When thinking about what traits make a city great, infrastructure might not be the first thing to come to mind — but strong infrastructure is essential for all types of municipalities. This week on In Focus, Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri joins the show to chat with JoDee Kenney about the transformation and resurgence that has been taking place in his city’s downtown, and some of the projects that laid the groundwork for those changes. Palmieri discusses the impact of the Utica Prosperity Initiative, which saw the city investing not only in improvements to the city’s physical infrastructure, but also in areas like programming at the Utica Children’s museum. The mayor also discusses some of the challenges of maintaining and expanding Utica’s infrastructure, and shares his perspective on possibilities for the future.

You can watch the full interview with Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri via the video player above. And be sure to tune in for a look inside the biggest issues impacting Upstate New York, on In Focus with JoDee Kenney — every Sunday on Spectrum News 1.