tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post2109719403870439818..comments2024-03-25T17:49:41.408-07:00Comments on Salem Breakfast on Bikes: Early Fred Meyer Storefront Restoration; Notes on Depot AdditionSalem Breakfast on Bikeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-24404407035422477242017-01-14T09:09:35.949-08:002017-01-14T09:09:35.949-08:00(Edit: Forgot to add and datestamp a note that the...(Edit: Forgot to add and datestamp a note that there's now <a href="http://breakfastonbikes.blogspot.com/2017/01/more-on-148-north-liberty-as-early-fred-meyer.html" rel="nofollow">an update to the Fred Meyer bit here</a>.)Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-17833020136538073642016-12-20T12:01:58.190-08:002016-12-20T12:01:58.190-08:00Yikes! That neighborhood looks like a slum now. ...Yikes! That neighborhood looks like a slum now. If this is an improvement I can't imagine how bad it was in Susann's day. But the Mission St. overpass isn't the only thing working against it--the airport, the railroad switchyard, and the city shops all depress potential of this area as a livable neighborhood. Industrial would make more sense here to me. It has many advantages over Fairview, Mill Creek or the other areas the city is trying to bribe companies to develop. The overpass has probably had some impact on 12th and 13th St. development but not in a good way. What little development is happening there is more of the typical cheap Salem low-rise, strippy, auto-oriented garbage. Which is a shame because Salem has so few places that have good access to neighborhoods where people could walk--if we had design standards to support it. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-74313373292792814402016-12-17T03:08:04.268-08:002016-12-17T03:08:04.268-08:00Not sure why you dismiss my observations as a loca...Not sure why you dismiss my observations as a local resident so easily to support your point of view, but I will say that what I did notice when the Mission Street widening and bypass took place, instead of cars going through the neighborhoods are fast rates (i.e Hines street especially) the area became more appealing to bike and pedestrian travel. I used to have to bike down other side streets in an attempt to avoid cars until the by-pass and after that I could just go down Hines and connect with 12th and then down Cross to get to Leslie Pool which was my destination most hot summer days. Safer and more pleasant without cars. Probably what attracted those wanting to restore older homes in that area too.Susann Kaltwassernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-27320043093298537992016-12-15T12:03:43.748-08:002016-12-15T12:03:43.748-08:00(By the way, for anyone who might not know already...(By the way, for anyone who might not know already, the City says: <i>Tonight's Historic Landmarks Commission meeting has been cancelled. The meeting has been rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017</i>.)<br /><br />Oh, that's an interesting claim, Susann!<br /><br />I think you are wrong, but at the moment I can't think of decisive evidence, so this here will be just counter-opinion and assertion.<br /><br />Can you think of other cities where a raised urban highway/expressway structure has "sheltered" and "helped" a neighborhood as you say? If what you say is true, it should be possible to find other examples of it.<br /><br />And if this generally is true, why aren't the neighborhoods immediately on either side of I-5 more vibrant?<br /><br />As with the rhetoric of "intrusion" that characterizes our approach to Historic Districts, I think you overrate the deleterious effects of cut-through traffic on causing blight. This is the logic of cul-de-sacs. Cul-de-sac neighborhoods, though, are too often dead and unwalkable, even if they might have pretty houses at first.<br /><br />Modest amounts of cut-through traffic and circulation resulting from an intact grid might instead have hastened the neighborhood's renewal.<br /><br />But I will think on this more! Perhaps others will have opinions or evidence also!Salem Breakfast on Bikeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15618055627843335993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666195730630249633.post-59870824899113092672016-12-14T21:24:06.571-08:002016-12-14T21:24:06.571-08:00I'm going to disagree with you a bit about the...I'm going to disagree with you a bit about the Depot Addition neighborhood. I grew up not far from that area in the 1950s through the 1070's. The area along Mission Street from 12th to 22nd was a slum by any standards.The only real decent homes in that area were a bit further south along Hines. Most of the houses were rentals and some were said to not even have decent floors. Back in 1972 my husband and I looked at renting an apartment in the area and found everything to be not only old, but neglected and dangerous. <br /><br />Actually, it was reasonable to think the area would be torn down before the Mission Street widening and overpass. But as it turned out the increased sheltering that the bypass created actually helped the neighborhood. It become more sheltered because there was a decrease in traffic cutting through residential streets to get to 12th Street. In the 1980s young families felt it worth investing in some of the better houses. Some went by the wayside, of course, but even more got remodeled. <br /><br />Sometimes moving cars out of the way helps a neighborhood restore itself.<br /><br />Also, some of the nice older homes on 12th Street were converted to businesses. That was nice to see.<br /><br />I recently went by my old home off 22nd. It was a pretty great place to grow up because at the time the neighborhood was new (1953) and there was a lot of open fields for kids to explore and put together a baseball game. But now that it is surrounded by industrial development and heavy traffic, I think it needs to be abandoned. Most of the houses are being neglected, and being a small island in an industrial park is no place for kids to live. <br /><br />In that case, traffic and industry destroyed a neighborhood...that probably shouldn't have ever been built since it is in a flood plain. That subdivision of about 60 houses got built because of the need for post-war housing, but today, it is not worth saving. I was very disappointed that the City allowed an apartment complex to be built on 23rd. It is not a residential area worth the investment.Susann Kaltwassernoreply@blogger.com