Quake Outbreak Tied to Drilling Wastewater

Oh, what . . . → Read More: Hydrofracking causes earthquakes]]> Does it really make sense to actually inject a lot of stuff into the earth? Do we really know how the earth would react to these kinds of massive changes? Well, we’re finding out. Oklahoma is experiencing a significant increase in the number of earthquakes and it’s because of hydrofracking.

Quake Outbreak Tied to Drilling Wastewater

Oh, what the heck. Let’s try it here and see if it happens. I mean, it’s only the earth we walk (and build) on and the water we drink. What could possibly go wrong?

We used to have these places right in our business districts, too. Here is one of them. Do . . . → Read More: A place of great beauty]]> We’re fortunate here in Syracuse to have a great parks department, amazing parks atop every drumlin and tucked away in corners of every neighborhood, and dedicated, resourceful volunteers who insure that we have places of great beauty to enjoy.

We used to have these places right in our business districts, too. Here is one of them. Do you recognize it?

The comments from people who remember growing up in Eastwood are so touching and often so funny. I’m asking myself – what was it about that Eastwood that people here remember, long for, . . . → Read More: A heart attack in Eastwood]]> The most popular Walkable Eastwood blog post is turning out to be this one – “You haven’t lived in Eastwood if you…”

The comments from people who remember growing up in Eastwood are so touching and often so funny. I’m asking myself – what was it about that Eastwood that people here remember, long for, try to recapture, and actually are still living?  What is the heart of Eastwood and how do we keep it beating?

Eastwood is not lacking for good, civic-minded people. There’s a lot going on in various groups and we see the results of their efforts all the time. But I still wish there was more of whatever that is, a feeling of connection to one’s neighbors. You have to bump into them – physically be near them, happen upon them in public and semi-public spaces like the sidewalk and the cafe, the neighborhood store or diner.

Every time we allow designers of our public spaces to give more importance and resources to the needs of people sitting in cars, we take away the opportunity to bump into each other in spaces that are scaled to humans and friendly to the human body. Crossing a drive-in/drive-out sea of asphalt is dangerous and humans walking avoid it when possible. This is why James Street is still so devoid of the people who should be meeting each other, even if only in passing.

It takes an effort of will to keep James Street from sliding further into the 20th-century automobile-centric mold of street design. It takes live humans in front of live humans, expressing their desire for a place where the heart of Eastwood can beat in safety and comfort. If you can take the time on Monday, April 2, to go to the planning commission meeting and express your opposition to yet another auto-centric business design (and uphold the existing design guidelines in the process) then please do so.

It really is up to you. The person reading these words.

The City of Syracuse has done a fantastic job of making its workings more transparent. You can now easily find all the information needed to help the commissioners make good decisions by going to this web page: http://www.syracuse.ny.us/Planning_Commission.aspx
Click on the number of the issue you’re concerned about and you’ll find the application with drawings, images, the works.  The one we’re concerned about clearly details what exceptions to the overlay district guidelines they’re looking for.

Remember: every exception approved is legal precedent for ANY future development. You let it in once and everyone will get to do it. Whatever is allowed here could be allowed throughout our business district, the heart of Eastwood.

Let’s prevent this heart attack.

3) CLICK HERE–>SP-12-02 (Continuation of 3/12/12 Public Hearing) LH,SK,RC,GM,RL
Special Permit–Restaurant
2649 and 2659-67 James Street
Cleardogg, Inc (owner/applicant)
Business, Class A

If you don’t know this guy to the left, you should. He’s . . . → Read More: Annual litter cleanup April 20 and 21]]> Our Eastwood neighbors are featured on the front page of OCRRA’s spring newsletter, in which “members of the Eastwood Baptist Church collect litter during the Earth Day Cleanup in 2011. Help beautify Onondaga County and register your group by April 6 at OCRRA.org.”

If you don’t know this guy to the left, you should. He’s not only a one-man beautification committee, he knows how to rally the troops to get the job done. (He’s also wearing a Walkable Eastwood – Pitch-In! t-shirt. Thank you, Matthew!)

The photo, has been shamelessly lifted from the OCRRA newsletter, which you really should read; there’s interesting and useful stuff in there.

But mostly how about registering your group for the April  20 and 21 clean-up days? You can register online here or print out the form in the newsletter.

Thank you to all you hard-working people who make Eastwood a beautiful and desirable place to live!

A new proposal at the former funeral home (aprox. across from Books & Memories).  The same developer (from Cortland) who’s done some “Five Guys burgers & fries” proposes a “Carroza’s pizza & wings.”  They would demolish and rebuild.   They “require” a . . . → Read More: Demolish, build in a sea of asphalt. Again.]]> A neighbor who attended the Planning Commission meeting on Monday, March 12 sent me the following:

A new proposal at the former funeral home (aprox. across from Books & Memories).  The same developer (from Cortland) who’s done some “Five Guys burgers & fries” proposes a “Carroza’s pizza & wings.”  They would demolish and rebuild.   They “require” a drive-thru, with in and out driveways. (They like to emphasize that they’d be reducing curb cuts from the existing 3 to only 2.)

They’re requesting a number of exceptions, including: building setbacks (front and sides), building coverage (12% of lot, versus 50% minimum), windows (22% of facade, versus 50-75%).  In front of building, between driveways, they have some kind of sitting space they like to call a “vest pocket park(-like).”  [The (mis-) use of buzz words is annoying.]  This may or may not be an “amenity,” as it was described.  Surely, it’s unusable space turned into an attempted selling point, in lieu of building closer to the sidewalk.

The hearing was left open to be continued on April 2nd.

Folks, if you don’t get to planning commission meetings in support of adherence to the overlay district guidelines, you’re going to get a James Street full of seas of asphalt, auto-centric design, a loss of walkability, a loss of what character remains on James. Building MUST take place up to the sidewalk. Period. The guidelines must be followed or you will end up with the waste land and its accompanying crime that took over South Salina at Ballantyne. Parking lots and drive-thrus are antithetical to the kind of human activity that keeps crime down. Drive through there sometime if you care at all about Eastwood. This is where it’s headed.

And do we really need yet more pizza and wings? It’s getting boring!

But today, Dave found the . . . → Read More: “Laundry Day” mystery]]> We’ve found all sorts of things on our front porch, such as half-eaten pizza, slices of bread that the squirrels have torn apart, and a box of mayonnaise. Okay, that last one was shipped to us because I’d purchased one of the last brands of mayonnaise that’s still sold in glass jars.

But today, Dave found the funniest thing yet:  two framed pictures, each having to do with hanging one’s laundry.  In fact, one of them actually said “Laundry Day!”. Hmmm… is this a weird coincidence, or does some crazy neighbor actually remember Laundry Day, 2008?

Maybe it was Amber, who attracted various kinds of attention by hanging her laundry on the front porch of her elegant house:

Or maybe it was Sig, who hung out his artwork with his laundry:

In any case, your local flamenco musicians thank whoever placed the pictures on our porch for reminding us of a really fun neighborhood project.

We had laundry on the line yesterday. Has anyone else been drying their laundry outside in the free solar or wind-powered dryer?

You may not see it from the front, but if you just walk around to the east side of the building, you’ll find . . . → Read More: Doings at the Eastwood Plaza]]> The Eastwood Plaza is a fun place!  Not only has Cafe Kubal completed its expansion, but while we suffered the loss of our neighborhood hardware store, we have Paul Birchmeyer’s Auction Service there now.

You may not see it from the front, but if you just walk around to the east side of the building, you’ll find Yesteryear Antiques and Collectables. Dave and I stopped in there today, were warmly welcomed and had fun poking around some very interesting items. You can call for hours: Bruce – 481-7844; or Bill – 450-7930.

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Hello!

My name is Francesca Merwin and I am the Engagement Fellow/Communications Coordinator for the Connective . . . → Read More: Mobile Galleries Project for the Connective Corridor]]> It would be great to see some Eastwood art on the Connective Corridor bus!  The following was sent to me today. Jan Cruz was one of the SU professors instrumental in the Art-In-Motion project, which got us Gustav, the 17-foot street puppet.

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Hello!

My name is Francesca Merwin and I am the Engagement Fellow/Communications Coordinator for the Connective Corridor. I was given your email by the lovely Jan Cruz to let you know of an opportunity on the Corridor buses.

Basically, we own and operate the wrapped buses which travel the Corridor route. We have intended to make these buses Mobile Galleries. Please see this link for more information:

Corridor Buses Transform into Mobile Galleries

Currently, we are in the process of identifying art projects. We are looking for projects (be it poetry, art, photos, etc) that either:

A) Represent a social issue pertaining to Syracuse life

B) Represent a collaborative effort of community organizations in Syracuse

We try to switch out the art in the buses every two months. Currently, we are looking for 7 exhibitors in total for the April-May (1), June-July (3) and August-September (3) runs of the project.  This document explains the process in a little more detail. Below you will see some images of what this looks like “in action”. If you are interested and think that your project fits these guidelines, please send me an email or call me at 203-558-1075 so we can discuss this further.

Thank you so much for your time!

-Francesca

Francesca Merwin
Communications Coordinator
Connective Corridor
Office of Community Engagement and Economic Development
(203) 558-1075 ::  ceedfm@syr.edu

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