mount vernon shopping center (Yonkers, New Rochelle: middle-class, condos, neighborhoods)

[ABQConvict]

Does anyone have an opinion on how the new-ish shopping center on Sanford Blvd. in MV is affecting things?

I have since moved away from the area but while visiting family I went there to go to Best Buy. When I was a kid, that was borderline no-go area for white people (most of whom would go to Cross-County in Yonkers or even all the way up to White Plains) but the parking lot and stores were full of middle-class looking white people with plaid shorts and mini-vans mostly, I assume, from Pelham and Fleetwood.

Mount Vernon, it seems, is worse than it was in the 60's but better than it was in the 80's. Also, McLean Ave. and the surrounding area looks better than it did in the 80's.

ABQConvict

[7 Wishes]

You pretty much described it right (better than 80s, worse than 60s). Though there are some North Side neighborhoods that were still better in the 80s than now.

In terms of people coming to shop, that area is completely transformed and it is not the scary, hi crime, industrial area it was 20 or 25 years ago (though the parts of Mt. Vernon just beyond that area still are). I would not be afraid at all to go there. And yes, most of the whites going there are from Fleetwood (like me) or from Pelham. Ironically, the neighboring village of Pelham fought for ages to not get all this built (worrying about traffic), and both white and black folks in Mt Vernon thought this to be "elitist". The neighborhoods immediately beyond the shopping areas are for the most part still quite rough though.

There have been attempts to build hi rise condos in the neighborhoods immediately adjacent to all this retail (a la White Plains and New Rochelle) but they have run into financial problems that are keeping them from being built (look up "The Alexander" if it is possible to find that on the Internet as an example).

[nonny]

Those areas are really safe. I left my purse in the Stop and Shop parking lot one time. I found it the next day. Someone returned it to the lost and found with all the cash, an expensive watch, some valuable keys. It's safe, and it's nice.

[mainelander]

Originally Posted by nonny

Those areas are really safe. I left my purse in the Stop and Shop parking lot one time. I found it the next day. Someone returned it to the lost and found with all the cash, an expensive watch, some valuable keys. It's safe, and it's nice.

*disclaimer* results not typical

maybe in broad daylight before 5 pm it's okay, but once the sun goes down, it gets pretty skeevy. ANd no i am not interested in any counter arguments about this. i lived there and i know what i am talking about. as i;ve said before, it's better to err on the side of safety and not on the side of " its perfectly safe!"

[7 Wishes]

How long ago did you live there? I just came back from Target and Best Buy at 8pm and it was fine......so I have to give a counter argument.

As I said, a little bit beyond the shopping areas it can be a bit dicey at night and I can agree with you there, but trust me, most of the people that were in both stores wouldn't be there if they felt it were unsafe (they didn't look like they lived there, I'll leave it at that). The two stores (as well as Staples and Stop N Shop) both have extensive parking right at the store that keeps you from being in the "neighborhood" at all.

I've even gone to the McDonald's there at night and I look pretty "white bread".....and I still see what I think are a lot of people from Pelham. I wouldn't walk past the stores at night, but as I said......actually going to the stores and driving between them (or crossing the street from Target to or from Best Buy) are fine.

[mainelander]

ok ill give that- the best buy is relatively safe. but then so is a boat in pirana infested wasters

[nonny]

Staples is safe. CVS is safe. Target is safe. The shopping centers are fine. I'm a professional, from Pelham, with three small kids, and go there all the time.