Oneonta Downtown Renaissance by Cassandra Miller

Community-driven Effort is Energizing Oneonta’s Main Street

In a time when building consensus is difficult, it’s been easy to get behind the vision for downtown Oneonta to be a destination for both residents and visitors. The city-funded Oneonta Downtown Renaissance kicked off in June with the explicit purpose of attracting people downtown.

It’s especially exciting to see how the Downtown Renaissance has sparked a wave of community-driven initiatives, such as the Oneonta Storefront Project, which fills vacant storefronts with art, and downtown business owners collaborating on promotions like sidewalk sales. Organizers and artists already doing cool things like the second Saturday Nighttime Alley Market have been able to harness their efforts to something bigger with the Oneonta Downtown Renaissance, too.

That’s the point—to engage different community members to activate downtown, which benefits all of us, from year-round residents and the college community to summer baseball families.

This summer, the city has invested in this vision significantly through:

• Weekly Thursday evening music performances in Muller Plaza
• Daytime activities in Muller Plaza organized by FOR-DO’s Club Odyssey
• Relocating the Oneonta Farmers’ Market to Dietz Street from Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center
• Fast-tracking Oneonta Community Initiative grants of up to $1,000.00, including for student artwork on Main Street rubbish bins
• Waiving permits for food and artisan vendors in Muller Plaza and Dietz Street during closures
• Hiring a Downtown Renaissance coordinator to manage musicians and vendors

It’s not just the city that is creating reasons for people to go downtown, it’s the businesses and organizations that keep offering ways to enjoy our city, which was recognized as one of “Money” magazine’s 50 Best Places to Live in 2024.

This week offers a treasure trove of reasons to head downtown, most notably the annual City of the Hills Festival. The free community celebration is organized by the Community Arts Network of Oneonta and involves dozens of artisans, musicians, organizations, and vendors. With a kickoff block party at CANO’s Wilber Mansion on Ford Avenue on Friday and the artisan market and activity fair on Main Street on Saturday, the City of the Hills Festival is the perfect opportunity to celebrate our community.

Here’s what’s happening downtown this week:

• Wednesday: Book launch of “Negative Girl” by Libby Cudmore at Roots Public Social Club; Brazilian flamenco music at B Side Ballroom
• Thursday: Final Thursday night music in Muller Plaza summer concert series, featuring The FisherCats led by five-time Grammy award-winning producer Joe Ferla; Live jazz at Roots Public Social Club
• Friday: City of the Hills Kickoff Block Party at CANO Wilber Mansion; 80s DJ Dance Party at Black Oak Tavern
• Saturday: Dog Days End of Summer Parade at Neahwa Park; City of the Hills Festival on Main Street; Family Resource Network’s 30th Anniversary Celebration at Foothills PAC; “Anomaly” film screening at Foothills PAC; Hop City Hellcats at B Side Ballroom; Stonkeonta Throwdown with Stonk, Orange Grove, and the Parkies at Black Oak Tavern

Oneonta Downtown Renaissance dispels the notion that there’s no reason to head downtown. There’s so much to do on our historic Main Street and the surrounding area.

Cassandra Miller is a member of the Oneonta Downtown Renaissance Steering Committee and the editor of the “Townie” Substack newsletter.