Comment

Comment by Georgia NeSmith on April 1, 2010 at 10:28am

Just something to think about --

If YOU had money to invest in (for example) a trendy coffee house, would you put it on Thurston or Chili or Genesee?

Boulder/Brooks Landing happened because of long, hard work over many many years by what may be a few hundred people. Its proximity to the U of R gave it an edge, as college students/faculty are known for frequenting trendy coffee houses.

The success of any small business venture depends on location, location, location. And location again.

At last night's Thurston Rd. street watch meeting, John Borek pointed out that there is a LOT of money in the 19th Ward. I believe it. But you don't see that manifested on our commercial streets. Why?

Let's face it head on: with rare exception (certain neighborhoods in Atlanta being one of them), any neighborhood lacking a critical mass of white faces has little chance of attracting the kind of venues that you see on Park Ave./Monroe/University/East End. While, like Atlanta, Rochester does have a substantial black middle class (many of whom populate the 19th Ward), for whatever reason, it simply is not readily visible.

Last year I had a meeting at Boulder with a friend, Nancy Shelton (who ran for school board). Nancy is one of those "poor girls who made good." At one point a teen mom, school dropout on DSS, she eventually got through college and now has an excellent job in private non-profit social services. Despite her success, she chooses to live smack dab in the middle of the Crescent, because she believes she is needed there.

She made a comment about Boulder that stuck with me - that she was gratified to have such a pleasant, gorgeous venue in a neighborhood with people who are like her. To her, that presence said "we value you." Unfortunately that is generally not the case.

I, too, would love to have something like Boulder over on my side of the Ward. But I can understand why that will never happen without an effort similar to what went into Brooks Landing. If I had money to invest, would *I* put it into something like that on Chili? Not by a long shot. Certainly not in our present economy. But also not even in a good one. That's because the Park Ave. crowd & the U of R crowd - the life blood demographics that such a venue requires - will NEVER venture down my street. More than a few won't even drive through on their way somewhere else. And if indeed there is such a crowd blending in with those who frequent our current corner stores, even THEY don't venture out.

There ARE quite a few boutique gift shops in the neighborhood. For example, there's Honey Child Productions and Sensuous Satiables on Chili, both of which were formerly on Genesee. Both are geared toward an African American market. And why shouldn't they be? This neighborhood is about 75% black.

Bottom line is, if we want the Park Ave kinds of stores/entertainment venues we are going to have to work freaking hard to overcome the perception, based on the predominance of people of color, that this neighborhood is primarily DSS & low wage workers. AND, as with Brooks Landing, there has to be a concerted effort to work on an entire block of stores, because no such venue can ever be profitable standing on its own in isolation.

Comment by Anthony Fasolo on March 25, 2010 at 5:45pm

I was on Thurston Road today taking a run and saw that the maintenance crew for the big blue townhouses on the corner of Penhurst and Thurston were out cleaning up the yards. Thank god - I couldn't take the crap anymore. The funny thing was they had the back of their truck full of black garbage bags to take away. Must have been quite a bit of gahgagh to cart away.

Comment by Mark Sweetland on March 21, 2010 at 10:08pm

Marian and Margy, Thurston-Brooks Services has been around for a long time, possibly in a different location on Thurston? I can't remember. I seem to remember it being down closer to Brooks, on the west side. Don't know. Or maybe they were there all along, but it was not a place I needed to go. I think the "services" included loans, tax help, that sort of thing. Now it appears they have branched out into caskets. A rising business opportunity for them. Or what other services might they offer?
I don't mean to be negative just sarcastic.

Any business storefront is better than none. Maybe someone could go in and see what services are available. Let us know.

Comment by Marian Boutet on March 21, 2010 at 6:19pm

I'm looking at the photograph below - a cheesy-looking storefront selling caskets and "services" next to a barbershop - and the only thing that allows me to keep my sanity is believing that this is the darkness just before the dawn; that soon I'll be looking at a used book store and a nice coffee shop, or maybe a florist or a bakery or......

Comment by Margy Meath on March 21, 2010 at 3:01pm

I drove on Thurston today....... ughhhhhhhhhhhh! there weren't many people out as it was early but the trash is just really disgusting.
I did hear from John DeMott that the city is offering money (matching type funds with the city doing most of the funding) to storeowners to make some store front changes and he was going to follow up re: the issue of neon signs and how they do or don't fit with the current codes.
I've not heard back from Adam McFadden re: my inquiry re: Thurston "Street Watch" so am left wondering about that initiative.
In the meantime, the 'casket store' remains a mystery to me but it now appears that it's a combination 'casket store' and "Thurston-Brooks Services". Does anyone know what Thurston-Brooks services is?? Does it have something to do with caskets!?!

Comment by Marian Boutet on March 16, 2010 at 2:13pm

As I understand it, the owner believes that the occasion of someone's death is the worst time to make a major financial decision. No one gets out alive, so why not get this piece out of the way ahead of time? Buy your casket now, put it in the garage (or use it as a coffee table) and save your loved ones some trouble in the midst of their grief.

Makes sense to me.

Comment by Margy Meath on March 16, 2010 at 1:03pm

I just sent an email into John Demott to ask about the neon as it relates to the city code. I also sent an email to Adam McFadden last week to ask him about the status of Thurston Road Street watch.... hopefully I'll get some responses and share whatever information would be useful.

Comment by ShannonG on March 15, 2010 at 12:28pm

This is both very very funny and depressing. I wonder if you get a discount from Legacy if you bring repeat business.

Comment by Anthony Fasolo on March 14, 2010 at 10:52pm

Well sad to say... Thurston Rd. is beginning to look like some very low end comercial streets that you often see in the Bronx. Is that the visionary direction we are heading in?

Comment by Mark Sweetland on March 13, 2010 at 7:33pm

My guess is it is yours and my tax dollars, although I am not sure. There were public hearings posted on signs on certain stores. I know nothing more about this issue, though.

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