My dad watches 13WHAM News, of course.
More than once, he has called me to complain that our anchors called a location in the city “downtown” that is clearly not downtown. This happened yesterday, when we referred to N. Clinton and Rauber St.
He also gets frustrated when businesses at Ridge and Dewey advertise themselves as being located in Greece. (They're in the city.) He even gets annoyed when the news broadcasts show “Brighton” as the location for the Monroe County Health Department. (It's in the city.)
You can obviously tell where I get my city booster gene.
Why does any of this matter?
First and foremost, this is an issue of accuracy. We are journalists. Whether the story is downtown or in Webster, we have to give you the correct location.
Second, there are subtle consequences to making these kinds of errors. I've found over the years that the “downtown” mistake most often occurs when we're doing stories about crime. If we start arbitrarily expanding the boundaries of what's commonly referred to as “downtown,” we will be creating the perception that downtown has a crime problem. (It generally does not.)
It's kind of like the debate over whether Locust Hill Country Club is in Pittsford or Henrietta. (I believe it's in both.)
So what exactly constitutes downtown? Back when I started in news in Rochester, I had older colleagues who believed it was strictly defined by the Inner Loop. The
Rochester Downtown Development Corporation has added a few neighborhoods over the years. The RDCC now defines downtown as the area within the Inner Loop, East End, the northeastern part of Corn Hill, and High Falls.
There are oodles of other neighborhoods, besides downtown. I grew up in Maplewood, which is in northwest Rochester. I now live in Corn Hill. I feel lucky to be part of a community with so many different neighborhoods, whether they're in the city or the suburbs. Let's learn about these places, so we don't upset the residents who take pride in where they live.
