7. Downtown Oneonta Historic District

Downtown Oneonta Historic District
Photo by Stephen Yerly

Located in upstate New York, the small city of Oneonta is one of the northernmost cities in the Appalachian region. For more than 200 years, the Downtown Oneonta Historic District has been a center of economic activity and urban development. Many of its commercial, converted residential, and civic buildings remain intact. Yet like many small cities with dwindling populations, Oneonta suffers from disinvestment and rural poverty.

“Oneonta’s Downtown Historic District is not just a business district, it is representative of generations of hopes and dreams, it is an investment made by those who came before us and one that we will leave for those who come after,” Stephen Yerly, Deputy Community Development Director for the City of Oneonta said in a statement. “Historic preservation is collective memory and valuing the experiences and places that have shaped us and will continue to shape future generations.

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