"[...] urban planners and urban government officials are tasked with a challenging prospect: to physically compose a city that will appeal to the ambitions of companies (since organizations have the power to sustain their respective urban economy) while simultaneously serving as a conduit for a productive and content resident population. Our goal is to take up a close investigation of the relationship between infrastructure and the built environment in regards to the political dynamics of space, especially within the context of private and public interests."

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"Since governmental officials have the choice of whether to preserve or destroy a structure, they therefore also have the authority of projecting a value onto an object within a shared space. This is a direct technique of demonstrating power: the state, by assigning a property to be publicly or privately owned, manipulates the dynamics of a space.  So, how can a particular space be optimized for socialization and community development? Who does the city belong to - are cities inherently designed for the use of the upper class, or can they be structured? Based on the conclusions that we have drawn through empirical data collection from community members of both sample cities, we have concluded that Geneva can be mindfully developed with the intention of creating a more equal and publicly accessible space. Through synthesizing previous policy documents, interviewing members of the Geneva community, and researching comparative solutions in Burlington, VT, we have proposed methods through which the City of Geneva can enhance the city’s sense of place and connectivity through infrastructural development."

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"However, due to a lack of consensus in the city council and among residents, it has become extremely difficult for the city as a whole to reach an agreement on what a future Geneva should look like. Multiple prominent community members whom we interviewed, such as Sage Gerling of the Geneva Neighborhood Resource Center (GNRC) and John Marks of the Geneva Historical Society, identified a division of the city into two camps that are essentially pro-development and anti-development."

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"We hope to be able to balance the needs of private business owners with those of the general public, and show that these needs are, in fact, often one and the same. We identified that there are two areas of concern that impact all interested parties. First is the problem presented by Routes 5&20, which bisects the landscape and presents an intimidating face to those who wish to move between downtown and the lake without a car. Secondly, an issue of major concern is how to best support businesses that are already flourishing (such as the city’s renowned restaurants and wineries) while also diversifying and providing support to other treasures such as the Geneva Bicycle Center, Stomping Grounds, and Area Records."

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"Through carefully considering the policy recommendations in numerous plans prepared for the City of Geneva, such as the Lakefront/Downtown Connectivity Study and the Bergmann plan mentioned above, as well as personal interviews we have conducted with members of the Geneva community, we have developed a proposal for infrastructural changes to the City of Geneva that will enhance the city’s sense of place, encourage pedestrian use of both downtown and the waterfront, and attempt to balance the interests of multiple parties in public and private spheres alike."

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"We hope to achieve an optimized built environment for Geneva on two fronts: by re-framing Linden Street ( which we view as being central to the downtown core) as a pedestrian-only space, and enhancing the waterfront along the 5&20 corridor to make it a more inviting, integrated part of the city.  We propose two specific projects for the Genevan government and planners to take on: the implementation of a pedestrian bridge extending from downtown across the 5&20 arterial, and the renovation of Linden Street."

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"We believe that due to its similarities to Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace, Linden Street would be able to fully realize its potential through closing off automotive traffic and making it an exclusively pedestrian walkway. This would be a low-cost effort that could have enormous benefits for the City of Geneva in terms of happenstance community interaction and the development of a unique sense of place (Glaeser)."

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"These beautification measures would enhance the community’s involvement with the infrastructure of the city and create a space that could become a landmark to develop a strong sense of place in a “uniquely urban” Geneva. The boundaries between the public and private realms would be blurred, creating a space that bolsters local businesses while also providing an established space where the people of Geneva, whether they be permanent residents, college students, or visitors, could build a sense of community. Our hope is that by creating a space that is recognizably walkable, people will choose to wander throughout the city on foot instead of only driving from Point A to Point B. Through developing the public realm with clear signage and a defined walkway that feels safe even along the busy roads of downtown, the city will be able to direct pedestrian traffic in a flow between the downtown core and the waterfront, and encourage people to both become invested in local businesses and begin to use the wealth of natural beauty that is available to us along Seneca Lake."