An Upstate New York City Transforms Its Walkable Downtown into a Vibrant ‘Neighborhood of Play’

Cities across the U.S. have found creative ways to breathe new life into their downtowns, turning once-forgotten spaces into vibrant cultural destinations. Take, for example, Laurel, a Mississippi town with stunning architecture that revived its downtown with community effort. Rochester, New York, has undergone a similar transformation, proving that a city’s past doesn’t have to define its future. Back in 2011, Newsweek labeled Rochester one of “America’s dying cities,” citing its declining population and struggling economy. With major employers moving out and downtown businesses shuttering, the city faced an uncertain future. But over the past decade, Rochester has been rewriting its story — including with a grant from New York’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative — and one of its revitalized projects is the Neighborhood of Play, a complete reimagining of a defunct expressway into a walkable, delightful district.

The Neighborhood of Play followed from a project to remove and repurpose Rochester’s Inner Loop, a multi-lane expressway that cut off downtown from surrounding neighborhoods. At the heart of the neighborhood is the Strong National Museum of Play, an interactive museum that USA Today ranked the second-best pop culture museum in the country. But the neighborhood offers more than just exhibits — it’s a lively district with a gaming bar, public art, and local food and drink spots. What was once an isolated stretch of pavement is now a downtown destination designed for fun.

When Rochester’s Inner Loop freeway was first built, it cut through historic neighborhoods, displacing homes, businesses, and hotels in the name of car-centric urban planning. The wide, sunken expressway created a divide between downtown and the outer communities. But by the early 2000s, it had become clear that Rochester’s reduced population didn’t need such a sprawling highway, and in 2014, the city began an ambitious project to fill in portions of it and reclaim the land for public use. To Bloomberg, Erik Frisch, the city’s deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development, described the change: “If you’re familiar at all with what was the Inner Loop, then it is surreal when people come back to town.” What was once wasted space is now a well-connected, walkable area.

The Strong National Museum of Play played a key role in shaping the neighborhood. The museum agreed to replace its large surface parking lot with a new parking garage, allowing for better road connections and more development space. In 2023, the museum unveiled a massive 90,000-square-foot expansion, celebrated with speeches from New York politicians.

Inside, the museum is full of must-see toy history and hands-on exhibits. Visitors can step into the Infinity Arcade, where games from the early 1900s to today are available to play, or explore the Hasbro Board Game Place featuring a 15-foot Chutes and Ladders. The Field of Play exhibit invites guests to walk through a mega-sized kaleidoscope, while a serene butterfly garden inspires natural wonder. With so much to explore, the museum offers both single-day tickets ($25 per adult, as of this writing) and two-day passes ($37.50) for those who want to take their time. It’s open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and until 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.