Spring Break
The Daily OrangeDisconnected
An evening ride on the Connective Corridor leaves students with little to do
By Sammy Kanter
Posted: 10/23/07, 12:04 AM EST Section: Feature
|
The 5:40 p.m. Centro bus pulled up to College Place on a Friday evening. The words "Connective Corridor" were branded across vehicle. Two students boarded the bus.
A night on the Connective Corridor was beginning. Buses run Fridays and Saturdays from 8:40 a.m. to 11 p.m. By this later hour, though, the buses seemed barren.
"Bringing Arts, Culture and the Community Together" read the banner plastered across the bus stop. Next to it, a colorful dotted logo spelled out "Connective Corridor."
"The goal is for people to see it as an arts and cultural corridor," said Bruce Kingma, the Syracuse associate provost for entrepreneurship and innovation. "And to see past the campus to community life."
That was the goal for the evening - to observe how active the Connective Corridor becomes during a Friday night at Syracuse University. For the rest of the night, the Connective Corridor remained how the late shift started - almost completely dormant.
When the 5:40 p.m. bus departed, a girl rode along to meet a friend at Phoebe's Restaurant on the corner of Irving and East Genesee streets, the first stop on the corridor. It was her first time using the bus.
As she departed the bus at the Syracuse Stage stop, the silent Centro rolled on. One student. One driver.
"This one's really not that busy," the driver said. "I had a crowd earlier, but usually up until 6:48 (p.m.) when I get off, I have four or five."
With no show at the Syracuse Stage that night and the Renaissance Hotel as the subsequent stop, the first stop of interest for students was the Everson Museum. The "stop requested" sign illuminated, and the lone student left. The driver was left with an empty bus.
A plain shelter with a painted Connective Corridor bench was the only greeting at the exit. But perhaps the rest of the attractions at the Everson stop would provide a more eye-pleasing experience.
Sarah Tiedemann, public relations director at the Everson Museum, believes students are important to the revitalization of the city of Syracuse because "they bring a great, creative energy downtown."
Be the first to comment on this story