Criminal Justice

In The New Jim Crow, author Michelle Alexander meticulously crafts the argument that black Americans have been disproportionately targeted by the once widely advertised War on Drugs.  The result has been a massive growth in America's prison population, largely composed of black men, many of whom have spent years in prison for relatively minor drug crimes which would go unnoticed in much of the country.  Further compounding the injustice is the fact that upon release from prison, the label of felon (often forced upon "criminals" through plea deals) makes reentry into society amazingly difficult, as discrimination against felons in the arenas of housing and employment is perfectly legal.  The ultimate outcome has been the decimation of America's inner cities, with fatherless families being all too common and standard stereotypes being unfairly reinforced.  Remarkably, when citizens are asked about the most pressing issues facing our cities, criminal justice reform hardly makes the cut.

In Rochester, we unfortunately have a firsthand look at the hopelessness that can affect urban America.  Our local conversation mirrors the national conversation, with an immense amount of coverage focused on education, employment, transportation, and crime.  Relatively speaking, criminal justice reform receives far less attention.  Yet the reality that drug use in Pittsford is not treated nearly the same as drug use in the city of Rochester cannot be denied.  And the subsequent consequences to our community as a whole are equally undeniable.

Given the above reality, the following questions seem reasonable:

1. Does our media really need to provide intense coverage of every crime committed in the city of Rochester, often supporting preconceived notions and thus affecting how we direct our community's resources? 
2. Can our media at a minimum spend an equal amount of time on criminal justice reform as it spends on crime itself?
3. Does a city like Rochester really want to elect yet another police chief as mayor? (The answer might be yes, but the question warrants consideration.)

 

Absolute vs. Relative

As discussed many times previously, part of Rochester's charm is found in its tendency toward self-deprecation.  But as also mentioned several times, Rochesterians often find themselves on a slippery slope between humorous self-deprecation and damaging self-hatred.  This latter entity is defined by the feeling that our problems are unique (i.e. no other city in the world could possibly have the same issues.) This thought process clouds our local dialogue on many issues such as poverty, crime, education, transportation, etc.

Recently, the Democrat and Chronicle published an interesting article on the role of transportation (or lack thereof) in maintaining urban poverty.  The article addresses the important fact that Rochester has an overrepresentation of public transportation commutes greater than one hour (one way), markedly penalizing those living in or near poverty.  The author addresses the irony of this quandary in a region that prides itself on short commutes.  The fitting conclusion of the piece is that the location of jobs and public transportation infrastructure both need to improve.

Yet prior to taking the next step and concluding how horrible Rochester is compared to other cities, it is worth looking at public transportation statistics in relative terms rather than absolute terms.  Exactly how does Rochester compare to other locations with regards to public transit commute times?

In Rochester, as per the Census Bureau's 2014 one-year American Community Survey, the average commute time for transit users was 40.2 minutes.  This transit commute time happened to be lower than that in San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Oakland, Portland (OR), Newark (NJ), Denver, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Baltimore, Santa Ana (CA), Houston, and Cleveland.  What do these 15 cities have in common? They were recently ranked among the top 25 best cities for public transportation.

Wine (Again)

On a recent flight back to Rochester, I partook in a spontaneous conversation on the merits of the Flower City.  The general consensus was that life here, aided by a dose of optimism, can be fantastic.  The gentleman next to me succinctly pointed out that Rochesterians must sacrifice only two things, namely bragging rights and direct flights.  While the direct flights commentary is difficult to contest, the bragging rights issue is more debatable.  What city can boast a major downtown hotel having to close its kitchen due to a mouse infestation?

All joking aside, here is yet another example of how our disrespected town can keep some pretty solid company.  Infogroup recently sought to identify America's best metro areas for wine drinkers (among metropolitan statistical areas with over one million residents.)  The methodology was quite simple - the most wine retailers and wineries per 10,000 residents.  The top 10 were:

1. Portland, OR
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Seattle, WA
4. Sacramento, CA
5. Rochester, NY
6. San Jose, CA
7. New York ,NY
8. Washington, DC
9. Hartford, CT
10. Cincinnati, OH

Family

The holiday season serves as a great (usually) opportunity to reconnect with family.  During this year's festivities, I had the realization that Rochester is in many ways just like a dear family member:

• Great pride comes with discussing Rochester's assets and accomplishments (museums, breweries, schools, Finger Lakes, inner loop removal, etc.).
• At times, Rochester can be remarkably irritating (repeated discussions about Kodak, the train station (shack), the Family Dollar store next to the empty garage type thing on Main Street, etc.).
• After some time away from Rochester, a strong desire to reconnect develops.
• Something about Rochester demands taking abundant photographs.
• Making fun of Rochester is fair game, unless a non-Rochesterian is making the jokes.
• After years of knowing Rochester, you got to admit that he/she is a really good kid.

Embrace It

Unbeknownst to me prior to my arrival in Rochester, the area receives an abundance of snow.  (Okay, perhaps I did have slight forewarning of the weather.)  Surprisingly, the ample winter precipitation is frequently met with a collective groan, rather than what could be an emphatic embrace.  Because as is often the case, when Rochester does something, it does it in world-class fashion (think music, Riesling, children's museum, iconic companies, etc.)  Not only does it snow here, it snows in a way that makes the world take notice.  In fact, as measured by average annual snowfall among cities with over 100,000 residents, Rochester is one of the ten snowiest in the world.  So rather than shy away from this label, it's possible to wear it with pride.  Here are the top ten, in reverse order:

• Buffalo, NY, USA (95 inches)
• Rochester, NY, USA (99 inches)
• Akita, Tohoku, Japan (107 inches)
• Saguenay, Quebec, Canada (123 inches)
• Syracuse, NY, USA (124 inches)
• Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (124 inches)
• St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (131 inches)
• Toyama, Hokuriku, Japan (143 inches)
• Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan (191 inches)
• Aomori City, Tohoku, Japan (312 inches!)

Another List

In a move away from politics, the time seems right for another meaningless (yet potentially meaningful) list.  As the capital of film, it would seem logical that Rochester should be an ideal location for cinephiles (also known as movie buffs).  And the data, at least as collected by one source, would agree.  In 2013, Movoto Real Estate ranked the 10 Best Cities for Movie Lovers.  Although not perfectly specified, it appears that the 100 most populated metro areas were assessed by the following criteria:

• Movie theaters per capita
• Video rental stores per capita (perhaps a bit antiquated)
• Indie theaters per capita
• Number of annual film festivals
• Number of film/cinema museums
• Film societies per capita
• Drive-in theaters per capita
• Specialty theaters per capita

Here are the top 10:

1. Portland, OR
2. San Francisco, CA
3. Atlanta, GA
4. Las Vegas, NV
5. Pittsburgh, PA
6. Minneapolis, MN
7. Rochester, NY
8. Orlando, FL
9. Seattle, WA
10. Cincinnati, OH

(Rochester is also tough to beat in terms of movie watching weather.)

No Excuses

Prior to moving to Rochester from the New York City vicinity, I was asked if Rochester is diverse.  On the surface, the diversity of Rochester does not compare to New York City, which is seemingly home to residents from nearly every country across the globe.  However, upon further review, Rochester brings a different kind of diversity to the table.  Existing side-by-side are the Northeast with the Rust Belt, the densely urban with the classically rural, and the die-hard environmentalism linked to fresh water with the vehement conservatism linked to overregulation.  As such, Rochester is immensely diverse.  And given the ease of navigating the metro area (for most of us), we have very few, if any, excuses for not trying to appreciate and understand citizens that may not look exactly like, think exactly like, and/or live exactly like us.  In the current divisive post-election times, our ability in Rochester to understand all angles arguably surpasses that of less balanced regions.  Here is one person's take:

• As a brown guy, I can't say that I'm particularly excited about the sudden appearance of swastikas.  On the other hand, attributing Donald Trump's victory to racism is ludicrous.  Several of my brown family members (myself excluded) eagerly voted for Trump.  Similarly, many predominantly white working-class and/or rural counties that voted for Trump actually voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.  Not far from Rochester, Seneca County, Cayuga County, Oswego County, Madison County, Cortland County, Broome County, and Ostego County all voted for Obama in 2012.  In 2016, all seven counties voted for Trump.  Did the residents of these counties suddenly become racist? Highly doubtful.
• To divide America into rural and urban America may be equally simplistic.  As above, many regional rural counties gladly voted for Obama in 2012.  Furthermore, America's most densely populated state, New Jersey, saw nine of its twenty-one counties vote for Trump.
• Finally, explaining this outcome as a vote of the college educated versus the high school educated is just as condensed a version as any.  Some of the staunchest conservatives this country knows have been educated at the country's most elite institutions of higher learning.  A few examples include:

1. Laura Ingraham.  The conservative radio show host is a graduate of Dartmouth College.  Interestingly, she hails from Connecticut, which is generally a dark blue state.
2. Ted Cruz.  The ultraconservative senator from Texas is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. 
3. Clarence Thomas.  The conservative Supreme Court justice is a graduate of Yale Law School.  He also happens to be African-American.
4. Ann Coulter.  The conservative political commentator is a graduate of nearby Cornell University.  Neither Ithaca nor Coulter's native New York City are known for conservatism.

America is complicated, and simple answers do not exist.  As Rochesterians, we are perfectly situated to have this realization.  As history has shown, we will rise to the challenge.