Oneonta Downtown Renaissance by Cassandra Miller

Leaning Into What the City of Oneonta Does Best

While attending the Radically Rural conference in Keene, New Hampshire last week, three themes stood out as particularly relevant to Oneonta: “Reweave our social fabric,” “Re-engage the next generation,” and “Reframe the narrative.”

Like many small towns and cities, Oneonta faces challenges—shifting Main Street dynamics, a shrinking population and occasional incivility. But what’s important is how we respond.

One of the benefits of living in a rural setting is the strength of our social bonds. We know our neighbors and generally support and help one another. Our social fabric is tightly interwoven and it’s more apparent how interconnected people are in a smaller community compared to an urban area.

We have a population with an average age of 22.7, thanks to two colleges. We want to entice those students to stay and attract former residents like myself to return home.

One of the ways to do that is to reframe the narrative from what we lack to what we have. Oneonta is never going to be everything to everyone, but we can lean into who we are and appeal to those who want what we have here.

Oneonta does not have the vast variety of dining options or as many opportunities to wear cocktail dresses to galas and openings as I enjoyed when I lived in larger cities, but it has a bunch of things that have made me want to put down roots here.

For me, one of the things I love most about Oneonta is the sense of community and feeling like I can be a relevant part of its social fabric. I can sit in the window seat at Latte Lounge and have several impromptu catch-ups with people from all walks of life. My friends and I can throw a cocktail potluck dance party in Wilber Park, as we did in May this year, melding several friend groups.

Another thing that is pretty special about Oneonta is the sheer number of fun things happening every week. We are a community of creatives who do things just for the heck of it. Like last weekend, when the Mopar Cams, a local rockabilly group, decided to dress up like the Beatles and re-create the band’s iconic 1969 rooftop concert from the deck of the Autumn Cafe.

The free concert attracted hundreds of people and was the after-party for another cool event—the Greater Oneonta Historical Society’s Hops for History, which invited attendees to travel to six downtown establishments for beer and food pairings.

Following the Beatles concert, Main Street was buzzing with SUNY Oneonta’s family weekend visitors and a Mexican festival in Muller Plaza. Colorful papel picado banners hung between lamp posts and DJ music made downtown feel like a party.

My friends and I enjoyed excellent craft cocktails mixed by Vicky at Roots Public Social Club, and as we sat at a sidewalk table, we said it felt like we were in Europe or Mexico City. But, then we walked across the street and got pizza at Tino’s and it somehow felt better than traveling anywhere because we were enjoying a night out in our hometown.

Oneonta has so much going for it. We have to own what’s great about our community. We need to look for the good and think about what our assets are. How and where do you play and enjoy our community?

Cassandra Miller is a member of the Oneonta Downtown Renaissance Steering Committee and the editor of the “Townie” Substack newsletter.