Eastwood Kinney`s Drug Store

Kinney’s Drug Store Proposal
Eastwood
According to the U.S. Census, about 11,000
people live in the Eastwood neighborhood.
Many of these live within walking distance of
the James Street business district.
What will they find if they walk there?
Before World War II James Street was
dense with small shops and businesses
James Street through Eastwood circa 1935
Taken from James and Hickok
(notice Palace Theater on right)
In the distance you can see a trolley coming,
right down the middle of the street
On the left you can see a little drug store, nestled
between Ausman’s Hardware and Kelley’s Coal.
Here is another pre-World War II drugstore
on the corner of Marlborough and James:
“Daw’s Cut-Rate Drug Store.” Notice it
doesn’t have its own parking lot.
Next to Daw’s, on the same block, were the Pete
Marie Shop, The Baby Shop, and Acme Radio -upstairs is “Dr. Isaacs”
Drug store chains like
Walgreens and CVS have
learned how to design for
pedestrian friendly
neighborhoods. These
stores are built up to the
sidewalk and have small
– if any – parking lots.
Kinney’s doesn’t seem to have
any stores like this Walgreens in
Chicago or the CVS in Boston.
Because Kinney’s is a smaller,
regional chain it appears they
haven’t had any recent
experience with pedestrian
friendly design.
All recent Kinney’s stores look like
the one here on the right. There are
homes within walking distance, but
no way to walk to or from them.
Every trip to this drugstore involves a
ride in the car.
Drug
Kinney
Store
Remember Daw’s Cut Rate Drugs on James Street and the space
it required? Suburban style drug stores occupy vastly more land.
This Eastwood store would require the entire end of a city block.
All of the land you see here would become the single proposed Kinney’s Drug Store.
It would require not only the demolition of the former ice-cream stand at the right
but also the apartment/office building at center left, and the house at the far left.
This little apartment/office building at the corner of James and Edwards would be
demolished. It isn’t an historic landmark, but it is a solidly constructed building of the
type that the Eastwood Overlay District was intended to protect and encourage more of.
Is a parking lot really more valuable to the neighborhood and city?
Fortunately, there are two currently
operating Kinney’s stores in the area
that offer much better models for the
Eastwood design.
One is in Skaneateles and the other
is in Ithaca. Both have smaller
parking lots and no drive-through
window.
513 N Cayuga St, Ithaca, NY
Photo taken Saturday, December 17th, 4:30 pm
513 N Cayuga St,
Ithaca, NY
513 N Cayuga St, Ithaca
• This is a much smaller store than the one
proposed for Eastwood: 4,215 sq ft compared
to 11,766 for the proposed Eastwood store.
• It was built in 1980.
• There are 11 parking spaces, one space for
every 380 sq ft of store space. At that ratio
the Eastwood store should have 30 total
parking spaces, not 40.
16
23 Fennel Street, Skaneateles, NY
Photo taken Saturday, December 17th, 3:30 pm
23 Fennel Street,
Skaneateles, NY
Notice the barricade
on the right at the
edge of the parking
lot? Kinney’s and the
CVS next door do not
share each others’
parking lots.
23 Fennel Street, Skaneateles
• The store is 11,258 sq ft, compared to 11,766 for the
proposed Eastwood store.
• Constructed in 2005, it looks like a two story building
from the front, but the second story is just a façade.
• There are 22 parking spaces, plus one handicapped
space for a total of 23. That’s one space for every
490 sq ft of store space. At that ratio the Eastwood
store should have 24 total parking spaces, not 40.
• There is a CVS next door, with its own parking lot,
but there is a barrier between the lots to discourage
parking on one side and shopping on the other.
19
Most of the parking at suburban style drug stores is wasted
space. Chain drug stores want large parking lots so that, even on
a busy day, it is clear to passing motorists that there would be no
trouble finding a place to park.
But this kind of design kills walkable neighborhoods. Why walk
down a street where most of what you’ll see is parking lots?