Reconnect Rochester will host the latest in its Rochester Street Films screening series, “The Sprawl Effect” next week.
The Oct. 8 program at the Little Theatre has a collection of short film clips with a panel discussion, exploring Rochester’s current auto-centric land use and strategies to build more transit and walkable friendly environments.
“If we can change the way we think about development, we can create neighborhoods where people feel connected, where they can walk to work, school, or the grocery store, and where public spaces bring the community together,” says Cody Donahue, director of policy and advocacy at Reconnect Rochester.
In particular, the word “sprawl” is precise and refers to a horizontal growth brought on by factors such as arbitrary parking minimums, zoning mandates, and federal subsidies favoring suburban construction.
Reconnect Rochester argues this development has created a space that focuses on motor vehicles, causing higher climate emissions and higher taxes to maintain infrastructure.
Further, it is hostile to both public transport as well as walk- and bike-ability. Lack of these elements limits access to necessities such as jobs, groceries, and health care for individuals and families without a car and means that car ownership is the sole practical option.
According to census data, Monroe County level of car ownership has risen over the past decade, but interestingly, at the expense of owning multiple vehicles. From 2010 to 2022, occupied houses with access to at least 1 vehicle grew by 1.7 percent, while those with no vehicle, two vehicles, or three or more vehicles all fell.
Among the 34,000 households (11 percent) with no car access in Monroe County in 2022, most were located within the metro area of Rochester, with the Maplewood neighborhood having the highest amount (933 households).
Certain suburban census tracts also had high numbers of non-vehicle households however, with the town of Brighton having 387 such homes in census tracts in the northeast Council-Rock Estates neighborhood. A tract in Central Greece had 338 households with no car and the villages of Fairport and Specerport had 289 and 271 households, respectively in that category.
“The Sprawl Effect” will consider how to regain transit rich environments and adopt a 21st century approach to better connect people to resources.
The event’s panelists are Aqua Porter, executive director of Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative, Miguel Velázquez, CEO of RTS, and Kevin Kelley, manager at office of city planning. Abigail McHugh-Grifa, executive director of Climate Solutions Accelerator will serve as a moderator, and Simeon Bannister, president and CEO of Rochester Area Community Foundation will provide opening remarks.
Event registration is available online with an optional donation of $5 to $25.
Jacob Schermerhorn is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and data journalist. The Beacon welcomes comments and letters from readers who adhere to our comment policy including use of their full, real name. Submissions to the Letters page should be sent to [email protected].