Tuesday, July 8, 2008

July 8, 1949

Syracuse has always had a bit of a retail fetish. I mean, who needs DestiNY when tourists already flock to the area due to its elite status among dead mall cities? But long before the DestiNY saga, there was a similarly drawn-out battle for a shopping mall in DeWitt. Fifty-nine years ago today, an architect who wished to build a $500,000 shopping center on a 46-acre parcel of land opposite DeWitt Cemetery (the Dadey farm) for a then-unnamed developer submitted his plans the DeWitt Town Board. The shopping center would be a one-story, half-circle shaped building housing twenty-four stores, with enough parking for 650 cars. Also included in the deal was a plan to construct 45 homes on the site, which would sell for about $15,000 each. The plan drew quick protest from Orvilton Park residents, who brought the matter to court, citing that they built their homes when the area was zoned residential, and the change in zoning would cause the value of their houses to drop. If you find it hard to imagine Erie Boulevard as a residential street, so did the judge who ruled in favor of the shopping center on May 27, 1950: "It is found that Erie Boulevard by reason of heavy vehicular traffic with resulting noise, dirt, odors and hazards is unsuited for residential purposes. One is not required to theorize to reach this conclusion." Furthermore, as the judge pointed out, five of the plaintiffs weren't even disgruntled homeowners, but rather businessmen who had recently sold their property located on the corner of East Genesee and Erie Boulevard to a competing shopping center developer (what would become the "DeWitt Stop and Shop Shopping Centre"). A shopping center on the site would be "in accord with a well-developed plan to promote the general welfare of the community," the judge stated.

With this decision, in June 1950, Eagan Real Estate announced their plans to begin construction of the Town and Country Shopping Center on the disputed site, though the year of legal battles had given Eagan the opportunity to expand their vision. The center would now contain 40 stores, and cost an estimated $3 million. These days, this shopping center is not only better known as Shoppingtown, but also as a favorite stop on the Dying Mall Tour. Plans are being discussed to redevelop the mall into a "lifestyle center," i.e. a strip plaza, not unlike the Dewitt Stop and Shop Shopping Centre (now better known as 4473 East Genesee Street), which still has storefronts to this day. In fact, all of the earliest shopping centers/strip plazas in Syracuse --Nottingham Plaza (1951), Valley Plaza (1952), Shop City Plaza (1952), Westvale Shopping Plaza (1950) and Mattydale Plaza (1950)--have remained intact and occupied, even while the neighborhoods around some of them have (sharply) declined. So as Syracuse continues to be seduced by new shopping centers, perhaps we should look at why these vintage plazas may be much more valuable.

When it comes to city revitalization, those who subscribe to the Richard Florida theory suggest that transformation begins with members of the "creative class" inhabiting--and rehabbing-- the city's downtown. 40 Below would not only like me to Come Home to Syracuse, but preferably move into a renovated loft or condominium downtown. But what does a call to live in a luxury condo in the abandoned blight of downtown Syracuse rather than an older house in an established neighborhood--albeit a neighborhood that has seen far better days--really say about the city that you're trying to revitalize? When Nottingham Realty Corporation built Valley Plaza in 1952 (with Eagan Real Estate serving as managing agents), the site was selected "after a detailed survey revealed that 55,000 persons in the immediate area can be conveniently served" (The Post-Standard, November 16, 1952). As Eugene W. Kilts stated in a letter to the Post Standard on January 17, 1972, when he moved to Syracuse in 1920, he "made many inquiries as to the best sections of the city to make my residence and 9 out of 10 recommended the South Side." His walk home from work (at 2 am!) involved "walk[ing] home via the then beautiful West Onondaga St. with its maple trees on both sides of the street...down South Ave. to Bellevue to Hudson Street." Mr. Kilts then adds "In those days you never feared being mugged at that time in the morning, but as of today...I would be frightened to walk that section in the daytime." Thirty-six years later, this sentiment has not changed. Given that the Syracuse of today is a direct result of the urban renewal actions of the 1960s, how exactly does establishing a neighborhood of young professionals and empty nesters downtown address the problems of these historic neighborhoods that are in desperate need of revitalization themselves? Is it perhaps easier to settle in condos in the abandoned downtown, because you are creating a neighborhood where none exists?

Also significant is that all of the above-named shopping centers were originally anchored by a supermarket (or in some cases, two supermarkets - but that's a whole other blog entry). Most still contain a grocery store today. While perhaps not aesthetically pleasing, these strip plazas did provide all of the amenities - food, pharmacy, department store - for the immediate neighborhoods surrounding them. And because each of these suburbs was located on the early trolley lines (which had all become bus lines by the time the shopping centers were built), sidewalks made the area walkable. If Syracuse is trying to "go green," then why not promote these neighborhoods with smaller houses (less energy/heat), sidewalks and short distances to the supermarket (less gas)? There is usually the assumption that "downtown living" means less driving than the suburbs. However, given that not only is Syracuse years away from a real mass transit system, but also has most of its offices currently based in the suburbs, downtown living in Syracuse is probably less of a green choice than settling in one of the inner-ring suburbs.

Lastly, it is important to note is that the sites for these older plazas were considered in relation to the proximity to the top Syracuse employers at the time. A January 25, 1955 Post-Standard article discussing the proposed expansion of Shop City mentions that the center "has ample parking space, an attractive feature to the thousands of workers from plants at Industrial Park...Carrier Corp., General Motors, General Electric Co. and other firms have plants in the area, one of the most rapidly developing sections in the U. S." L.T. Eagan of Eagan Real Estate cited the rapid growth of Syracuse as the main factor for JCPenney's 1952 decision to open a store in Shoppingtown:

"East, west, north, south, Syracuse grows beyond its borders...Carrier Corporation, Bristol Laboratories, U.S. Hoffman, Oberdorfer Foundries and other Digney interests, the new Western Electric upstate service and supply center to employ 500, mean nearly 10,000 industrial employees along one axis developed largely since the war...small wonder that national concerns look to Syracuse for outlets and Syracuse interests think in terms of branches around the great golden circle of the city." (The Post-Standard, October 12, 1952)

In other words, the jobs in Syracuse created the shopping centers; the shopping centers did not create the jobs in Syracuse.

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