The city of Syracuse responds to the need for a grocery store in Downtown.
/ Dora Scheidell
SYRACUSE -- Downtown Syracuse is booming thanks to new investment and new projects. More people are living and working down there and many want a grocery store.
The city has been trying for years to bring a large grocer to the area, but it's been hard to attract one.
Ben Walsh, the Economic Development Chief for the City of Syracuse says they've talked to every grocery store operator in Central New York, but so far, none of them have agreed to move forward with a Downtown location.
"With any Downtown business it's kind of like a chicken and egg thing. In order to attract residents you need to have amenities like a grocery store, but in order to attract a grocery store you need to have residents. So it's a constant battle to see which one we're going to get first," says Walsh.
With all of the new apartment complexes sprouting up Downtown, the city is hopeful they will be able to attract a grocery store soon.
They tried to open a grocery store Downtown once before. It was a small store called CL Evers. It opened in 2006, but it closed it's doors just four years later.
Newlyweds Cristin and Michael Manfredi live and work Downtown. They love it, but say the one thing missing is a missing a grocery store. Cristin Manfredi says it's a common topic of conversation in their home.
"I always say that our biggest argument is who's going to get in the car and go to the store to get the groceries. It would be great to see a grocery store down here," says Manfredi.
Even Amy McHugh who lives in Oswego but works Downtown says a supermarket would be a huge convenience for her and the nearly 30,000 people who also work Downtown everyday.
"Sometimes you just need to pick up a thing at lunch to make dinner that night and there isn't a lot of opportunity to do that down here or if it is it's really expensive," says McHugh.
The city says they're committed to making urban living as convenient as possible, which means having a place within walking distance to pick up a gallon of milk.
