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Written by Maureen Harding, published with her permission: There are several myths floating out there in Syracuse that somehow mistakenly are taken as “fact” concerning the Walkable Eastwood group of neighbors: Myth: Redevelopment at the northeast corner of James and Midler (the former location of Steak & Sundae ) is being prevented by the Walkable Eastwood group. Fact: The . . . → Read More: Urban myths about Walkable Eastwood 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 Anyone crazy enough to read all these posts knows I grew up in Manlius, so walkability was normal for me. My dear ol’ dad was a member of the Village Board for quite some time and I recall fights back in the ’60’s when he and others were trying to prevent the village from tearing down its historic buildings. For the most part, they were successful. And if you walk around Manlius today, you’ll see that there’s still a “there” there. You’ll know, from the quaintly mid-century Sno-Top to the Swan Pond to the ancient Masonic Temple and the early 19th-century homes near the gazebo, that you are in no other place than Manlius, NY. Don’t it always seem to go I’ve been reading a lot about upstate New York lately, in particular Carl Carmer’s books. But I recently got a different kind of book from the library: Dispatches . . . → Read More: They paved paradise MEET THE CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR OF SYRACUSE Join the discussion with mayoral candidates focusing on Wednesday, June 17 SUNY Oswego Metro Center EVERYONE IS WELCOME CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR – all agreed . . . → Read More: W.E. Co-hosts mayoral candidate forum At last night’s planning commission meeting, reference was made to the electronic billboard that sits in Dewitt but “graces” the eastern entrance to Eastwood. It was used in an argument as a precedent for allowing the LED sign at Walgreens. Oh boy. Got that slippery-slope slidey feeling? 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). One of my favorite people is Rick Destito, the owner of the building that originally housed the Brown-Lipe Gear Company on the corner of Geddes and W. Fayette. There are few I know in Syracuse who are so relentlessly upbeat and downright visionary about the potential for this city. And he puts his money where his mouth is. He bought a building folks had given up on and is turning it into art studios and work/live space. People who can envision something better, no matter where and on what scale, have a much better chance of bringing it about than those who can do nothing but whine about how terrible things are now and how much better it was back before they were born.
Continue reading “Make where you are how you want it to be.” |
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Kate Clark, Rick Destito
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