Mike Sutton sent this in to the Walkable Eastwood email group today. I think it’s one of the best ideas I’ve seen in a long time – giving kids the opportunity to participate in the world of work here in the community. They get to know local business people while tossing pizza dough! What could be . . . → Read More: Put Kids To Work Day at Papa John’s
|
|||||
|
“Family” Video gave a presentation at Monday night’s TNT meeting. In essence, despite their pronouncements of neighborliness, the real message was this:
There was virtually no positive response to the presentation and many people were quite unhappy with what they saw. Their plan violates the overlay district zoning standards as well as city regulations that prevent the sale of adult materials within 1000 feet of a church, school, or residential area. Continue reading “Family” Video to Eastwood: “We always win.” The “Family” Video store being proposed at tonight’s TNT meeting (Huntington Elementary School, Sunnycrest and Forest Hill, 7:00 pm) has been the topic of discussion in the Walkable Eastwood email group. The consensus: it’s a no-go on two fronts.
Not one of over a dozen comments in the email group of over 100 members was in favor of having this business in Eastwood. This community has spent years fighting bad design – and winning – so we’re not about to turn back the clock and allow suburban-style development in our urban community. That would cause all our property values to drop and would be a slap in the face of the James Street business owners who develop, successfully, following the guidelines. This article was posted exactly one year ago. Do we understand any better now the monetary and quality-of-life impact that design and development, good or bad, have on our neighborhood? It’s time we got very clear about what we want and do not want in Eastwood. Word on the street has it that in a meeting last night of the Common Council, the idea of demolishing the old Steak & Sundae building at the corner of James and Midler was brought up. Please correct me if I’m wrong (go ahead! down below, in the comments section), but I thought the owner of this property already asked for this and it was turned down because he had no plan for building something else there. [Editor's note: corrections will be found in comment section.] Why is this week any different from that week? And why would anyone want to reward this person with what he asked for back then? The owner of this property has allowed his building to blight our neighborhood and owes back taxes on it (what happens to you when you owe thousands in back taxes?). He’s been approached a number of times by Stephen Skinner, owner of the Eastwood Plaza, with offers to buy and fix up. Do you know who in your neighborhood is running a business right here in Eastwood? Are they people who might also be hiring people who live in our neighborhood? Doesn’t it make sense to make our purchases from them instead of from an out-of-state chain? I just culled this from the October newsletter sent out by Syracuse . . . → Read More: Eastwood – and Syracuse – first Sent to the Walkable Eastwood email group and reposted here with the permission of the author:
Dave and I just got back from a visit to Buffalo, another much-maligned city in upstate New York that has, nevertheless, managed to move forward in its thinking about sustainable urban development. While the addition of one more national chain in Eastwood has caused much furor, Buffalo’s Elmwood Village is just a step or three ahead . . . → Read More: Other cities series: Buffalo’s Elmwood Village Cafe Kubal is, for the first time, making its special house blend espresso available to take home. And now that they’re open until 9:00 pm every day but Sunday (when they’re closed), if you’ve run out of coffee for tomorrow’s breakfast, you can still scoot in there the night before to pick it up.
This letter was sent to me by James Creveling, who has been vitally interested in development in Eastwood for many years. James has a BS in Environmental Studies and has completed coursework, with a focus on land use and design issues, for a Masters of Regional Planning (MRP), University at Albany. As you may know, the Planning Commission is holding a public hearing at their June 8 meeting about a new POMCO development. It includes a resubdivision, a project site review, and sign waivers. I’ll admit it. I’m a coffee nut. So I emailed my neighborhood coffee roaster to see what was going to be available this week. The answer: the usual great selection, plus a Kenya Chania Estate organic. This one is roasted to a full city roast, which works well in my antique vacuum pot. The label on the bag tells me what’s inside. The aroma: lemon, berry. Taste: papaya, spice. Body: medium. Aftertaste: milk chocolate. There’s some confusion about the sign that the Planning Commission will be voting on come April 6. Here is my understanding of it (corrections, as always, are welcome in the comment section), as reported by a concerned citizen who visited the zoning office:
Just how big is this, really? According to Common Councilor Kathleen Joy, “The entire sign would be about 100 sq ft. …The architect told me that it needs to be big enough to be seen over cars and the Veterans monument. ” Although we were assured in 2005 that there would be no scrolling LED sign at the Walgreens that now graces the gateway to our “village,” this type of sign is likely to rear its ugly head again. If you care about what kind of “look and feel” our traditional village streetscape has, you may want to attend the public hearing (details below). Do any Walkable Eastwood readers remember Cliff Hart? The “Blond Bomber Boxer”? Golden Gloves champ? Maybe this bit about the Eastern Golden Gloves Finals from a New York Times article (March 7, 1946) will stir your memory, or at least your soul: Continue reading Two fighters from Eastwood Once in awhile we get a glimpse of what Eastwood used to look like, usually in old photos that come to light. This week, we got a peek at a building facade that is advertising Green Stamps (remember them?). It’s the front of the Pomco Building, and for a few days, we’ve been able to get some idea of what was sold in here before it was a bunch of offices. Continue reading Eastwood uncovered Thank you, WSYR, for that great newscast on the facade program for James Street businesses! As many as 20 businesses in a 5-block stretch will be able to take advantage of this grant program, so this will have a major impact on the way James Street looks. That, in turn, will attract the kinds of . . . → Read More: Eastwood facade grant program in newscast Syracuse is fortunate to now have a Public Arts Commission in recognition of the fact that art – and the creative people it attracts – make for a healthier, more economically viable city. Why? Because we’re human and we want to have fun, enjoy beauty, get our thoughts provoked once in awhile, and feel like we average folks can enjoy some excellence in the cultural life of the city. People want to live in a city that treats them like people. And people come to a city to see art… and spend money while they’re there. Continue reading A serious blow to town-gown relationships All Eastwood business owners are invited to attend a very brief meeting at the Palace Theater (2nd floor) on Wednesday, April 11 at 2:00 pm. Your attendance will indicate interest in reviving the Eastwood Chamber. We will be collecting names and contact numbers and determine the most convenient time to hold meetings. Contact person: Bruce McDaniels I watched a pretty shocking “20/20″ segment this evening. It showed the results of an error made by a teenage “pharmacy assistant” in a Walgreens in Florida. A mother of three was given ten times the amount of medication she should have had which resulted in a stroke and and end to her chemotherapy. . . . → Read More: Who will fill your prescription at Walgreens? |
|||||
|
Copyright © 2010 Walkable Eastwood - All Rights Reserved |
|||||
Recent Comments