Southeast Quadrant - ABC Streets
Located in the Park Avenue Historic District, the ABC
Streets Neighborhood is a vibrant urban community encompassing more than 600 households bounded by Culver Road, Harvard
Street, Park Avenue and Colby Street. Within
these boundaries are the ABC Streets, which appear in alphabetical order
– Audubon, Beverly, Calumet, Darwin, Ericsson, Faraday, Girard and Homer.
The population of this beautiful, tree-lined neighborhood
includes long-time residents, singles, couples, families with small children,
empty nesters, young professionals and college students. Neighbors live within
walking distance of nearby Park Avenue’s active retail and restaurant scene and
many outstanding Rochester institutions, including the George Eastman Museum,
Memorial Art Gallery, the Rochester Museum and Science Center, and historic
East Avenue churches and mansions.
Also within walking distance is Cobbs Hill Park, which
offers plentiful green space, picnic grounds, extensive playground and exercise
equipment, tennis courts, basketball courts and ball fields. Nearby restaurants
and retail opportunities on Culver Road are readily accessible.
Residents of the neighborhood
first organized in the mid-1980s in response to the possible impact on their properties
due to what was then known as the Can of Worms (I490/I590) reconstruction
project and related sound barrier construction. The I490 expressway previously had
replaced the subway bed that in turn had replaced the old Erie Canal that once
followed a route behind many homes on Harvard Street. As a result of the fledgling
association’s efforts over the following years, affected neighbors lost less of
their property to the reconstruction project than had been anticipated.
In the years that followed the ABC
Streets Neighborhood Association’s predecessor group forming in 1986, the
association also tackled many issues focused on parking and noise problems. By 2005
the association in partnership with other neighborhood associations had helped
to get the City’s Noise Ordinance amended.
Officially renamed the ABCStreets Neighborhood Association in 2010,
the association is now well known for working in diverse ways to enhance the overall
neighborhood. It has sponsored garden walks, music and outdoor movie nights,
fall festivals, holiday events and children’s parades, and volunteer clean ups
to maintain two small parks within the neighborhood’s boundaries – Morrison
Park and the Calumet Triangle. The association sponsored the street banners in
the neighborhood and for years has worked closely with the City to ensure the
healthy maintenance of the tree lawns in the neighborhood.
One especially notable achievement
occurred in 2020 when the association’s multi-year efforts working with the
Landmark Society and nearby neighborhood associations resulted in the Park
Avenue Historic District being placed on the National Register of Historic
Places. As a result, homeowners in the ABC neighborhood (and other
neighborhoods covered by the historic district) may now apply for state tax
credits for qualifying repair and rehab expenses.
Additional Information
If you would like additional information on this neighborhood, please contact the Southeast Quadrant Neighborhood Service Center:
320 N Goodman St - Suite 209
Rochester, New York 14607
(585) 428-7640
Email: Erica.Hernandez@cityofrochester.gov