Parking is already an issue when there is a big event at the Palace, imagine what it might be like for the folks that live nearby if a “destination” restaurant opened at the Steak and Sundae property or one of the other open sites?

I’m not suggesting that we don’t need development in Eastwood, we most surely do but I do think we need to be careful what we wish for – we might just get it!

Regarding uses … A bakery would be wonderful. Shoe repair would be nice. A grocery store could fill the void that will be created with the departure of P&C. There’s also bicycle sales and repair; a police storefront; and a shoe store (for WALKABLE Eastwood!).

Pitch In.

I, for one, would be very glad to see some of the landscaping that appears to be proposed happen around that intersection. As it stands, that intersection is concrete central and not at all appealing to walk through.

It would be nice for the ice cream shop to stay and even more pleasant to enjoy a cone if there were a few trees and shrubs around.

Other brainstorming: I’d love to see an all-year farmer’s market shop, that could branch out into the perimeter of the parking area a bit in warmer weather.

As far as fronting on James St goes, it would be nice if the “Shoe Repair” unit fronted there, even though the rest of the model doesn’t.

What kinds of businesses would attract people to Eastwood? Unfortunately, none that I can think of. Eastwood is not a destination, it’s a place where people live, and the businesses that spring up around here will try to cater to the population that’s already here. Think about it, how many destination businesses are there in Eastwood? Two that I can think of: Friendly’s and Sacred Melody. We have the only Friendly’s in the city proper. Erie Blvd is really close, but that’s DeWitt. And Sacred Melody isn’t the destination it used to be, since you can get a lot of their product online. Anyone remember when it used to be a lot bigger?

The banks we have aren’t “destinations,” they were placed to serve a population that was already here, not to attract new people to the area. Before the digital era totally made vinyl pointless, CNY Music Service used to be a destination for people looking for the last place that they might be able to buy “singles.” Dalton’s may be a destination for people looking for a certain type of furniture (Actually, are they still there? I don’t much pay attention to that corner anymore since we moved from Peck eight years ago.). Is The Palace really a destination? Is it the kind of destination that The Manlius Cinema is? I’ve never seen it full, but maybe I’m going for the wrong movies. Hmm…come to think of it, I’ve never seen any of the mall theaters full.

Nope, except for Sacred Melody and Friendly’s, all the businesses in Eastwood are here to provide services to the people already here, and not to bring new people in. They’re neighborhood businesses. But, if you think of Eastwood as a small town, then we’re not much different from a place like Minoa. I can’t think of a single thing you can get in Minoa that you can’t get anywhere else. It’s not a destination, it’s a place where people live, and the businesses that have sprung up there have done so to support those people so that they don’t have to take their money outside of town or so that they don’t have to drive to Fayetteville or Manlius for the everyday stuff they need.

With all that in mind, let’s remember that while James St may be *our* “Main St,” it’s not *the* “Main St.”

Can’t tell from the print – does this go all of the way over to the Edwards side, supplanting the existing mostly vacant brick structure and the frequently short-lived restaurant space? It would be nice to see that whole stretch helped by this project – and it’s not a bad way of doing it, in my opinion.

Seems like a good concept, will be interesting to see how it develops. A nice way of filling in one of the district’s gaps.