Comments for the good city

Comment on The suburban general store by Cathy Dee

Cathy Dee — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 15:50:38 +0000

I’m not sure why those of us in Aboite (like me) or north of Dupont (like my daughter) get called on out this — as if this idea would be so beyond the pale for us. But then I’m a little touchy about being typecast just because I have a 46804 address.

Serendipitously, though, my husband and I had this conversation just last week. After a quick errand to the shopping center at Scott Road & SR14, he joked that ‘I wish we had a Dollar General in our neighborhood.

I can’t say I want a Dollar General at the end of my cu-de-sac, but I am intrigued by suburbs that are designed more with walking in mind. I can walk to Scott’s on Scott Road, but it’s a haul to get stuff home in a backpack. The trails make it easier, for sure — at least until we cross SR14, at which point we are on our own.

But a well-designed, smartly stocked, well-maintained general store? Yep. Smart idea.

Comment on The suburban general store by Scott Greider

Scott Greider — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 00:30:44 +0000

Doesn’t that already exist? I think it’s called BP…

Comment on The suburban general store by Chris

Chris — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 13:09:23 +0000

I LOVE this idea! It would encourage people to exercise more, get to know their neighbors, burn less gas and waste less time driving all over town for trivial tasks, not to mention supporting your local economy vs. national chains.

It would be sort of like a small college campus…you’ve got your bookstore, coffee shop and post office all within walking distance, and you run into people you know while you’re running your errands.

Comment on The suburban general store by Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:10:46 +0000

I live in the East State Village (around the Tecumseh Library), and we used our local market last night–we walked down to Pio’s to pick up ingredients for dinner. We love having a small family-owned market within walking distance, and although it is mainly a meat market, we still use it whenever we can. We will be sad if this business ever goes away.

I realize that we live in a village/neighborhood, but I don’t see why anyone would oppose a business like this in a suburban area.

Comment on The roads that hate pedestrians by design by Alec Johnson

Alec Johnson — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:56:32 +0000

All major arterials have similar problems I am afraid Jon!
And roads don’t hate pedestrians – INDOT policy makers and engineers hate people (ok, thats harsh. They hate sharing their roads with people and bikes). I’m sure you have heard of Dan Burden who advocates for streets that improve the livability and quality along their routes. Lets start there. http://www.walkable.org/

Comment on The geography of happiness by Bailey Singh

Bailey Singh — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:28:09 +0000

Happiness is a state of mind that really depends how we see the situations in our lives each day. you can have all the riches in the world but still see it as a lonely place.’;-

Comment on In Defense of Fake Authenticity by Donna

Donna — Sun, 16 May 2010 21:19:30 +0000

Interesting post. Downtowns that have evolved over time are the real deal, even if the historic buildings have been abused. Most can be preserved and restored (if they have not been demolished first).

Comment on Learning from Columbus, Indiana by Scott Greider

Scott Greider — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:25:17 +0000

Jon,

The hyperlink seems to be broken.

Comment on The expressway that never happened by Courtney Bontempo

Courtney Bontempo — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 20:43:53 +0000

Thanks for posting this great piece of Fort Wayne history that many in my generation have no knowledge of and like you explained would have reaped the benefits of. Most young professionals from my generation find themselves leaving Fort Wayne to pursue careers in larger cities such as Chicago and Indianapolis, due to a lack of opportunities in Fort Wayne. The lose of these young professionals is being felt across the board from housing to the local grocery store and its been that way for quite sometime. I agree, looking back is always easier then looking forward and those in power at the time most likely didn’t see this playing out as it has. Downtown Fort Wayne is a shell of itself and despite new efforts will never be what it could have been. Good or bad, it is what it is. We created a bypass and essentially split the city up, which is one of the reason they didn’t want the expressway ironically. Most likely the neighborhoods that would have been affected by the expressway are the same ones that now find themselves crime ridden and in shambles. Again, this could be a direct result of the cities decision not to build an expressway. Fort Wayne has lost many of its middle class blue collar and white collar employers and there has been a major lack of new businesses entering the city to fill the gap left behind from such companies as GE, Tokeim, Harvester, Lincoln Life…etc Downtown Fort Wayne has over 1mil sqft of office space sitting empty by last accounts. Downtown Fort Wayne reminds me a lot of Southtown Mall.

Comment on Are chain stores bad for downtowns? by blackwasp19

blackwasp19 — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 14:27:04 +0000

In relation to the conversation about chains, here is an interesting article about how big box stores can find a place within urban and multi-use design – http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/living-above-the-store—the-next-generation/article1357463/.