Remembering Our Way Forward to
Recharge the Electric City with
Creativity & Vitality
As we reflect on our celebrations of National Wellness Month, Happiness Happens Month, and even National Crayon Collection Month (which is observed by gathering gently used crayons and contributing them to schools where they can unleash creativity!), it’s a good time to imagine how we, as a co-op community can contribute to building a city and region renowned for its health, wellbeing, and spirit of creativity & vitality.
Throughout this issue of the Beet, we’ve highlighted ways that our diverse Member-Owners are sharing their light - from their creation of businesses for good, to contributions of creative works of art enlivening our corridors and inspiring community events.
For this month’s Food for Thought, we’ll continue this exploration, looking to the past to stretch our imaginations for our future as we delve into the question “How can we, as a co-op community, remember our way forward to flourishing communities of creativity and vitality?”
Looking to the past to reimagine our future
We begin this exploration by looking to the past - when our future site of the Wedgeway Building was a center of economic and cultural vitality around the turn of the 19th century.
Today, 16,000 cars pass through Erie Boulevard in Schenectady each day, making it hard to imagine this thoroughfare - or the city it supports - as one that is not dominated by automobile traffic.
Yet back in the 19th century, when the Wedgeway Building was just known as the "Wedge" and Schenectady was on its way to becoming a bustling city that attracted Edison to create Edison Machine Works, cars were not part of the picture and people were still connected to the waterways and the fertile river valley that gave birth to the city and sustained it from the beginning. What is now Erie Boulevard was then the Erie Canal, a corridor of connection and vitality enabling the exchange of agricultural and industrial goods among towns and burgeoning cities throughout the Mohawk and Hudson River Valleys. Originally constructed in 1885, “The Wedge” (pictured to the right) was a wedge-shaped mercantile building designed to receive goods directly from the canal towpath.
By the turn of the 19th century into the 20th, the “Wedge” became Schenectady’s largest office building, with expansions in 1912 and 1922 that established it as the Wedgeway Building. The canalway became a center of both commercial and cultural vitality - as the 1910 picture to the right reflects, in the winter community members enjoyed skating on the Canal just south of State Street.
Cultural vitality at the site grew as the 1912 expansion included construction of the theater that became the first home of Proctor’s Theater, and later the Wedgeway and State Theater. By 1917, the Erie Canal was closed, and by 1925, Erie Boulevard was fully constructed. It retained its character as a commercial corridor, bordering residential areas, in a largely pedestrian-scale city where people had access to affordable housing and could generally walk to work. In the early 20th century, residents enjoyed a range of transportation options, including trolleys within the city, and trains connecting them beyond the city.
It is likely these early patterns of compact urban form that inspire so many people in public meetings to refer to the City of Schenectady as “walkable,” even with the high levels of crash-incidents observed between car-drivers and pedestrians and cyclists today. The post-war boom in car ownership and the construction of highways like the Thruway significantly impacted Schenectady's landscape, infrastructure, and urban planning, transforming it from a a city once oriented around water and human-scale movement into an auto-dominated city within an auto-dependent region.
Yet, the “bones” of the city and its enduring pedestrian-scale legacy offer a foundation upon which to reimagine our future through the Electric City Recharged comprehensive planning process.
As we celebrate National Wellness Month, Happiness Happens Month, and even National Crayon Collection month (e.g., where used instruments of creativity are reused to unleash human potential and creative expression), we can look to this history to stretch our imaginations for the design of future city of vitality and creativity.
Here are some possibilities, wherein our co-op can help the Wedgeway Building become, once-again, the heart-beat of a flourishing Electric City, recharged with creativity and vitality.
A. Human-Scale, Walkable, Mixed-Use Environments
Historic legacy:
The 19th-century city emerged around canals, rail lines, and the now historic Union Street and State Street corridors—compact and walkable, with dense housing and commerce interwoven.
Future possibilities:
What if we converted Erie Boulevard into a complete street, by incorporating wider sidewalks, bike lanes, frequent street trees, frequent crossings, and human-scale design elements?
What if we were to activate frontage with mixed-use development—ground-level stores (like our very own Electric City Community Grocery!), studios, restaurants & cafés, maker spaces—that entice walking, social exchange, and local creativity?
What if we stood by our commitments expressed in the 2008 comprehensive plan to create a pedestrian-oriented city, with drive-thrus prohibited in a walkable downtown and complete streets connecting our diverse neighborhoods?
B. Scale Mobility Beyond Automobiles
Historic legacy:
The pre-auto city thrived on walking, canals, trolleys, and early rail.
Future possibilities:
What if we were to further Invest in transit, bike infrastructure, and pedestrian-first corridors through a transit-oriented development strategy, in keeping with the 2019 Craig-Main Connection Complete Streets Study, the 2017 “Bike Schenectady” Bike Infrastructure Master Plan, the 2010 “Route 5 Transit Gateway Plan,” and the 2008 City of Schenectady Comprehensive Plan and corresponding zoning map?
What if we were to consider converting segments of high-traffic streets like Erie Boulevard into multi-modal boulevards, consistent with the 2017 “Bike Schenectady” Bike Infrastructure Master Plan, as reflected below?
Remembering our way forward
C. Align Affordability, Inclusion, and Civic Identity
Historic Legacy:
Schenectady historically housed diverse immigrant communities who powered its industries.
Future possibilities:
What if we were to ensure new developments—especially along Erie Boulevard—prioritize affordability, anti-displacement strategies, and inclusive design for all ages and abilities? Today, creative-city principles underscore that diverse, affordable neighborhoods drive both innovation and social wellbeing.
What if we leaned into the Capital Region Economic Development Council’s (CREDC's) strategic priority to invest in creative arts, food, and tourism (CRAFT) industries, as outlined in the CREDC's 2024-2028 strategic plan?
D. Support Local Businesses
Historic Legacy:
Schenectady historically thrived with a strong ecosystem of local businesses with a diversity of retail options in balance, including neighborhood goods & services, food & beverages, and general merchandise, apparel, and furnishings.
Future possibilities:
What if we were to commit to supporting local businesses, knowing that investing in each other and our home creates lasting prosperity for all, consistent with the Declaration of ONE Schenectady?
Our Electric City Community Grocery has a strong commitment to purchase from local farmers and food producers, as reflected by the proposal we submitted to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.
E. Embed Nature in Urban Form
Historic Legacy:
While the 19th-century city leaned on the fertile river valley for agricultural productivity and access to waterways needed to support industrial development, it lacked deliberate green design.
Future Possibilities:
What if we were to reintegrate nature through parklets, tree canopies, pocket parks, and green infrastructure along Erie Boulevard—restoring ecological functions and enriching quality of life?
What if we provided clear wayfinding signs, making it easy for residents - and visitors from the Erie Canal Bikeway - to make their way from our co-op to the Mohawk River and bikeways connecting amenities throughout the city, in keeping with the 2017 Bike Infrastructure Master Plan and the 2008 Schenectady County-Mohawk River Blueway Trail Plan?
Concluding thoughts
Schenectady’s industrial origins—and its foundational link to waterways—offer more than nostalgia. They provide a template for a future that foregrounds creativity, public health, ecological vitality, and multi-modal connectivity. By weaving heritage-informed placemaking with intentional design for people and nature, we can harness Schenectady's spirit of creativity and innovation in an even healthier, more inclusive, and regenerative form.
What do you think? Please contribute your voice to the shaping of our future by participating in the Electric City Recharged planning process - you can take the Community Survey here, and sign up on their newsletter list to receive updates and future invitations.