There will be a public neighborhood meeting to get resident input on the project. Monday, February 23, 5:30PM at Mario’s.
There is a new shopping center planned for Brighton. A Whole Foods will reportedly be anchoring the new Palazzo Plaza Lifestyle Center, which will be located on Monroe Ave near 590 where Clover Lanes currently is. [Note: the concept drawing referred to here has since been removed from the site, but WHAM featured it and I included it below.]The developers will be presenting the proposed project to the Town of Brighton tonight at 7PM.
I was excited when I first saw the news about this, because I assumed it was a chance for Brighton to take an opportunity to make that Monroe Corridor more accessible to pedestrians, transit riders and cyclists. It would be a chance to lead by a new example of building things for people, instead of cars. Right now, that corridor is completely terrible for anyone not in a car. The parking is in the front and the buildings are set way back from the street and are separated from one another. So you’d never walk between them (let alone try to cross the street even at a marked intersection with a crosswalk).
The developers say traffic calming measures will be implemented, but no specific details are available yet. The D&C reported: “The plan includes a new traffic signal on Monroe Avenue with a pedestrian cross walk and enhancements to the trail easement now running through the properties.”
I was hopeful.
Then I saw the design and it looks just like the old school plaza design of Pittsford Plaza where Wegmans is. And I sighed a big sigh. But it’s a hopeful sigh that says “please let this not be the final design.” Because I love it when new things come to town and have an opportunity to shake things up and leave a place better than it was before.
[Note: I found two different concept drawings online — the one shown at top left and this one here that includes Whole Foods. The one with Whole Foods is the one featured recently, but neither is very pedestrian friendly.]
The Monroe Corridor is a huge retail and restaurant area nestled between two affluent areas. It can and should be improved as new projects come in. Let people bike and walk and have an enjoyable experience. Monroe could be that for people with better design and trees. Lots of trees. This plaza, which will be new, should set that area on a course for a better future where you don’t have to hide out in your car!
The biggest concern most people have about the project thus far: making traffic worse in an already congested area. You know a great way to combat traffic congestion? Better design. Make things accessible to multiple modes of transportation. Use mass transit. Allow people who do drive to park their cars and walk to everything from there.
I am hoping this is just a rough draft and that the final one will be of a plaza built for people, not just cars. Doing this right could change the course for the Monroe Corridor!
I’ll provide an update as details emerge about the design.
Written by: Renee
Tags: rochester walkability, pedestrian friendly design, whole foods rochester, rochester whole foods, palazzo plaza lifestyle center, palazzo plaza lifestyle center, palazzo plaza rochester, brighton whole foods, whole foods brighton, daniele family, mario’s whole foods, daniele whole foods,
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