College Town & The Money Island

Every time a new vacancy is announced in Rochester’s ambitious retail venture known as College Town, more and more residents pile on to social media to rant about the project’s imminent failure.  Surrounding lower class neighborhoods, a city that has one of the worst poverty rates in the nation and misuse of subsidies, among others, are cited reasons why this $100 million-plus mixed-use project is quickly being condemned as another in a long line of bad development decisions the city has entertained.  To some extent, these are likely key components to College Town’s struggles.

Bar 145, one of the most recent establishments to vacate College Town

The real struggle for any project like this, however, is one that very few people talk about.  It is a lack of connective tissue to Rochester residents, University of Rochester Medical Center employees and U of R on-campus students who might utilize and patronize…