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I agree. The PriceRite building is poorly designed in terms of the plain brick wall facade. However...later on in the document a memorandum was made by Paul Mercurio. He criticizes the lack of an entrance or signage at the corner of Erie Blvd & Teall.
I believe PriceRite is agreeing to make improvements to the sidewalk at the site, however, it is rediculous for that corner to be occupied by nothing, but a blank wall. This will do nothing to improve walkability on one of the largest commercial cooridors in the City. Especially with improvements coming just west with Loguen Crossing and the urban design being implemented there.
However, the Kinney Drugs location appears to be a great design. It includes no setback and will be right up to the sidewalk. There will be a small public plaza with benches and trees and improvements at the intersection. The plan looks like a strong one to me. And with Kinney being a local company, it will be easier to enforce and implement this great design.
Also with the PriceRite project, I can 100% vouch for Paul Mercurio and the job he is doing as the Transportation Planner at the City. This past summer I worked as an intern at City Hall (quite an experience let me tell you). I met Paul and actually worked with him on the Bicycle Infrastructure Master Plan. He is a passionate individual who really knows his stuff when it comes to urban design & city planning.
I agree. The PriceRite building is poorly designed in terms of the plain brick wall facade. However...later on in the document a memorandum was made by Paul Mercurio. He criticizes the lack of an entrance or signage at the corner of Erie Blvd & Teall.
I believe PriceRite is agreeing to make improvements to the sidewalk at the site, however, it is rediculous for that corner to be occupied by nothing, but a blank wall. This will do nothing to improve walkability on one of the largest commercial cooridors in the City. Especially with improvements coming just west with Loguen Crossing and the urban design being implemented there.
However, the Kinney Drugs location appears to be a great design. It includes no setback and will be right up to the sidewalk. There will be a small public plaza with benches and trees and improvements at the intersection. The plan looks like a strong one to me. And with Kinney being a local company, it will be easier to enforce and implement this great design.
Also with the PriceRite project, I can 100% vouch for Paul Mercurio and the job he is doing as the Transportation Planner at the City. This past summer I worked as an intern at City Hall (quite an experience let me tell you). I met Paul and actually worked with him on the Bicycle Infrastructure Master Plan. He is a passionate individual who really knows his stuff when it comes to urban design & city planning.
Good post.
I met Paul at one of his bicycle infrastructure public meetings this past summer. There's no doubt that he gets it. That's probably not the case with everyone in City Hall, so hopefully his voice is a strong one on that Teall proposal. There's often only one chance to do these things the right way.
To be fair, it's more urban than the Mobil gas station that used to occupy the space. And that area is currently mostly a walkability nightmare with little foot traffic. Is it optimal for a design? Certainly not. But it's a fair shake better than most structures built on that end of Erie in the last few decades.
It surely is a walkability nightmare - more reason for the city to push for exactly the right design. As far as little foot traffic, it's not pedestrian-heavy, but there are a number of people who do without cars over there. I see a good number of international students walking along Erie, and certainly many residents of the projects along Fayette are reliant on walking.
It's not really a matter of whether it's an improvement from what used to be there; what's important is getting the right design. And this design isn't only a bad one, it's just bad for the sake of bad. There's no reason for it to be oriented toward the parking lot. That just makes for an uglier store.
Put the smaller retail building facing east along Teall, have the grocery face Erie, run the service alley between the two (with access from the north, while maintaining a continuous storefront along Erie), and have any surface parking on the north and west of the site. Boom, there's a development that's an asset to the neighborhood (and provides retailers a much more attractive - and visible - location).
It surely is a walkability nightmare - more reason for the city to push for exactly the right design. As far as little foot traffic, it's not pedestrian-heavy, but there are a number of people who do without cars over there. I see a good number of international students walking along Erie, and certainly many residents of the projects along Fayette are reliant on walking.
It's not really a matter of whether it's an improvement from what used to be there; what's important is getting the right design. And this design isn't only a bad one, it's just bad for the sake of bad. There's no reason for it to be oriented toward the parking lot. That just makes for an uglier store.
Put the smaller retail building facing east along Teall, have the grocery face Erie, run the service alley between the two (with access from the north, while maintaining a continuous storefront along Erie), and have any surface parking on the north and west of the site. Boom, there's a development that's an asset to the neighborhood (and provides retailers a much more attractive - and visible - location).
It may be important to you and me, but it's certainly not a requirement of a project to be proposed. The development is in an existing very automobile-focused area with light residential density, and on the wrong side of Erie Blvd to get it - it's in an old industrial zone.
I don't disagree with your criticisms of the design - but I'm hard-pressed to have any actual expectations that a small auto-focused big-box project was anything but what we were going to get on a high-volume auto-focused corner on a street where sidewalks are lacking already, including on city property along that stretch. And for a discount grocery tenant in an area with existing low walking traffic, I'm not surprised to see a plan oriented like that proposed instead of yours.
The Post-Standard recently ran an article about efforts to renovate the vacant People's AME Zion Church on the city's near east side. Located near the Center of Excellence and Kennedy Square, the church was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's estimated the cost to renovate the structure will be in upwards of $800,000. The congregation has since relocated to a larger facility on South Salina Street. Built in 1910 by noted architect Charles Cotton, who also designed City Hall, the church has played a prominent role in the civil rights movement.
I've always admired the potential in that building. Hopefully it doesn't follow the fate that so many other vacant structures have in this city.
It may be important to you and me, but it's certainly not a requirement of a project to be proposed. The development is in an existing very automobile-focused area with light residential density, and on the wrong side of Erie Blvd to get it - it's in an old industrial zone.
I don't disagree with your criticisms of the design - but I'm hard-pressed to have any actual expectations that a small auto-focused big-box project was anything but what we were going to get on a high-volume auto-focused corner on a street where sidewalks are lacking already, including on city property along that stretch. And for a discount grocery tenant in an area with existing low walking traffic, I'm not surprised to see a plan oriented like that proposed instead of yours.
Call me crazy, but the only way Syracuse is going to become "walkable" in a true sense is for every neighborhood - industrial or otherwise - to be built out with walkability as a priority.
Is modifying the PriceRite design going to change the fact that it sits at a non-traditional intersection adjacent to a construction company and a cement plant? No. But that doesn't mean that we should write off that neighborhood by contributing to its poor condition. For smart growth to be successful, it has to be applied universally. Anything else will result in a city where one can live a half-mile from a place that can't be safely accessed without a car.
(Interesting that you note that urban design isn't a requirement of a new development. That's true, but why that's the case is a mystery to me. For over a decade, Syracuse and Onondaga County have commissioned studies that have unanimously said that such things as street interaction should be incorporated into zoning laws. Zoning laws sit unchanged; there seems to be no political will to take action on these recommendations.)
(Interesting that you note that urban design isn't a requirement of a new development. That's true, but why that's the case is a mystery to me. For over a decade, Syracuse and Onondaga County have commissioned studies that have unanimously said that such things as street interaction should be incorporated into zoning laws. Zoning laws sit unchanged; there seems to be no political will to take action on these recommendations.)
There's no political will for it. To a large extent they did that with the Eastwood overlay... and then, when people tried to hold a developer (Holt, for the Walgreens) to those standards, those people were screamed at for being obstructionists.
I certainly understand the frustration - but I have a much harder time getting fired up about it alongside a thoroughfare that's been car-centric for more than 50 years as much as I would for something proposed in the center of a neighborhood - even as I consciously know that there's no actual difference.
The Post-Standard recently ran an article about efforts to renovate the vacant People's AME Zion Church on the city's near east side. Located near the Center of Excellence and Kennedy Square, the church was recently listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It's estimated the cost to renovate the structure will be in upwards of $800,000. The congregation has since relocated to a larger facility on South Salina Street. Built in 1910 by noted architect Charles Cotton, who also designed City Hall, the church has played a prominent role in the civil rights movement.
I've always admired the potential in that building. Hopefully it doesn't follow the fate that so many other vacant structures have in this city.
Thanks for the links. I especially like the museum in Nova Scotia. Locating a museum and cultural center at the former church would be an excellent idea. I know there was talk about establishing a similiar facility on the south side in the Southeast Gateway area. For the sake of attracting visitors and the broader community, I think the church is a more central location and more visible, especially if the area around Kennedy Square is further developed. On the other hand, I can respect and understand the preference for establishing a south side location.
Thanks for the links. I especially like the museum in Nova Scotia. Locating a museum and cultural center at the former church would be an excellent idea. I know there was talk about establishing a similiar facility on the south side in the Southeast Gateway area. For the sake of attracting visitors and the broader community, I think the church is a more central location and more visible, especially if the area around Kennedy Square is further developed. On the other hand, I can respect and understand the preference for establishing a south side location.
True and perhaps you could do both, with the museum and a few things at the church and expansive activities on the South Side, with both being under the same umbrella. I think the same thing should happen with the former St. Peter's Church on James Street in conjunction with Italian based groups and so on.
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