Genesee River Alliance — a Genesee Land Trust initiative since 2019 — is focused on the upcoming High Falls State Park in downtown Rochester.

As a close partner with the City and New York State, we’re working to ensure our diverse community members - especially park-side residents in Edgerton and El Camino - are heard in the process. You can see a project and community engagement timeline here.

Since the project was announced in 2022, we’ve organized special visits to the base of High Falls, surveyed 1,347 community members in English and Spanish, co-produced a project video with Tour Blend and Greentopia to raise awareness and survey engagement, and hosted a series of public community forums. In 2024 we also started the Bridging Communities riverside celebration with 600+ attendees, which will return to Driving Park Bridge this summer. And in April 2025, Genesee River Alliance announced our initial findings.

This is what we’ve learned so far:

Top 5 Community Requests:

ADA Accessibility, Bathrooms, Benches, Pedestrian Trails, Lighting

Top 10 Activities:

Walking, Relaxing, Reading Signs, Special Events, Picnics, Photography, Biking, Kayaking, Bird Watching, Dog Walking

Community Concerns:

Safety & Cleanliness

You can review the full survey results here.

For more information, please contact:

Helen Dumas, Senior Director of Programs and Community Engagement

hdumas@geneseelandtrust.org

(585) 256-2130 x130