In the 1960s, like many cities, Auburn undertook urban renewal, demolishing the historic downtown in favor of a series of arterials and a central commerce district in the style of big box retail surrounded by surface parking. More about the history of the loop road: https://auburnpub.com/lifestyles/how-urban-renewal-in-auburn-shaped-me-as-an-urbanist-part-two/article_0651c724-db1f-50e0-a423-54f320da9fbd.amp.html
1995 - LEFT / 2020 - RIGHT
The Auburn Landfill closed in November 2020. https://auburnpub.com/news/local/auburn-landfill-to-stop-accepting-garbage-soon-with-transfer-station-poised-to-open/article_16298ace-b173-51ab-9111-abfe32ef6915.html
Nucor Steel Auburn, Inc. and our approximately 300 teammates are proud New York State manufacturers. By recycling over 1 billion pounds of scrap steel every year, our mill has been making steel bar products with 100 percent recycled content since 1974. Our steel is used in building projects, as well as highway and bridge construction. Nucor Steel Auburn, Inc. is one of 24 scrap-based steel mills operated by Nucor Corporation, the largest steel producer in the United States. Nucor is also North America’s largest recycler. In 2015, Nucor recycled nearly 17 million tons of scrap steel. https://www.centerstateceo.com/business-directory/nucor-steel-auburn-inc-8004
The city before the urban planners took a stab at redesigning the historic downtown through demolition and new highways.
Forty years ago, Auburn was in the midst of one of the most transformative periods in its history: urban renewal.
The transformation mostly consisted of three distinct but inseparable components: the demolition and replacement of several downtown buildings through the City Center Urban Renewal Project, the construction of the Arterial highway and the creation of Loop Road.
Even today, conflicting feelings linger over the transformation — many of which concern how Auburn, with assistance from the state and federal governments, accomplished it.
Read more about the history of Urban Renewal in Auburn. https://auburnpub.com/news/local/auburns-great-divide-how-urban-renewal-the-arterial-have-affected-the-city/article_99f07eeb-81b8-53a7-b164-1c126e840991.html
