Our May 2026 Update

We're off to a roaring start cleaning and beautifying downtown Rochester, so we hope you'll enjoy these quick highlights...

One of our new initiatives this year is giving a "glow-up" to the entrances of small office and residential buildings. We're placing colorful, high-quality planters in multiple locations based on the willingness of tenants to water the flowers 💦

It's a way to scale up our impact, while engaging more folks in placemaking!

We placed 3 large planters outside both 96 Liberty Pole Way and 214 Andrews St

And speaking of scaling up, we set a new record this month with 136 total volunteer hours!

This included our first United Way Day of Caring project, as well as a collaboration with Walking For Rochester.

The net result of this generosity was the completion of TWO stunning gardens, the preparation of a third, and the removal of over 1,600 pounds of trash!

Extra special thanks to the incredible folks at KD The Boulder Company for installing a dramatic raised garden bed for the second year in a row! This is a true blessing, making it possible for us to double the size of the Midge Thomas Community Garden this summer 🙏

Thank you to our May volunteers!

Another project we're really excited about is the transformation of a parking lot along E. Main St. This otherwise nondescript block between Stillson and Chestnut now features two separate corner gardens (one shade, one sun).

Surface lots fronting Main Street are less than ideal, but with this effort we are truly making lemonade out of a lemon... And it's really good lemonade 😎

Notably, we targeted the completion of both gardens in time for Jazz Fest, when thousands of people will be walking past this lot to and from Gibbs St.

The transformation of the corner of E. Main & Stillson is complete

The transformation of the corner of E. Main & Chestnut continues

Downtown Rochester continues to evolve and grow, and we are proud to play a part in its revitalization. New businesses are opening every week, and literally hundreds of new apartment units are currently under construction.

It is our belief that aesthetics do matter, and that is why we champion the "power of the flower" 🌼.

Clean, beautiful streets are walkable streets. Walkable streets encourage interaction and investment. It is a virtuous cycle that we're striving to accelerate with interventions like these...

A quick look at some of May's handiwork

Well that's it for now. We appreciate you checking out what we've been up to.

There's a whole lot more lined up for June, including a major initiative in the St. Paul Quarter. As always we invite you to follow along on Facebook or Instagram.

In the meantime, remember... Every day is an opportunity to make our city just a little bit better.

- Mike & Tina Gilbert

Please consider becoming a Downtown ROCstar by supporting our efforts with a tax-deductible gift. Every dollar is invested directly into placemaking projects that enhance our center city.