Mayor Evans on State of City: Rochester is moving forward with a new momentum
The expanding circle of community partners collaborating to inspire hope and deliver opportunity for all city residents is moving Rochester forward with a new momentum, Mayor Malik D. Evans said in his third State of the City Address Wednesday.
“Rochester is gaining a new momentum because our city’s greatest resource, the people of Rochester – all the people of Rochester – are working together to build that momentum,” Mayor Evans said. “We, not me, are working together. All of us – are moving Rochester forward together.”
Speaking at the William A. Johnson Jr. Terminal Building at the Port of Rochester, Mayor Evans said the community partners are playing an increasingly larger role in creating a safer, more equitable, and more prosperous Rochester by inspiring hope and delivering opportunity for everyone.
“Hope begets opportunity. Opportunity begets hope,” he said. “That is the self-perpetuation of the new momentum we are building in Rochester.”
Starting with public safety, Mayor Evans said the commitment to apply every available tool to drive down gun violence is paying off. Key gun violence metrics all fell by about half from their high points during the pandemic. From 2021 through 2024, shootings fell by 53 percent; shooting injuries by 51 percent; and fatal shootings went down by 49 percent.
“And the true signs of our momentum toward a safer Rochester are visible beyond the numbers,” Mayor Evans said. “As Rochester’s streets become increasingly safer, residents and business owners feel increasingly empowered to contribute to the momentum.”
He cited the examples of the Lyell-Otis, Edgerton and Maplewood neighborhoods, where residents revived partnerships with the Rochester Police Department, and are organizing activities to beautify the business corridors and encourage civic engagement.
Mayor Evans said he was especially encouraged to see the dramatic decline of fatal shootings among young people under 18: from seven in 2022 to one in 2024.
The success of investments to make Rochester more equitable can be seen in neighborhoods with histories of segregation and redlining. Initiatives from the 2022 Housing Quality Task Force report are driving a reduction in blight caused by landlords who don’t maintain their properties and allow them to become vacant.
These include the addition of new housing Code Enforcement Inspectors, automating the compliance schedule to facilitate the enforcement of code violations; and hiring a dedicated housing attorney to hold unscrupulous landlords accountable through the court system.
“As it becomes increasingly evident that our zero-tolerance approach to housing quality isn’t going away, we’re seeing more landlords make a choice,” he said. “They can either bring their properties up to code and open lines of communication with their tenants, and the City. Or they can do what some of them are already doing — sell off their properties and get out of the Rochester market, altogether.”
Providing residents with secure housing is a major component of the City’s strategy to make Rochester more prosperous.
“Far too many of our residents are rent burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, leaving little else for basic needs like food, clothing, and emergency savings,” he said. “To counter this, we’ve adopted a comprehensive housing strategy that encompasses affordable housing, market-rate rental housing, and homeownership.”
To read the transcript or watch the 2025 State of the City Address, click the following button: