Industrialization Gone Wrong
Many people will look at an image and take very little into perspective. I approached this project with an open mind. I tried to understand Zemliansky’s quote and help me understand and explain an image differently than I normally would. Syracuse has been an evolving city for decades. Many industries come, and many go. Syracuse, NY, has been factory prone since the start of industrialization in the early 1800s. While Syracuse used to be mainly a salt production city, the image in conversation belonged to the Clark Concrete company. It was a prosperous company and served the city with employment well. The image viewed first-hand looks like the outcome of not caring or keeping up with the building. However, the real meaning and significance behind this are much more than the shattered windows and baron fields.
The broken-down factory is one of many that are involved in the city of Syracuse short-staff crisis. This was a period of time when there were no workers in factories and all around the city. Many factories and companies, like the Clark Concrete company, were subject to rapid degeneration because of the lack of upkeep. In addition, the broken down Clark Concrete company is subject to environmental takeover and the lack of economic stability in Syracuse, New York. The period of time where there were many jobs needed to fill affected the factory industry because it was easier for them to run the factories. This affected the city of Syracuse because there was less poverty and more people were able to have jobs in the factories. Once all these factories shut down it drastically affected the city of Syracuse.
The environment is a huge factor in this image being that you can physically see the overgrown foliage. Syracuse’s economy and income rate are subjectively low. The community of Syracuse was mainly a manufacturing industry in the 1900s it was built around factories and it started to deteriorate in the 1970s. The city of Syracuse was mostly salt and chemical industries, and later as a center of manufacturing and engineering. These industries have changed a lot since these factories were first opened around the 1950s. Industries have changed and the city but has remained one of the economic and educational hubs of Central New York, with over a million inhabitants. The population of the city has been in decline since peaking in the 1950s. The cause of this decline is the shutdown of all the factories and the difficulty for people to have jobs. The poverty rate has shot up to be so high that it is almost inhabitable. While the city of Syracuse is so high in unemployment and poverty one of the most expensive universities in the world is located right outside the main parts of the city on a hill and the city is not taken care of. Since the poverty rate is so high in Syracuse they are unable to maintain the city's amenities. The state has very little funding that could help improve everything around the city such as infrastructure. But without jobs, it is hard for citizens of the city to help and try and improve the conditions of the city. They unveiled plans that would raise $123 million of aid to the city and help it get back to post-pandemic levels. This would help improve the quality of life for everyone in the community. Another project that would help the city drastically is the I-81 project. Not only would this put an end to the divide in the city it would also help create job opportunities for over a thousand people which would help lower the unemployment rate.
Since this town used to be an industrial town I thought it would be cool to talk about how the city became Syracuse. If you look at my Image it seems to be an abandoned factory, you can also make the assumption that it is a run-down factory that is still in production. The factory looks like it was used to sort rocks or something around those areas. What is so interesting about this image is how this factory got abandoned and all the graffiti on all the walls. Also, you can tell it's some sort of rock factory or something that helps sort objects. I also wonder how many people have worked in this factory and what caused it to shut down in the first place. The city of Syracuse has some nice places and some not-so-nice places to visit. Armory Square has nice restaurants and Syracuse University is one of the nicest Universities to attend in the world, so this makes you wonder why there is so much poverty and burned-down abandoned buildings just outside of these places. The college is not connected to the town, off-campus housing is all within a mile of the university and there are constant emails from DPS about crimes happening near the university. It makes you wonder what you can do to help the community that is right next to you.
I approached this project with an open mind. I tried to understand Zemliansky’s quote and help me understand and explain an image differently than I normally would. This image really captures how the city of Syracuse, once a huge industrial city has turned into a city with a high poverty rate as well as such a high unemployment rate.
