Cumberland...whatever became of..... (Baltimore, Frederick: apartments, townhouses, buy)

[billybobwv]

Thanks to www.newspaperarchive.com and since I used to visit the Cumberland area quite often back in the 80's I have been checking out old issues of the Cumberland Times from the 40s through 1977. Reading the ads when did the following go defunct and what ended up had taken its place....

*Rosenbaums Department Store
*Peskins Department Store
*The Manhattan
*WUOK Radio
*WCUM Radio
*Lazarus ( same as the well known Ohio chain of the same name?)
*Tri-State Discount
*Town & Country Discount City
*Searstown Shopping Center in LaVale ( did this end up becoming what is now known as the Country Club Mall? )

also that downtown Gee Bee Shopping Center, I read the article about the 1973 grand opening of the plaza. I know the shopping center is still there but whats in it now since Value City the chain is gone and Super Fresh I had read in the past had pulled out of that part of Maryland some years back?

Also whatever became of Cumberland's Chi-Chi's Mexican Restuarant?

[cmdguy]

I cant tell you when all of these closed but I can tell you what has replaced them in their locations:

*Rosenbaums Department Store - Now M&T Bank
*Peskins Department Store - Still sits empty after closing in the late 80's early 90's
*The Manhattan - Now the Manhattan Restaurant and Lounge
*WUOK Radio - ?
*WCUM Radio - Now WCMD ESPN Radio
*Lazarus ( same as the well known Ohio chain of the same name?) - The Emporium antique store
*Tri-State Discount - Empty now but a proposal called for townhouses and apartments.
*Town & Country Discount City - Big Lots
*Searstown Shopping Center in LaVale ( did this end up becoming what is now known as the Country Club Mall? ) - Braddock Square Shopping Center w/ Kohls, Martins Grocery, and others

Gee Bee Shopping center now has a Roses Store, Subway, Family Dollar, and several other small stores

Chi Chi's all went under a few years back, Cumberland's now has a CiCi's Pizza

[westsideboy]

The national stores in the shopping plazas come and go fairly regularly. The old Baltimore St. merchants died a slow death in the late 70s and 80s as the main street in town was bricked off into a pedesterial mall and the shoppers went to where they could drive and park their cars. The locals still talk about the old stores and it is not unusual to hear someone say they are going to the Gee Bees shopping center or to Searstown.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by westsideboy

The national stores in the shopping plazas come and go fairly regularly. The old Baltimore St. merchants died a slow death in the late 70s and 80s as the main street in town was bricked off into a pedesterial mall and the shoppers went to where they could drive and park their cars. The locals still talk about the old stores and it is not unusual to hear someone say they are going to the Gee Bees shopping center or to Searstown.

Downtown Cumberland does look very pleasant to the eye.

Is this still the case that the stores downtown are dying off...? Is Cumberland become more mall-oriented and mall-centric like everywhere else?

It appears that there is enough housing and residential areas within close enough proximity to have people visiting the business downtown...

This isn't the case?

[ki0eh]

I think the trouble with smaller cities (well, any USA city) is that you need enough CAPTIVE pedestrian traffic to create a downtown vibe. That's why the pedestrian downtown mall concept has only really worked in college towns (Ithaca, Iowa City, Boulder, etc.) where there are folks with at least some money but difficult access to cars. Without a college or a transit-commutable job hub, the people who don't have car access are usually the people with no money.

A few months back I spent some time in the playground next to the big Bedford St bridge over the tracks (sorry, I don't know what the locals call it) and was surprised on looking around the houses/blocks around there to see so few curtains - obviously vacant housing units.

So, while there might be enough housing units to create a viable downtown, if the units are vacant or filled but lack spending power, no real viability results.

In that respect Cumberland's downtown does much better than would be expected applying this theory. Many of the dense towns in, say, central PA are much more vacant downtown than Cumberland is.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by ki0eh

I think the trouble with smaller cities (well, any USA city) is that you need enough CAPTIVE pedestrian traffic to create a downtown vibe. That's why the pedestrian downtown mall concept has only really worked in college towns (Ithaca, Iowa City, Boulder, etc.) where there are folks with at least some money but difficult access to cars. Without a college or a transit-commutable job hub, the people who don't have car access are usually the people with no money.

A few months back I spent some time in the playground next to the big Bedford St bridge over the tracks (sorry, I don't know what the locals call it) and was surprised on looking around the houses/blocks around there to see so few curtains - obviously vacant housing units.

So, while there might be enough housing units to create a viable downtown, if the units are vacant or filled but lack spending power, no real viability results.

In that respect Cumberland's downtown does much better than would be expected applying this theory. Many of the dense towns in, say, central PA are much more vacant downtown than Cumberland is.

Thanks, Ki0eh!

You always know EXACTLY what I'm looking for and curious about...I still recall that PA thread about the house proximity to the road...and few others in the threads really got that.

Incidentally, after having viewed 100s of PA photo threads on some other forums...I was pleasantly surprised to see Western Maryland towns and cities have the exact same density/walkability just like PA - so unusual throughout the rest of the U.S.

But yeah, you are 100% right about the university environment, etc. - young people without cars, strolling around, etc. Completely makes sense. Kind of the only thing I suppose that brings them in, as when things become so car-centric and parking lot oriented...then the house with big lawn far from any density would make sense to the mainstream population.

[ki0eh]

Originally Posted by Tiger Beer

...then the house with big lawn far from any density would make sense to the mainstream population.

...except now that the mainstream has gotten so lazy as to not want to do any yard work at all, so they buy townhouses with 3 car garages and pay association fees so the recent immigrant can mow the lawn instead! (Not that that happens in Cumberland since you need more cash available for that lifestyle, but increasingly common in Hagerstown and Frederick...)

[westsideboy]

The Cumberland downtown has been on the upswing for the last decade or so. Most of the businesses there are tourist centered and many are run as "hobbies" and thus don't need to bring in big profits.

Cumberland has some retail pull in the surrounding counties, but it is hard to attract people to shop in a place they don't see and can't park near. The reason a street is "main street" and attracts commercial enterprise is because it is most travelled street in town! Brick that street off and divert traffic away from it and it is no longer an attractive place for businesses.

[poocherini]

I lived in Cumberland from 1977-82. I remember the Bistro which was on 37 North Centre St. It remains to this day the best restaurant I have ever been to. Does anyone remember it? I would guess it is vacant now, with other newer restaurants nearby.

[westsideboy]

The Bistro is gone. I remember it, but never ate there. Closed sometime in the 1990s. I believe Ottovainni's Italian Restaurant or El Canelo now occupy its former location.