OttoMets
Living Legend
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- Aug 28, 2011
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After reading the "factories are closed, woe is me" posts for so many years, I'm curious: what new jobs have come to the downtown area to fill all of the new apartments?![]()
Mostly start-ups and professional service firms. Rent is still relatively low, though downtown isn't as competitive with suburban office parks for companies who want free parking for employees (this includes most insurance companies that make up a solid chunk of the local economy).
But most residential development has been conversion of Class B and Class C office space rather than ground-up construction. This has tightened up a very soft local commercial market at least a little bit. And I would guess that half of downtown residents work elsewhere (including both faculty/staff or students at SU and Upstate) or are empty-nesters. There's a decent amount of reverse-commuting going on.

