SYRACUSE -- In downtown Syracuse, people go to Armory Square to shop, eat, and live, but just around the corner you're more likely to find buildings with empty store fronts. It's a problem that was addressed on Sunday afternoon during a CNYSpeaks Forum at the Warehouse in downtown Syracuse.

"I feel like you have to have a combination of a lot of different elements in order to keep the entirety of downtown active throughout the day because a lot of people are concerned about safety in certain neighborhoods," said Damian Vallelonga, who suggested more restaurants, retail space, and housing in downtown Syracuse; similar to Armory Square

The discussion was the second forum of a three-part series organized by Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and The Post-Standard. The idea is to talk about the concerns and issues in the downtown community and ways to address the problems.

Grant Reeher, Professor at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs said, "Concerns about the downtown area have been around for awhile. There have been, I think, a lot of good initiatives and a lot of good efforts to get more conversations about this that other groups have sponsored so we're trying to build off that."

At one table, the main issue was public transportation. Jenny Stakes, who lives in Eastwood, said she and her husband share a car and it's difficult to get from one place to another when they have to rely on the bus.

Skates said, "Our activities take us from Manlius to Liverpool to Camillus and it's very difficult for the two of us to arrange our schedules with very limited access to public transportation that's decent that can get us there in a timely manner to where we need to go."

On most lists at the forum, safety and crime also was a top priority and some said downtown appears dirty. Others suggested better lighting to help people feel safer on the streets.

"I think it's just been a great process for participatory democracy and something called deliberative democracy; where people actually get a chance to deepen and refine their thoughts in the process of these group discussions," said Reeher.

All of the information gathered at the forums will eventually be presented to elected officials and people running for office in the area.

If you would like to add your input to some of the issues in downtown Syracuse, the final discussion is scheduled for Tuesday night at 6 at the City Hall Commons at 201 E. Washington St.

CNYSpeaks is an organization that began to identify and address problems in the Central New York community.