New Haven Independent

Posted by: robn | September 17, 2008 9:38 AM

If Anthony Avalones comment is correct, and the only issue in front of the BZA is a parking variance, then it seems like the responsibility of the BZA is to limit discussion to the legal issue, not public sentiment....unless their rules say that a varience opens all doors to discussion.

Posted by: walt bradley | September 17, 2008 9:43 AM

Sweet, a sparsely attended & guarded turn key operation on Whalley. Now i won't have to walk all the way down to Whalley Pizza to buy my crack.
Maye we can get Wallgreens to open up a kiosk inside the laundrette so i don't have walk all the way next store (love you CV) and a dunkin donuts kiosk inside the wallgreens kiosk.
Great use of land.
Can somebody just make a list of all the places we're good on for now, and maybe start with the places we're missing
Nail Salons - Check
Check Cashing - Check
Liquor Stores - check
Coin op (we'll also accept those yellow card thingies) laundry - check

and so on and so forth.

Posted by: Cheri | September 17, 2008 9:53 AM

I recently moved from this very area of town (Blvd. and Elm, near the Walgreens).

I used to do my laundery at K-C Laundromat, and Kenny and his wife, who own/run the place are very nice people, but honestly, more often than not, I had to stand around waiting for a dryer...it's just too small to accomodate all the people who live in the neighborhood. I understand Eliezer Greer's point about the business being neglected/unmonitored, which lowers the standards of everything around it. However, it is a needed service, so maybe they should take that into consideration, and find a way to make the Sproviero brothers take very good care of the new laundromat, and make sure to monitor what's going on there.

Posted by: Gary Doyens | September 17, 2008 12:27 PM

What exactly is the community's plan for Whalley? All I read about is endless whining about different businesses who wanto to expand or join the community; street vendors and prisoner dumping. Is there a real plan or vision that the managment team is trying to implement or is everybody just against everything? If there is a real vision, then perhaps somebody could lay it out and then corral the resources to get it done.

Posted by: walt bradley | September 17, 2008 2:05 PM

Gary, good point. Not being one to keep my mouth shut,i will wow you with some of the items NOT on MY checklist.
A) non-profit / community based
-A branch of the Hill Health Center -or a similar type place, perhaps a community dentist, eye doctor, woman's health clinic
-A state or city / govt. branch such as DMV, unemployment, traing center
-A community center
-A boys & girls club or similar gathering spot for young people to stay out of trouble
-Future home of citizens television (probably won't happen though)

B) for profit under used business
- another grocery store (the whalley ave. shaw's is the busiest in the state so a smaller IGA or CTOWN type store wouldn't kill shaw's and outside of the cityseed markets and expensive edge of the woods, there's not much else in westville/ westriver/ beaverhills for non convienience store markets)
- SOMETHING more creative, and original. Doesn't empower new haven or the whalley special service area help out businesses starting up in that area? if not what the hell are they good for.
a bike shop, a book store, a hawaiian shirt super store - something.
just not another freaking dollar store, brown bag package store, drug store or laundry mat.

i live in westville, and when i'm downtown after dark i often invision myself as charlton heston in the "omega man" driving up whalley ave just to make it home safely. i drive as fast and offensive as i can and i'm sick of it.
i have a real interest in creating a safer, more enlightened thouroughfare - the safety of myself, my girlfriend, and my neighbors (except that one jerk two houses over - but i wouldn't want to see him killed). Plus it just looks bad, it's embarrassing to those of us who pride ourselves on being born here and living here and giving a crap about our city and our image. i can drive up chapel or elm, but they are no better. whalley ave is too busy to be the unsightly, dangerous, s-hole that it is, and the fact that the brain trust behind new haven's economic development either cannot come up with something more innovative and original, or are just too stupid or lazy to do so disgusts me.

Posted by: Cheri | September 17, 2008 2:48 PM

Walt, although I disagree with you on one point: I think that a better laundromat is needed, I agree with you on all other points that you made in your most recent comments.

I'll repeat what I've complained about many times by stating what a nightmare it was for me, a biker/pedestrian to live in the Elm/Blvd. area of town, for all the reasons you gave above.

Also, it really sucks that getting to and from downtown is just as miserable/frightening using Elm, Edgwood and/or Chapel Streets, so there are no alternative routes that are safer or better AT ALL!!!!!

Posted by: Gary Doyens | September 17, 2008 4:50 PM

Hey Walt: That pretty much covers it... lol ...Is anybody at the city level doing anything about this target list? They may be too busy with those downtown projects...ahemmm. By the way, does anybody from Development ever come to the meetings? Do they know what the group wants to happen?

Posted by: Carole | September 17, 2008 5:25 PM

i often invision myself as charlton heston in the "omega man" driving up whalley ave just to make it home safely. i drive as fast and offensive as i can and i'm sick of it.

Walt,

I don't like Whalley either. And I hate that there's no crime-safe nighttime route for walking or biking from downtown to Westville. But in my car? I'm much more worried about the people who are driving "as fast and offensive" as they can. Please take it easy!

Posted by: walt bradley | September 17, 2008 11:07 PM

Carole, i did not say i like to drive the way i do. Given the choice between possibly being the victim of a crime or not taking the chance of being a victim, 100% i overwhelmingly choose to not be a victim. I will risk the fine and ticket. That's what it's come down to. I'm good for another year or two, but very soon i will have to make a decision weather or not i can stay here, regardless of my history and affection for this city. I hope you put the safety of you and your loved ones atop any list of concerns, and you'd do what you believe is the right path.
I'm not an a-hole, but i'm not a martyr.

Posted by: near the bowl | September 18, 2008 12:51 AM

Sometimes when I have to drive Whalley Ave. after dark, I like to pretend i'm Steve McQuen from the movie Bullit.
Self preservation when it comes to getting home safely. Godspeed Walt!

Posted by: nfjanette | September 18, 2008 1:17 AM

i live in westville, and when i'm downtown after dark i often invision myself as charlton heston in the "omega man" driving up whalley ave just to make it home safely.

This gets my clever reference of the week award - I'll never drive down Whalley at night again without this image. But, like Carole wrote, please don't add to the portion of lunatic drivers in the city.

Posted by: tony | September 18, 2008 9:01 AM

I've been living car-free for almost 3 months now, but paying a West Haven business to pick-up my laundry and drop it off.
A laundromat so close (I live on Ellsworth) would be convenient.
Especially if they would put in a wireless router.
That's what we need.
Students, and people like myself, etc., could work while we wash.
But, I would much rather see a business with an attendant, of course, than an unattended wash-mill. I think that's key: an attendant.
I honestly believe a well-kept laundromat, with free wifi, would be an excellent business, both for students and other locals.
I's suggest coffee/drinks, too, but, I can step out to Dunkin for a coffee or Walgreens for other drinks, so no need to compete with them on that account. Do it like that, and I'll do my laundry there. I believe that would actually be good for Walgreens, Dunkin Donuts, Crown Chicken, etc.
But, something that's going to turn into a mess...no.

Posted by: Moti Sandman | September 18, 2008 11:44 AM

Hi All:

The WEB has started a sub committee called Whalley Avenue Revitalization (WAR) that reports their activities to the WEB on a monthly basis. This group consists of:

• The president & executive director of WASSD
• A representative from the City Office of Economic Development
• The Police District Manager
• The president of the WEB
• Two resident representatives of the WEB (one of which is the co-chair)
• An Alderman

We focus on the issues facing Whalley Ave and how to overcome them. One issue was the cleanliness of the street. WASSD increased their payment by maximum amount allowed by their charter and will do so for the next 2 to 3 years to bring in enough revenue to service the district properly. The city is coming forward with funds and city resources to augment what WASDD is doing. Simple things like fixing the street lights that are out to trimming trees that have not been trimmed in years. The city is also helping out with façade program money that many other parts of the city already get.

All of the stakeholders mentioned above are working on a vision for Whalley to make it a place where everyone will want to shop & dine at and feel safe doing it. This is a massive undertaking and it will take time for some of the grand vision changes but small changes have taken place. The closing of Newt's Bar on the corner of Whalley and Winthrop and the rebuilding of Chucks Luncheonette are some of the immediate changes.

When the shopkeepers on the strip know that people care they will start to take pride in their work. For the first time in years Minories is taking care of his property and has started working on a new façade and signage for his store. This was in good part to the combined efforts of WAR. We are not stopping with him.

An integral part of this all is making sure that we get quality stores to move on the strip. I agree that we can not have any more "brown bag" liquor stores or connivance stores that sell crack pipes, Philly Blunts and other drug paraphernalia with impunity. We also need to make sure that the stores don't become hangouts (like L & A Deli, Whalley Pizza, Sam's Store, just to name a few).

WASSD is working on a "Leakage Study" - a study showing what the residents of the area are buying outside the area because they can't be serviced here. It is my hope that this study will be taken seriously and we can fill some of the open storefronts with what the community and WASSD wants and needs, and that the property owners look at what they are putting in and not just jump on the first call.

In order to change Whalley we need to put a higher caliber establishment in that takes pride in their store and neighborhood. If it can't happen with this store let us make it happen in the future.

Moti Sandman
Alderman Ward28

Posted by: norton street | September 18, 2008 6:17 PM

for me the scariest part of whalley avenue is riding my bike home after work when all the SUV drivers headed towards woodbridge are desperately trying to get home safely, which is why i often find myself having to go up goffee of elm, and while i risk getting stabbed and shot at by urban crack addict gun carrying teens it sure beats riding next to people who are scared.

i am someone who would love to see whalley avenue revitalized. we need more buildings like the one on the southwest corner of whalley and sherman, and layouts similar to whalley from carmel to norton, winthrop wouldnt bother me so much if it were just cleaned up.

Posted by: raven | September 19, 2008 6:56 PM

I honestly can't understand these Aldermen who will bend over backwards to give the $hartenberg developer $14 million of public concessions for a downtown project, then turn around and fight a business tooth and nail to block a neighborhood project. We need the tax revenue ... NOW ... not just in the distant future. I find it refreshing when a property owner wants to develop his land ... with his own money... without holding his hand out for the taxpayers subsidy.