Posted by On November 8th 2014, I hopped on an Amtrak train at 5:40am and started my journey to Utica, New York. Once I arrived, I walked around, saw the sites, visited the attractions, ate the food, talked with the people, and then departed on a train home. One day in a place I had never heard anything good about changed my life in a way I could never have imagined.
I fully intended the write-up of my visit to kick off a sort of positive travel blog about places that people wouldn’t think to spend a day. And boy did that idea connect with people, especially residents of Utica. Days after I launched “Utica: A Day of Fun, A Story Of Hope,” tens of thousands of people had read the post. I received an email asking if I would return for lunch with the mayor. Radio and TV stations emailed and called wanting interviews. The buzz made its way to Rochester, where local TV hosts asked me to appear on morning shows. I received calls and emails from former Uticans now living in Florida, The Carolinas, Texas, California, Taiwan, and Japan, all overjoyed to read a positive depiction of their former home.
Some people spend their lives trying to do something unique, trying to find that thing that catches with the masses. Now more than ever, people create social media accounts with the sole purpose of attempting to “go viral.” And while my writing has never become an international sensation, I have been fortunate enough to stumble upon a platform that has struck a chord with so many.
A decade ago, my journey began when I traveled to Utica, New York and blogged about a day I will never forget. Since then, my blog has transitioned from an off-the-beaten-path travel resource, to an urbanist commentary, and finally presenting as a personal narrative about how to challenge the notion of the traditional urban/suburban narrative. An estimated 2 million people have read what I have written, and for that I feel tremendously fortunate. I have no ego with regard to what I’ve been able to express… instead I feel grateful that the social fabric was ripe, the internet algorithms were aligned, and the interpersonal conduits were ready to receive the message.
I’ve been lucky enough to lecture at academic institutions, share my perspectives on radio and TV, be republished by nationally respected media outlets, and connect with communities, leaders, and activists who share my enthusiasm. I’ve had a lot of good fortune to be able to do what so many try to do. I’ve been able to amplify my voice beyond those who know me. I’ve had the chance to connect and clash with viewpoints from around the country, and around the globe. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to help people rethink the design of American communities.
And yet many of those opportunities have passed for a number of reasons that I will explain in this post. While I want to capture the history of this publication, I would really like to share a little bit about how my own life has changed because of the blog, and more importantly, how the blog has changed because I have changed too.
A Decade of the UP
On January 13, 2014, I hit “Publish” on a new post in my seldom-enjoyed photo blog, which accompanied my professional photo website, ArianDavidPhotography.com. In highlighting my aforementioned trip to Utica, my intention was to use my photography experience to capture the good in a community that had lost nearly half of its population. My intent was to put a positive spin on a place I had never heard a good thing about. It was a challenge I was sure I could visually conquer. What I did not expect was to find a place and a community that was welcoming, generous, interesting and inviting. And fun.
When I shared the post on social media, I tagged the people I had met, the local businesses that I visited, and the community organizations I had connected with. It took some time, but I remember sitting at my desk at work, suddenly feeling my phone vibrate every couple of seconds. I checked the blog views and was shocked to see 637 people had read the post already. But the truly shocking moment that I will never forget was when I refreshed the screen after looking at the numbers for a few seconds, only to see that 21 more people had read the post. I refreshed again. Another 17.
The post went viral. I had to turn notifications to my phone off in order to go to sleep. Endless emails and phone calls flooded in. Media requests for interviews were regular.
I had done it. I had created a viral blog post, albeit a highly localized one. The post was read by 28,000 people in less than two days. The previous record for the most people who read one of my blogs was 53.
With all the momentum in the world, I then visited Schenectady, another city I had never been to but also had never heard a positive thing about. That blog had the same effect, generating nearly 100,000 views, countless communications, and media attention. I had found the formula… take a genuinely positive stance on communities that have struggled (I love to see the good in the world!) and use my photography and my writing abilities to show that they are actually really great places to live and visit.
Binghamton, Rome, Geneva, Amsterdam, Albany… I blogged about visiting them all, with each one going mini-viral. Eventually I “detached” the blog from my photography company and gave it an identity of its own, calling it The Urban Phoenix.
But many things were happening. I was a technician at the University of Rochester and wasn’t making much money. I was just starting to solidify a relationship with the amazing woman who would become my wife. I was still photographing about 15-20 weddings each year on weekends, not to mention portraits and events. I wasn’t making money from my blog, and to be honest, traveling to places and patronizing shops and establishments was costing me money I didn’t have. There is also the time… visiting cities, recording interviews, editing photos and actually presenting a story of my experience was extremely time consuming. So carving out a space for the blog in my life was challenging.
In the meantime I also began to read any book I could get my hands on about cities, urban life and city evolution. Jeff Speck’s “Walkable City” opened my eyes to what cities were, are, and could be again. Street Smart, Street Fight, Survival of the City, City on the Verge, Yes to the City, Happy City, The 15-Minute City, Suburban Nation, Build for Good, Paved Paradise, City of Refugees, Dream Cities, The Color of Law, Saving our Cities, and more. I learned how public transit, population density, and a host of other factors make cities attractive places. I also learned that racism, zoning, parking, and freeway building through our downtowns spun cities into a racially-motivated death spiral, much like the one I had witnessed in my home city of Rochester, New York for most of my lifetime.
But what I was reading began to give me a lens and a vocabulary through which I could view all of the New York cities I was visiting. I was able to articulate why so many of these communities had fallen on hard times, and were now seeing a renaissance, a revitalization, and a renewed prioritization of urban life. I saw where investments in walkability were spurring public and private investment. I witnessed examples where the repurposing of automobile infrastructure (predominantly parking lots and multi-lane roads) was strengthening neighborhoods, which was counterintuitive to the traditional understanding of what makes a community thrive.
This newfound understanding of urban dynamics led me to the second incarnation of The Urban Phoenix. In this time, I shifted from a shiny, tourism-based review of New York cities, to a critical analysis of what cities were or were not doing to maximize their potential. It was in this time that I saw a dramatic decrease in readership.
While the heightened urbanistic lens that I now employed to the frequent republication by sites like Strong Towns and Streetsblog, my formally glowing commentary turned candid community accountability didn’t exactly strike a chord with the masses. Still, I was happy about the new foundation of the blog, and there was still plenty of readership that connected with the message. I quickly learned that being extensively positive can earn you a lot of online attention, but the true challenge is being intelligently critical and still garnering significant interest.
So I visited and re-visited New York cities I had written so much about previously, always speaking through the lens of my newfound urbanistic knowledge. To some extent, this is still what The Urban Phoenix is about. With the changing media landscape, I have often used YouTube and TikTok to create content that connected with local viewers. The new goal was to show what Upstate New York cities were doing to generate a newfound buzz, but also look at things like infrastructure projects, political vision, acceptance (or lack their of) of New Urbanistic principles, and more. Visual media became just as strong of a tool as my writing.
The Big Urban Mistake
The pinnacle and failure of my blog and its message came when I published “The Big Urban Mistake: Building for Tourism vs. Livability.” Strong Towns, a well respected website that speaks to the fiscal and social practicality of city life, republished this piece and the results were daunting. I estimate that, what the traffic I have seen from the sharing of this post, it alone has been read by nearly a million people. And yet today, I see how this piece, although well intentioned as a megaphone for pro-localism, has fueled an unintended insular vision of our cities. The goal was to send a message to city leaders to prioritize city residents new and old instead of appealing to tourists with glitzy entertainment outlets for the suburban and regional masses. In retrospect, neither of these groups can exist without one another, and if pressed, I would write a very different post today. This post became the rallying cry for NIMBY (not in my back yard) advocates in urban and suburban communities. As popular as this post was, and as many people connected with it, I see it as a failure. My intention was never to produce a piece of content that would become a manifesto of exclusivity. But it was my fist lesson in how an innocently-intended idea could be used to support a cause I would never have anticipated.
When The Blog Treaded On Political Tides
In the summer of 2017, a right-wing blog about Utica and its refugee population reverberated throughout the city. I felt it was my duty to respond, having the connection I did to the adopted city I loved. I posted a retort, not holding back regarding the shortsighted commentary about Utica.
Within moments, I people on twitter falsely attacked me with brutal claims that I won’t repeat here. I quickly learned that topics like road diets and bike lanes were the canary-in-the-mine for ultra-conservative mobilization against any effort to circumvent the dominance of the automobile. I learned how advocating for equitable cities was the trigger for right-wing assault. As much as I tried to stay away from a political stance at the start, I was ultimately roped into political battles, as somehow New Urbanistic principles that benefited everyone and made communities safer became a powder keg for conservative rhetoric. I fully intended this blog to be a place where people of all political affiliations could coalesce, but unfortunately, that was not the case.
When you have anything resembling a public presence, be it local, national or international, you have the opportunity to see the best and worst of humanity, especially in our social media society. I’ve had the chance to connect with the heights of the human spirit, as well of the catacombs of the human ego.
The Good
I know first hand that I have raised awareness for the communities I have visited and blogged about. I know that this exposure has led to tens of thousands of dollars in local business investment in these communities.
I was privileged to have a key role in turning a Downtown Rochester parcel of land into a piece of Center City green space.
The thing that means most to me is that scores of people have reached out and shared that my writing has helped them see their community with a different lens. The most powerful thing one can do in this world is influence a mind, and I am grateful I have had the opportunity to do so, if on a small scale.
The Bad
I was never able to consistently maintain the popularity of the blog. While for some time I reduced my workload to focus more on The Urban Phoenix, I lacked the strategic know-how to monetize it, and in the few opportunities I was given to make the blog profitable, I realized that I truly detest writing for others. I am very bad at writing for anyone but myself. I like to write without strings attached, and on the bright side, if you’re a regular reader, this is how you I can assure you that what I say is really me.
I have had the opportunity to serve on boards, I’ve been offered the opportunity to run for office… and I have squandered all of those chances. I realize that while I appreciate the political social process, I am tremendously impatient with both. That’s not an indictment of the process, but rather a flawed admission of my own fault.
I’m a decent amplifier of good ideas with regard to urbanism. I’m bad at the discipline of implementation. But we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and the key is being realistic about both.
The Ugly (The Fight That Broke Me)
A few years ago, my “adopted” city of Utica tested the idea of a road diet on Genesee Street in their downtown. Instead of the street being four lanes, it was re-striped as 2 lanes, a turning lane and bike lanes on each side. This has been shown across the country as a universally safer option that also better accommodates alternative forms of transportation.
I jumped into the fray with my friend and council member Katie Aiello and strongly advocated for the project. I was accosted online for my support, and was even threatened with gratuitous legal action by people who have always been suspicious of my “outsider” support of the small city. As my blog is just a voice that costs me money, I rescinded my support of Utica. I am happy to throw my advocacy behind communities who appreciate my support.
It’s a awful feeling when people you’ve never met share horrible social media threads about you with others, calling you names, making fun or your appearance, and stomping on your character… and to see it first hand. It makes you wonder if anyone really grows up after Junior High School.
I’d like to say I am the kind of person who fights the good fight. But the truth is, I think fights are stupid and I usually walk away if others just want to escalate the situation. I like to talk respectfully, compromise, and come to an agreement that we can share facts and fairly respond to ideas instead of casting baseless insults and insular opinions. This was the first time I directly encountered the cloud of ugliness that has engulfed our country.
2025
I honestly don’t quite know what this blog will become from here. Fewer and fewer people read the content. There are more and more people who create the same content that I have for a decade… but they do it far better than me.
The nation has emphatically elected a president and congress who will likely restrict urban life and cater to the shortsighted, racially, and exclusively white, car-centric narrative.
When you have a voice, you have to be realistic about what that voice is and how far you are willing to go with it. I am not a fighter. I don’t have the courage or financial resources to challenge those who oppose my ideals. And God Bless the people who have the energy to take an unwavering stance, but that’s not me. I am willing to put ideas into the world, but for me, this world is facing a dynamic that I am ill equipped to assimilate or combat.
I support all who carry the torch. I will continue to post, even though it’s been a while. That is my promise to you. I just needed some time for myself and my wife.
Raise A Glass
Here’s to 10 years of The Urban Phoenix Blog. I don’t believe in taking pride in accomplishments. I believe in being grateful for the opportunity to make a tiny difference. It’s been a fun journey, an eye-opening window into the tides of communities, an uplifting view of the human spirit, and a terrifying look at the energy fueling the mounting storm.
If you’re on my vibe, let’s keep going, together, like we always have. Thank you all for taking an interest in what I have to say. Thank you for walking this journey with me. Thank you for your feedback, your input, and in many cases, your friendship.
No matter what, you all changed my life for the better. Whether you have read my content for 10 years or 10 minutes, you have my heart and my gratitude.
I leave you with a recent photo of some of the lifelong friends I have met in Utica because of my blog. These are some of the best people that my wife and I know, and I am so happy to have the privilege of befriending them. At the end of the day, this is what my blog has been about… connecting good people who believe in a better tomorrow for everyone.
Thank you all. Let’s roll.