Last year on this date I put out my 5 Wishes For Central New York In 2013 and not only did none of them come true, none of them seemed to even be addressed. This year’s list will probably be ignored as well but hey, we can dream right? Here we go:

Syracuse-New-York-21. Another Final Four, possibly a national championship for Syracuse basketball. Okay, that’s not really fair because only 14 or 15 people can take care of that one. Still, it’s usually on my personal dreams list every year and I didn’t mention it last year, and I figure it’s got as much of a chance as the things I mentioned last year did. I’ve loved what I’ve seen so far, and I feel like I’ve already gotten the best of what I could possibly hope for from this year’s men’s, and women’s, basketball teams.

2. Destiny USA becomes all that it’s meant to become. Although it has some issues, I’m not one of those people hating on having Destiny USA in town. Frankly, I think we should be proud of the accomplishment, and for all the people who say they won’t go there because it’s too crowded, well, it’s always crowded which means someone’s going doesn’t it? I really believe if they ever build that hotel and renovate what I call the canal area (because I can never remember what it’s really called) that it could help make Syracuse a center of tourism, which then means many of the infrastructure things I wished for last year would finally be addressed because we don’t want to look bad in front of the rest of the country now do we?

3. Solve the Route 81 issue. I’m not really sure how all of this is going to end up but I think it’s time someone made a decision and get to working on things. Right now Route 81 around the University area is a mess, and to be truthful it’s always been scary at that point where 81 and 690 converge, no matter which direction you’re going or coming from. I also don’t know if moving the road from where it is now will actually help the neighborhoods close to it because I can’t figure out how it could help; I don’t have that kind of vision. But let’s start doing something okay?

20130901_111325_resized4. Find ways to reduce taxes and encourage job growth. After hearing about the massive tax increase in Oswego and knowing that the Syracuse area still has way too many properties they’re not collecting taxes on, thus putting the area in a financial bind, I think it’s time for brighter minds to figure out how to increase revenue in ways other than higher taxation. I’m not an economist but my mind believes that reducing taxes by at least 20% and finding ways to reduce unemployment by at least 50% ends up bringing more money into the entire community; am I wrong here?

5. Start finding more positive ways to inspire kids in the area so we can stop stupid stuff like the Knockout Game. Why do kids do stupid stuff? Because they’re bored, unmotivated and uninspired. I don’t profess to know all there is to know about kids because I don’t have any, but I was a kid and I remember that back in the day we had Boys and Girls Clubs. I don’t know if that type of thing is feasible anymore because of liability issues but maybe it’s time to go into schools throughout all of central New York and ask the kids what they believe they need. If they continue getting into gangs, doing drugs, or causing general mayhem “just because”, it hurts all of us. Nothing else has worked so why not give it a try?

That’s all I have. I wish everyone a great 2014 and let’s make our community great!