| Author |
Message |
    
Bobk
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 10:03 am: |     |
Joancrystal:
It is nice to see that someone has some possitive ideas instead of just complaining. Congrads... |
Melidere
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 11:03 am: | |
You know, there is a post office on springfield avenue. And the Farmer's Market which is on Springfield Avenue has been very successful, I think.
And you know what we always forget to mention when we talk about businesses along the avenue? Vitello's Ice. How would we do summer picnics and stuff without it? |
Mtierney
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 12:56 pm: | |
Farmer's market gets me shopping weekly there. I remember when there was a supermarket and an appliance store on Springfield. The 5 and 10 was a great draw. Now that we've lost the one on Maplewood avenue, can we see a return of such a business on Springfield? I guess most of the needs are met by chains such as Drug Fair. However, why can't there be a crafts, sewing, or knit shop back on the avenue? There is absolutely no where to buy fabric . |
Melidere
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 1:11 pm: | |
There was a fabric and knit shop on the avenue. Janes's Fabric i think it was called.. Their market just pretty much moved away and it was a dismally slow death for them. Same thing with Karl's, (the appliance store) i think. They still exist, just moved to greener pastures.
Jane's was a real loss, actually. She had the most amazing collection of buttons. |
Melidere
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 1:13 pm: | |
I don't know why i always forget maplewood windows and awnings, either. We've gone to them for all of our windows and screens for years, not to mention window shades. |
Melidere
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 1:18 pm: | |
Joan,
i'm not sure why you don't think that aesthetically pleasing structural changes to the avenue won't have an impact. Is there any particular reason that it seems appropriate to invest in the aesthetics of the village and not the avenue?
Appearances matter, don't they?
I would think we would look to what i perceive as the enormous success of South Orange. I remember when the main advantage of shopping there was that it was a piece of cake to get a parking spot. Half of the buildings were empty.
Seems like no matter how much parking they add now, there isn't enough. |
Gerardryan
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 1:53 pm: | |
Ffof asks:
"Jerry and Vic - Nolan is talking about some very valid points and is indeed very
knowledgeable on this subject. Everyone in Maplewood should be concerned about this.
Why are you continuing to ignore his advice?"
We're not.
Frank worked extremely hard on the Maplewood EDC over the last few years. He brought the revitalization project to where it is, and the plans in place are mostly the plans as envisioned by him and the EDC.
He also has strongly held opinions about Rent Control that he has expressed to the Township Committee on numerous occasions. I've not been convinced by his arguments. The town's ordinances, which have been in place for a very long time and are subject to renewal every few years, provide for vacancy decontrol as well as mechanisms to recover investments in improvements of property.
Not agreeing with 100% of a person's statements or work does not constitute ignoring him!
Jerry Ryan |
Ffof
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 2:02 pm: | |
Jerry- According to Nolan, Burt is apparently convinced. I don't know enough about the topic to have a proper discussion about it, but Nolan's words "The TC rejected that proposal clearly preferring people who don't even now live in town to the residents who own and pay the taxes" are quite strong and are quite bothersome to me, and others? Anyway, I guess I'll personally have to keep my ear out on this issue. Thanks for responding.
Ffof |
Joancrystal
| | Posted on Sunday, February 11, 2001 - 4:31 pm: | |
Melidere:
You miss my point. I am very much in favor of urban planning improvements -- to the extent that they are improvements.
(Just speak with people from South Orange about the "success" of "improvements" to South Orange Avenue. This has been a prime example of what not to do!)
But, people need to have a reason to come to Springfield Avenue to patronize the businesses there. Sadly, most people in Maplewood probably couldn't name the types of busineses available there let alone their names.
Springfield Avenue has not evolved in the same way as South Orange Avenue either. It has a different focus and lacks the access to the train station and town center characteristics that South Orange Avenue has.
What I am trying to say is that we need to find a focus and a reason for people to come to Springfield Avenue and give its businesses a try. Positive publicity and special events are two ways of doing that. |
Melidere
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 8:29 am: | |
Could you explain what the people of South Orange would say about the 'success' of that project? From where i sit it sure looks like they have a lot of neat, new shops that are conveniently located, an improved environment for business and rising values on commercial properties which reduces their tax burden on residential housing.
Maybe they don't appreciate it, but i suspect if they were faced with the COST of all those properties deteriorating (the way we are) they would come to see that they are benefitting greatly from the renovations.
Too bad it didn't get done in time for Beck's hardware. I have run out of their furniture polish, even though i stocked up huge when they went out of business. |
Kestrel
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 10:10 am: | |
In the view of a person who has lived near Springfield Ave virtually all his life; almost 60 years, the reason for its "demise" can be summed up in one word: CARS.
It's hard to believe, but years ago, most families had ONE car...and "Dad" took it to work. So, a lot of the daily shopping that had to be done, i.e., bread, milk, groceries, baked goods prescriptions, shoe repair, dry-cleaning, hardware, Post Office, etc., etc., was done on foot. People actually walked to the stores and back! Can you believe it? Almost every day, when I got home from school, (everybody WALKED to school and back)I had to "go to the store"...or 2 or 3 stores. On Saturdays, when Dad was working on one of his projects, he'd usually say, "Run up to the Hardware Store and get me..."
Springfield Ave had all the stores that had just about anything and everything that families living near it could want or need, within "walking distance".
As one-car families became 2 and 3 car families, people not only became less inclined to walk to the near-by stores, they also became less inclined to walk the distances from where they had to park their cars. So, malls and Super-markets that had plenty of parking space, within walking distance, became the preferrable choice of shoppers....and the malls and super-markets had "better prices", to boot.
Like it or not, we are an automobile oriented society. If we can't park our cars right in front of where we want to go, we will drive to a place where we can.
The folks who are involved in the revitalization of Springfield Ave are fully cognizant of this and they have worked hard and successfully to get more parking spaces on Springfield Ave. The task remains to recapture a shopping public by having attractive, competitive places that people will want to shop at. They also will have to find ways to dispel the negative "image" that Springfield Ave now has.
As I remember, the Avenue was never what I would judge to be aesthetically pleasing to look at, but it thrived because it was a vital part of our day to day lives as they were then; out of neccessity and convenience predicated on having to walk. But, in today's world, I cannot see that Springfield Ave will ever return to what it once was for those reasons alone. As posters here have written, there are some very good and special stores and shops on the Avenue. I shop them regularly and would certainly do more if there were more places that had what I wanted or needed. (Oh, how I miss Maplecrest Hardware!)
But, for people who have not lived near or shopped on Springfield Ave.,(who, indeed only vaguely know of its existence) it is "another world", that quite frankly frightens them - especially compared to the cozy, safe and insulated feeling of Maplewood Village. In order to attract shoppers to this side of town, there must be more than neccessity and convenience to bring them here. We will have to find a way to convey the aesthetics of cleanliness, charm, order and safety. Not easy, but it can be done. |
Melidere
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 2:02 pm: | |
Well said, Kestrel. |
Tracks
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 2:09 pm: | |
Not sure what JoanCrystal means about S. Orange.
I like the S. Orange downtown now. Compared to ten years ago, it is absolutely fantastic. Sure I would like to see more new stores and something to happen at the old mercedes dealership, but it looked like a ghost town before they fixed it up and got some businesses to open.
I do not think anyone expected everything to get better overnight and it actually did look like that is what happened. |
Bobk
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 2:16 pm: | |
The plan is to build a hotel on the site of the Mercedes dealer on SO Avenue. When? Who knows |
Octofoil
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 3:04 pm: | |
Could be wrong-didn't follow it that closely-but I seem to recall that the hotel plan was shot down due to an inability to finance the project. IIRC, they are still looking.
The SO business district does look nicer, but avoid driving through there during rush hour!
Both Maplewood Village and SO village have two things going for them (as do several other towns along the train line) that Springfield Ave does not, and one of them relates directly to Kestrel's excellent analysis. That something is people on foot. Folks may drive home from the train station or be picked up or take the jitney, but for at least a brief period every day, there are lots of potential customers on foot in both areas. Thus, both M'wood Village and SO village are helped greatly by this proximity to the train stations, while Springfield Ave has nothing going for it that regard.
The other thing that M'wood Village in particular has that Springfield Ave doesn't have is higher income residents within walking distance. Moreover, the higher income areas of Maplewood are generally to the west of M'wood Village (as has been pointed out virtually ad naueseum on this board!). This hurts businesses located on Springfield Ave in that M'wood Village is generally situated between the higher income areas and Springfield. In other words, Maplewood Village acts as sort of a "dam": you have to go in, close to or around M'wood village to get to Springfield Ave from the west side of town. Consequently, Springfield Ave gets the "over-the-spillway" portion from Maplewood Village. Unless there is some specific reason that makes you want to go to Springfield Ave, especialy if you're traveling from the west side of town, there is a tendency to try M'wood Village first.
There are other influences, of course, but these are two important ones, IMHO. |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 3:16 pm: | |
Not only do the west siders have the option of stopping through the village on the way to Springfield Ave., the business districts of Millburn and So. Orange are closer than Springfield Ave., where parking is severely limited. |
Bobk
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 3:19 pm: | |
With the traffic and everyones tendancy to drive everywhere Springfield Avenue has become a location for "destination" businesses. By destination I mean businesses that attract customers with a specific need. Bussinesses like auto dealers, repair shops, paint stores, a great Italian Deli, the only fast food hamburger franchise in town, porn stores (couldn't resist), hobby stores, etc.
The traffic on the street doesn't make for a pleasent place to take a stroll and do some window shopping. That is probably the future of the street. Trying to yuppieize it will not work.
Kestel, thanks for the analysis, and the nostalgic look at Springfield from years ago. |
Yvette
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 3:35 pm: | |
I think advertising would help Springfield as new shops open up.
I've noticed, going to the Hobby store, a couple of new store-fronts - if you don't frequent Springfield, how would you know what's there? |
Melidere
| | Posted on Monday, February 12, 2001 - 8:41 pm: | |
Bobk,
I am not sure that you are correct. There are a lot more residents within walking distance of Springfield Avenue than the village. I thought the whole point (or at least a decent part of it) of getting springfield avenue back from the state was so we could slow down that traffic. |
Njjoseph
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 13, 2001 - 8:37 am: | |
And maybe we could repave it, too, since I am jolted out of my seat everytime I drive it!
I am much closer to Springfield Ave. (about 1/2 mile) than the village (1 1/4 miles), and rarely shop in the village, except to order out food and fill in some mid-week groceries.
There is a post-office on Springfield, and a few liquor stores (prices are much cheaper on Springfield, and if they don't have what I want, I can go to the Wine Library where prices are better still!), diners, restaurants, video stores and drug stores that it seems pointless to go a further distance to the village to get these items. Add DiPietros, Ricciardi's, Sherwin-Williams, the auto stores and tire places, and I spend quite a bit of time there. I only wish there were a supermarket with it's own parking lot. |
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