Syracuse is on a roll. Redevelopment and historic restoration projects are breathing new life into a downtown that was long moribund. The population of the Upstate New York city grew in the last census for the first time in 70 years. Bond ratings are up. And just outside city limits, a $100 billion semiconductor “mega-fab,” or construction plant, is set to rise, promising tens of thousands of jobs.
Mayor Ben Walsh doesn’t claim credit for all these changes. But since taking office in 2018, he’s noticeably improved city services and taken a collaborative approach with state, regional and business leaders, helping to position Syracuse to seize its moment when it finally came. “We’ve worked really hard to get ourselves to this point,” he says.
He’s quick to say his role in securing Micron’s transformative microchip investment “was limited,” but adds, “I like to think we assisted in closing the deal.” Executives stayed at a restored hotel that symbolizes Syracuse’s renaissance, visited a new international food hall, and left confident in the region’s ability to attract, train and retain the skilled workforce Micron will need.
Walsh wants many of the future engineers and technicians to come from Syracuse — not just the university but the town itself. He championed the city’s first STEAM high school — focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and math — which will open this fall in a restored historic school building. The school will feature a curriculum developed in conjunction with local employers. “It sends a message that we value our young people,” Walsh says, “and want to ensure they have the skills to be competitive in the new economy.”
Walsh himself hails from a prominent local political family. His father and grandfather both served in Congress, and his grandfather was mayor of Syracuse in the 1960s. Ben Walsh worked for his predecessor, Stephanie Miner, as deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development before becoming the city’s first political independent to win the mayor’s office.
Walsh earned a master’s of public administration from Syracuse University and is passionate about the mechanics of local government. His team digitized old paper-based systems for building permits and procurement. Nico Diaz, the city’s chief innovation and data officer, says Walsh starts many meetings with a review of key metrics. “When the mayor is really interested in the data,” Diaz says, “it signals to departments: Hey, this stuff is important.”
No matter the metrics, some decisions remain controversial. Walsh’s decision to replace a deteriorating elevated highway with a surface street grid “was a very touchy issue,” says Syracuse political scientist Grant Reeher.
Some residents and business groups argued to keep or even expand the highway. Others hoped removing it would address the historic wrong of building the highway through a Black neighborhood. Many worried about fueling a new wave of gentrification and displacement. “There were a lot of town halls where people were screaming at each other, and the papers emphasized the conflict,” Reeher says. “The mayor found a way to manage a working consensus.”
Walsh emphasizes visible, everyday improvements, the things residents can see to know their city is working better. He tackled the long-standing issue of broken sidewalks (once the responsibility of homeowners) by launching a city-run repair program. He overhauled garbage trucks, as well as trash and recycling bins, to reduce litter and worker injuries. In America’s snowiest city, he added more snowplows, optimized routes with GPS and introduced a digital map so residents can track when their street will be cleared.
“For all that we talk about the 30,000-foot, big-picture vision, the majority of my day to day is in the weeds — and honestly, that’s where I prefer to be,” says Walsh, now in his final year in office due to term limits. “If you want to know how your mayor is doing, walk out your door and look around. When people do that in Syracuse, they see new streetlights. They’re more likely to see freshly paved roads and repaired sidewalks. That’s what city government is supposed to do. And if you can’t get that right, you shouldn’t be focused on anything else.”
