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In 1840, Utica was the 29th-largest city in the United States, ahead of Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland. The Erie Canal had made it a continental crossroads, the textile mills were thundering, and ambitious men were building Italianate mansions on Genesee Street. By the 1950s it had earned the tabloid nickname 'Sin City' for its corruption scandals, and by the 1980s the mills were gone and the numbers were heading the wrong way.

What happened next is the part most American decline stories don't have.

Starting in the late 20th century, Utica became one of the most intensive refugee resettlement cities in the country relative to its size. Around 4,500 Bosnians arrived after the Sarajevo siege. Then 4,000 Karen people from Myanmar. Then Somalis, Sudanese, Vietnamese, and dozens of other communities. Today 43 languages are spoken in Utica public schools. The food scene reflects it: chicken riggies and Utica greens are local dishes born from the Italian immigrant wave, while newer restaurants serve Bosnian cevapi and Karen noodle soups on the same street.