“Progress always involves risk; you can’t steal second base and keep your foot on first.” ― F.W. Dupee

New Rochelle, the city I live at, is growing by leaps and bounds.  The jury is still out if that is a good or bad thing.

This is part of a project initiated in 2015 to revitalize the downtown area.  The mayor just been reelected so it seems most of the population (at least of the voting population) are on board with his plans.

There will be apartment buildings, hotels, storefronts, etc.  The new buildings will provide an additional 6,000 rental units.  We are just 30 minutes from Manhattan so the idea is to attract the people that work there but don’t want to pay NY City rent prices to live there.

I hope that the infrastructure will be able to handle all this growth.  More people means more traffic, more pollution, perhaps more crime, among other issues that a larger population brings.

“The acknowledgement of a single possibility can change everything.”
― Aberjhani,

To quote Mayor Noam Bramson: “In 2019, New Rochelle is a growing city — growing faster than almost any other in New York State — with the most ambitious downtown development plan in the entire Hudson Valley, with a plan that is attracting unprecedented investment, bringing life and energy to our city’s center, from the street-front to the skyline”.

To achieve all that the mayor has promised to quickly approve any projects that are presented. And he has, click here http://www.101010nr.com/ and you can see all the buildings going up and their progress.  There are over 20 buildings.

New Rochelle is already diverse and artsy, but I am hoping for even more culture, more art exhibits, new restaurants, stores and entertainment in general.  Unfortunately just this week 2 restaurants have closed down and there are many retail spaces that have been vacant for years. I am trying to remain optimistic that all that will change with the arrival of more people.

“People who want a cure, provided they can have it without pain, are like those who favour progress, provided they can have it without change.”― Anthony de Mello 

In keeping with being more cultural, several murals have been painted around downtown.  They were the result of a SAM- Street Art for Mankind project.  They are a really cool non-profit organization.  Check it out: https://streetartmankind.org/about/

I only have pictures of the 3 murals that are right next to my building (all posted here).  If you want to see the others you can check them out here: https://streetartmankind.org/nrny/?doing_wp_cron=1576782329.6356120109558105468750

In 2018 New Rochelle was one of 9 cities nationwide to win $1 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies U.S. Mayors Challenge.  New Rochelle won with the idea of improving development projects by using virtual reality to better illustrate proposed projects to the residents.   Sao Paulo, the city where I come from in Brazil was also a winner in 2016.

To check out other winners: https://mayorschallenge.bloomberg.org/bold-ideas/

“Are you open-minded? If not, leave the door open to it.” ― Frank Sonnenberg, Soul Food: Change your Thinking, Change Your Life

Another project that the city of New Rochelle is trying out is free electric shuttles in the downtown area.  You can flag them as they pass by or there is an app and you can request them.  I haven’t tried them yet but I love the idea. https://www.newrochelleny.com/circuitnr

And there you have it: a glimpse of some of what is going on in my city.

By the way,  New Rochelle is nicknamed Queen City of the Sound because of its shoreline.  So sound as in ocean inlet and not noise.

“Restlessness is discontent — and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man — and I will show you a failure.”― Thomas A. Edison