Walking the Beech [Street] ... (PART I)

I grew up in the Bronx and moved to the suburbs of Westchester and Rockland Counties when my children were born. But the allure of the big backyard soon gave way to yearning for the walks to the local deli, or to the bakery for the first fresh, hot rolls of the day.

Meeting up with neighbors, current or former classmates along the way and catching up with the family news. A vibrant commercial district is the heart and soul of a community. 

And here in the West End, a clean, attractive, walk able commercial district is not just a dream, but a very real possibility. With a little vision, and support.

By all accounts, the West End is an ideal community: from any address you can walk to the Church, the Temple, the water park, the library, public and parochial schools and best of all, the beach., You can even walk or bike to the train that will take you into the heart of the greatest city in the world in less than an hour.

But West Beech Street is still a diamond in the rough, and here’s the rough:

• Narrow sidewalks, complicated by poorly placed traffic poles and curb cuts discourage, no, preclude strollers and wheelchairs. In his book, The Great Neighborhood, Jay Wallsjasper said, “the true measure of neighborhood livability is whether senior citizens and disabled people can get around comfortably.”

• Unsightly sidewalks, due to years of gum and dirt accumulation (wondered about those black polka dots?) cracked concrete and emerging sidewalk weeds

• Commercial garbage crowding sidewalks into mid-morning to early afternoon, smelly in summer, unsightly and unsanitary all year round.

• Litter, cigarette butts, cups, bottles lining curbs and clogging sewer grates.

• Lack of important resident-supportive businesses such as butchers, gourmet grocers, bakeries, a bank, dentist, etc. Do you know that in the town of Westbury, LI, the Business Improvement District offers monetary incentives to quality businesses from other towns to open stores in their commercial strip?

• Lack of cohesive design elements, like business signage (some businesses even suffer from identity crisis: the sign from the former business still remains! Who ya gonna call for this: zoning board? ) period street signs and lights with banners and hanging plants. 

• Finally: the lack of an outdoor neighborhood gathering place. Remember that photo of Denise Ford making a speech on 9/11 in front of the memorial garden set up in the corner of the Virginia Avenue parking lot? We need a place where neighbors can gather together comfortably to honor our heroes, light up the Christmas tree or Menorah, check a community bulletin board or sit on a bench to read a book and get some air. This is not a community of backyards. We need a place to relax or gather communally outside that’s not the beach.

So if part of the solution is identifying the problem we are halfway there.

Tune in tomorrow for a few ideas for consideration.