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The City of Syracuse’s Community Streets program gives you the opportunity to turn your ideas for street improvements into temporary “popup” projects: projects that you design and install with City input and approval. Pop-up projects are typically in place for between one day and six months.

This webpage is here as your resource. Explore the step-by-step guidebook and application form, look for inspirations from past studies and other cities’ programs, and find the detailed guides and data you will need to develop a project of your own!

The pilot year of the Community Streets Program was first announced at the November 30, 2023 Forum on Active Transportation (FOAT), hosted by the SMTC. On December 19, 2023, SMTC staff, Adapt CNY volunteers, and staff from the City of Syracuse hosted a virtual Q&A session for interested community members and groups to ask questions about the program and discuss specific project ideas. Recordings of both meetings can be found on the SMTC YouTube channel.

Adapt CNY volunteers selected three of the projects submitted to fund and install during the summer of 2024. Details of the selected projects can be found below:

Alchemical Nursery

Ed Smith PTO

Hopeprint

Please review the application questions in the PDF below. Final applications may either be submitted through the online application form, or you may email a completed version of the PDF to contactus@smtcmpo.org.

All projects must take into consideration design standards, traffic volumes, and the space available.

Please complete the Cost Estimate Worksheet below and email it to contactus@smtcmpo.org.

The below design and material guides have been developed for other tactical urbanism projects and may be used as reference to better understand what materials you may be interested in using. Also, for inspiration, please see existing plans from across the City and similar pop-up programs running in other cities across Upstate New York further down this page.

To help kickstart the Community Streets Program, Adapt CNY will be working alongside the City of Syracuse and the SMTC to select up to three projects for the first year to fund. Only these sponsored projects will be considered as part of this pilot year. Check out the information sheet below!

While you do not need to complete the documents below in order to submit your project application, all approved projects will need to submit at least one, if not all, of the permits and waivers below depending on the level of need your project calls for. Staff from the City and SMTC will inform you which documents you will need to complete before your project can be installed.

Syracuse is not alone in its quest to improve streets for all users. Both Rochester and Albany have on-going pop-up programs aimed at demonstrating safer street design in their neighborhoods. Take a look to find inspiration and help you plan your own project!