downtown Committee of Syracuse.

This August, a new apartment complex called Creekwalk Commons opened up right across from the Nancy Cantor Warehouse, where many Syracuse University students attend classes in art-based programs. Creekwalk Commons is a 75-room facility located on the Onondaga Creekwalk that is marketed as predominantly student housing.

“We thought there would be an interest in students who perhaps maybe came from a larger, metropolitan area or perhaps from a different country who were used to living in an urban setting that would have that option,” said Jim Breuer, president of Heuber-Breuer Construction Company, which developed Creekwalk Commons.

Though the complex is marketed toward students, some of the tenants are professors or other adults, many of them from local universities, said Brad Stalter, the property manager at Creekwalk Commons.

Yenny Shin is a fifth year industrial and interaction design student who lives in Creekwalk Commons. She says that since she takes many classes at the Warehouse, the convenient location of Creekwalk Commons is her favorite part about living downtown.

Jefferson Towers and Madison Towers in Presidential Plaza are also popular destinations for student housing. Though some are more populated by students than others, most downtown buildings have at least a few students from area universities in their buildings, Romeo said.

Safety is also something that students like Fletchall, a second year graduate student in communication and rhetorical studies, are taking into consideration.

“You have to go through three locked doors before you get to my apartment door,” Fletchall said. “I’ve had friends who live on campus who have walked into their basements to do laundry and have found that their roommates left the place unlocked and there’s somebody in their basement.”

Having everything in one place also takes transportation out of the equation, as it’s easy to walk around downtown. Most of the bars, restaurants and galleries that Fletchall frequents are within walking distance of his apartment.  He said he rarely uses his car, except to go grocery shopping.

Camille Wagner, a junior political science and communications major, lives on the corner of Fayette and Warren streets. She likes the independence that living downtown offers.

“It preps you more for the real world and you are surrounded by people who work, you are surrounded by offices,” Wagner said. “So I feel like it takes you away from the whole ‘I’m a college kid’ and makes you more of ‘OK I’m an adult.’”

Miles Ray, another fifth year industrial design student, added that living across from City Hall on Montgomery Street has given him an opportunity to make potential business contacts with professionals he meets downtown.

“I’ve made a few connections businesswise with people I would’ve never come across,” Ray said. “I think it’s nice to get away from just Syracuse college students all the time, to meet other people, it’s good in the sense of professional connections.”

Not enough SU students take advantage of what downtown has to offer, Fletchall said, despite how easy it is to get downtown with the free Connective Corridor buses.

Linda Dickerson Hartsock, director of the Syracuse University Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development, said in an email that ridership on the Connective Corridor is growing. The bus service from campus to downtown provided more than 200,000 rides last year. In addition to more students commuting between the Hill and downtown, Hartsock said faculty has been using the Connective Corridor to take classes downtown for projects.

Downtown residential neighborhoods have been growing quickly in recent years, said Romeo, of the Downtown Syracuse Committee. She said there has been a lot of interest in downtown, especially from “empty nesters” and young professionals.

Romeo said she thinks the city is a good place for students because it provides the best of both worlds.

“Sometimes when you’re living in an area that’s either on-campus housing or is very close to the university you’re going to, you have a little bit more of an insular experience because you’re around people that are associated with where you go to school all of the time,” Romeo said. “But for people that live downtown, they have a much broader range of people that they’re getting to interact with.”

Published on September 18, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact: clmoran@syr.edu