What happened to Hempstead? (New York, Mount Vernon: homes, theater, high schools)

[Jdawg8181]

Originally Posted by Smash255

That is true at times, but how influential were the local business districts and the mom and pop shops to the communities surrounding the Short Hills mall? And what kind of impact did the mall have on the surrounding business's at the time? Keep in mind the Short Hills mall is fairly upscale, Roosevelt Field Mall has a much broader appeal and heavily middle-class customer base. The same customer base that use to frequent the Hempstead shopping and business districts.

I do agree a mall might not always negatively effect surrounding communities, in fact sometimes it can greatly help them. However, at times it can hurt them as well, especially in the case of Hempstead. The Hempstead shopping and business district was hurt badly by the mall. They just could not compete with it, and were unable to recover. The shopping and business districts were a vital part of Hempstead's infrastructure, once it collapsed it really hurt the community itself. Combine that with the steering practices of the 60's & 70's and the crack epidemic of the 80's and you have some serious problems

While I'm not disagreeing, the thing is Roosevelt Field isn't even in Hempstead! That's like saying Nassau Coliseum lead to the downfall of Freeport.

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

While I'm not disagreeing, the thing is Roosevelt Field isn't even in Hempstead!

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While Roosevelt Field, in the Hamlet of East Garden City, is not in the Village of Hempstead, it's fairly close, was easier to drive to and, I think, after getting there, was easier to find parking.
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[Coney]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

I meant to say HEMPSTEAD's decline, not Hofstra...yikes, sorry. Sometimes I think my fingers have a mind of their own.

My point was, malls don't necessarily attribute to downfall of a community. Look at Short Hills, NJ.

No problem, Jdawg. My fingers have done that too! Looking forward to being friends with you.

[Wes927]

Walter--I don't know what the unicorporated part of Greenburgh is called either as hamelt or a postal zone.

Also, I'd say Hempstead and MOunt Vernon are fairly equivalent.....

[Walter Greenspan]

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Wes927, NYS Geographic Glossary may be of some help to you in understanding the geography of "Noo Yawk".
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[Smash255]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

While I'm not disagreeing, the thing is Roosevelt Field isn't even in Hempstead! That's like saying Nassau Coliseum lead to the downfall of Freeport.

True, but it is basically 10 minutes away from the heart of the old business district in Hempstead.

[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

While I'm not disagreeing, the thing is Roosevelt Field isn't even in Hempstead! That's like saying Nassau Coliseum lead to the downfall of Freeport.

Roosevelt Field and all the other malls built in the 1950s replaced the retail service that hundreds of independent stores in Hempstead had provided prior to that time. The proximity doesn't really have anything to do with it, the reason the malls killed Hempstead is because people no longer had any reason to go to Hempstead. The whole thing is very typical, really, and was repeated without fail all over America's cities in the second half of the 20th century.

[WJFM]

Greenburgh, New York - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia says there are 6 villages and 6 hamlets in the town of Greenburgh. Edgemont, served by Scarsdale zip-code, is also a hamlet in the town of greensburgh.

I do not know enough about Mount Vernon to compare it to Hempstead.. but I did hear of Gang activities in mt. vernon many years ago. Have no idea if it lead to murders.

Originally Posted by Wes927

Walter--I don't know what the unicorporated part of Greenburgh is called either as hamelt or a postal zone.

Also, I'd say Hempstead and MOunt Vernon are fairly equivalent.....

[Walter Greenspan]

Originally Posted by WJFM

Edgemont, served by Scarsdale zip-code, is also a hamlet in the town of greensburgh.

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The Hamlet of Greenville is colloquially known as "Edgemont" because it's in the Edgemont Union Free School District.
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[sean sean sean sean]

Originally Posted by WJFM

I do not know enough about Mount Vernon to compare it to Hempstead.. but I did hear of Gang activities in mt. vernon many years ago. Have no idea if it lead to murders.

Mount Vernon has more nice areas than Hempstead, at least it did the last time I was there regularly (around 2001/2002). It's also more urban & dense, much different layout.....but it's a pretty good comparison, I'd say.