Genesee Street was a vibrant neighborhood center well into the 1960s. Here, in a snowy photograph taken in about 1935, is the corner of Genesee and Fougeron streets. Dozens of projecting signs reveal an intact, mixed-use neighborhood. On the south side of the street, from left to right, signs are visible for Jerome Murphy physician; Nicholas Gavidin candy, sodas, and lunches; Swiss Cleaners & Dyers; R&S Shoes; George McDermand hardware; and John Kibler radios. On the north side of the street, from right to left, are the Mo-Gene Beauty Shoppe, Edward A. Phister jewelry, Milton O. Hager dentist, Michael Kozlin optician, Genesee Cleaners, Liberty Bank, Hannigan’s Barbecue, and Genesee Arcade bowling alley. A sign on a light pole shows that Genesee Street is still designated Route 33, well before the construction of the Kensington Expressway. The latter was built to solve the congestion “problem” on Genesee Street, and any view today will suggest that state transportation engineers achieved their objective. Along with the congestion of traffic, gone too are the congestion of commerce and people that made this neighborhood one of the city’s most vibrant.