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The market drives what is feasible and what is not in a city or region. Can a realistic urbanity test be taken based on the market for major grocery stores with apartments above them versus the suburban format? Cities where grocery stores are common on the first floor of apartment buildings is one of the most valid arguments for urbanity. This is especially true when considering the structurally built environment building density (closeness of buildings) in a city.
How would you rank the top five cites with them? Please only use major grocery stores versus small neighborhood markets. Thoughts?
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I love the concept. The only way to have a successful downtown urban core is to get people to live in downtown. Having a grocery store in downtown neighborhoods is absolutely essential to drawing a residential appeal. Seattle and Portland have built a whole bunch of these in the last 15 years (including Safeway, QFC, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods) usually with parking below, 1st level grocery, and 2-3 levels of residential units above. Albuqueruque is doing this and just had a bid on a retailor to occupy the space recently (http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq....html?page=all). I'm really happy about this because our downtown is pretty weak. A grocery store to walk to is a key companant to havng an appealing and walkable neighbohood or in the OP's terms, passes the test of true urbanity.
No need to narrow it down to the top five cities though. Instead expand the discussion, the concept is healthy and essential and I'd like to see it more common in many other city's urban cores.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 01-27-2013 at 10:33 AM..
I love the concept. The only way to have a successful downtown urban core is to get people to live in downtown. Having a grocery store in downtown neighborhoods is absolutely essential to drawing a residential appeal. Seattle and Portland have built a whole bunch of these in the last 15 years usually with parking below, 1st level grocery, and 2-3 levels of residential units above. Albuqueruque is doing this and just had a bid on a retailor to occupy the space recently which I'm really happy about because our downtown is pretty weak. A grocery store to walk to is a key companant to havng an appealing and walkable neighbohood.
Very true, I think population density has alot to do with this because without enough people to shop at the stores, they are doomed to fail. It's kind of a chicken and egg problem too because people don't want to move to an area without ammenties like a grocery store, but you need to people to have a successful store. This is why I think it's a good idea to build them at the same time. It's probably the number one way to make them successful.
I don't really know much about how much this concept has caught on in cities around the nation. That's why I would be interested in hearing what cities people know of where this is already or is beginning to be prevalent. It's a great anchor for urban developments.
I would say the top five cities are:
1. New York
2. Chicago
3. Washington D.C. (will pass Chicago next year)
4. Boston
5. Philadelphia
Last edited by MDAllstar; 01-27-2013 at 10:46 AM..
I think DC does a good job of carrying this concept throughout the entire region. However, I agree with Boston (for sure) being slightly behind NY and Chicago. I would like to believe that it's all relative after the top two but I really think it becomes a matter of preference and interpretation vs data.
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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I think Seattle and Portland are prime examples of smart new urban developments incorporating grocery and residential together. Here are some poignant examples...
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 01-27-2013 at 01:24 PM..
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