The Daily Journal is giving a prelude to tomorrow's organizational meeting for a Downtown Business Improvement District (BID). B'game has one for the Broadway area and has started and stopped several similar efforts on the Avenew. Here's some of Heather Murtagh's piece
Having a unified voice to fix problems, creating a more festive holiday feel and marketing the Burlingame Avenue area are a few of the benefits those working to create a business improvement district hope to achieve by this winter.
A number of business owners and employees in the Burlingame Avenue area have spent about a year working to start a business improvement district, known as a BID. Similar attempts in previous years failed. Despite this, the group is confident it will be successful by inviting those formerly in opposition to the table and working to assess businesses equitably. At a Wednesday morning meeting, those hoping to start a BID will debut the plan to make it happen by this holiday season.
The general feel of the Avenew hasn't really improved since we wrote this in February and another long-term merchant is closing up soon.
Pardon me, just curious, but why do you call Burlingame Avenue "the Avenew"?
Posted by: fred | June 15, 2010 at 06:29 PM
Just a guess, Fred, but maybe the Avenue is "renewing" itself with new stores (?): Walgreens, Bevmo, Teacakes, various yougurt establishments etc. :)
Very sorry to see Potpourri go, though. That is a shame.:(
Posted by: Jennifer | June 15, 2010 at 06:54 PM
Potpourri-such a great store! Anyone know the story behind its closing?
Posted by: Anne | June 15, 2010 at 06:57 PM
Do you think there is any possibility to get the MEGA CORPARATIONS TO CONTRIBUTE TO INFRASTRUCTURE?
GAP
BEV MO
WALGREENS
POTTERY BARN-GAP
BANANA REPUBLIC-GAP
J.CREW-GAP
PEETS
STARBUCKS
SEPHORA-GAP
APPLE
WELLS FARGO-GAP
If those business were not on Burlingame Ave, the Ave would be empty.
I am sure we all notice that 40-50% of business, on that one street are vacant.
I am sure that with the right marketing/City of Burlingame "recently employeed, BUSINESS ADVOCATE" will work it out.
How long has that City of Burlingame part time employee be here?
What progress has been made?
Please contact our City of Burlingame Elders.
I am sure they will be able to answer these questions.
Posted by: Holyroller | June 15, 2010 at 07:54 PM
With all due respect, Holyroller, I think in the last several months, there is definitely some positive momentum going.
I'm not a BevMo fan, and particularly find their signage garish (which is our fault, actually- they just followed our rules), but apparently there are many folks who shop there and they do bring quite a bit of income to the city, I am very fond of the Walgreens structure, which has set the bar, I think, for things to follow. And don't forget Safeway will be breaking ground soon. There are some newer clothing shops- Trina Turk is probably popular, a new antique store, a flower store (that has great gifts) and then these various eateries. I'm not sure if the business advocate was responsible for any of these, but if she was she get kudos. She's at least looking out for possibilities in various areas.
Yes, there are empties, but if you visit other similar cities, they are not doing nearly as well as we are, with few exceptions. Things will get better. I notice cars being test-driven again- 'first time in about a year or more, and that must mean business is improving for Auto Row. And Apple is always abuzz. The Avenue is very lively- at least people are drinking and eating and when the weather is nice, one could mistake Burlingame for somewhere in Europe, (minus the cigarettes!).
Posted by: Jennifer | June 15, 2010 at 09:42 PM
Regarding Potpourri....I heard Chris couldn't cough up the rent, now that his lease had to be renewed.
Posted by: alittlebird | June 15, 2010 at 10:41 PM
Excellent guess, Jennifer. Perhaps more of a wish than an observation of what is really happening, but you have the idea.
Posted by: Joe | June 16, 2010 at 09:55 AM
My 2 cents: Close of Park Rd. Allow only one way traffic on B-gmae Ave and alternate one-way traffic on the side streets (Primrose, Lorton, etc). This will reduce noise, congestion, and pollution. Then, widen the sidewalks and creat bicycle lanes on the Ave. Voila--win, win. Right?
Posted by: JF | June 16, 2010 at 03:57 PM
I used to think one ways were good for a downtown, but I don't anymore. It sounds good, just like having pedestrian- only streets, but in practice, it is something else.
With one ways, for some reason the cars travel much faster. (Yep, we have a crawl now, but believe me, that is preferable to what happens with one ways.) I thought it is just big city behavior with the one ways, but the same habits happen in the small cities, too.
If you haven't been to Sebastopol lately, check it out. Great town, It is similar to ours but what a mess for pedestrians- it was a big disappointment. There are other examples of the one ways and accelerated speeds.
We have a walking town, and from a pedestrian point of view, It is very difficult to cross a one way street; certainly we'd need more signals. Our city is full of crosswalks which do require some good behavior on the part of the drivers, but I think the eye contact is still a good thing. You might actually know the person about to run you over!
Posted by: Jennifer | June 16, 2010 at 06:09 PM
I think a good experiment would be to choose Park Road, to make the one block into a pedestrian only street.
I have seen that type of business model used in Santa Monica, and Tuscon.
An experiment.
There is Pete's, Apple, Roti, etc.
If anyone has ever seen the great shops and people who gravitate to the area to see the "street entertainment" going on in the evening, and the European Style atmosphere, I believe the little block of Park Rd. between Burlingame Ave. & Howard could be a major draw to the Down Town Business District.
Park Rd is surrounded by parking lots;dead ends at Burlingame Ave.
What is not to like about this VERY logical/simple business plan?
This advice is free to whoever is NOT promoting business as an employee of The City of Burlingam.
Yes, I had to say something "negitive."
Posted by: Holyroller | June 17, 2010 at 05:42 PM
To
Alittlebird...
May I suggest that you confirm your sources before posting re "Chris not being able to cough up the rent"... you have the where with all to post..perhaps you should take a moment to stop by Potpourri and read the eloquently composed letter that Chris has posted for his valued and treasured patrons. this is SO much more than an issue of rent...it is about the song and sound of Burlingame Avenue which is being silenced at every turn of the corporate jackhammer. To a man as fine as Chris Diez....good things are around the corner..better and brighter. I suggest you do your homework before posting in the future.
Posted by: 2classacts | June 17, 2010 at 06:19 PM
Get the Mega Corparations that take money out of our community to put something in. Burlingame Ave...
The infrastructure is a mess.
Lets start with the condition of the street.
WE have all driven down better dirt roads.
Posted by: Holyroller | June 17, 2010 at 08:14 PM
Burlingame Ave. One way from El Camino to California.
Howard Ave. One way from California to El Camino.
Primrose- One Way from Howard to Burlingame Ave.
Lorton- One Way from Burlingame Ave to Howard.
Park Rd. Closed between Burlingame Ave and Howard
This would create a natural flow around Burlingame which would stimulate business on both Burlingame Ave, Howard, Primrose, and Lorton, creating a stronger foundation for other merchants. The parking lots would enter and exit from Lorton and Primrose in a single flow of traffic to and from a one way street.
Burlingame Ave and Howard could expand the sidewalk space, create a stronger outside environment, and attract more business and more pedestrian and business flow.
Posted by: KRN | June 19, 2010 at 08:04 AM
The same shopping districts that support open air/ped friendly Cities in the US are..
Milwaukee
Miami
Madison
Those are only the M's!
Maybe Brownrigg will be able to bring our City to the 21st Century.
As a City of Burlingame Elder, it is hurting us to think we can stay an outpost of the "Leave it to Beaver" era.
Posted by: Holyroller | June 19, 2010 at 06:41 PM
Your points are really separate issues:
The open-air streets, closed to traffic are great ideas, just not all day long, every day. I lived in Europe in a much larger city in a ped-only district in the center of downtown. These streets tend to be completely dead at night. Daytime shopping without the car means a long walk which is fine for some people, but not for others.
So, these areas work well for people living in the immediate vicinity who can shop everyday, for just what is necessary.
Partial closures at certain times of the week or day are wonderful as we've seen with the farmer's markets and other events. You will be pleased that the new downtown plan has several suggestions for these.
On your other point, one-ways are actually not 21st century, they are mid 20th century and have not aged well, particularly as more people walk.
For a very clear example, check out Third Avenue in San Mateo to see the difference between a one way and a two way. The two-way pattern breaks east of Delaware, and the traffic just tears down the street to the freeway--I think the same happens on 2nd, but in the opposite direction. Although recently effort has been put into housing and pedestrian scale retail in that area, there are hardly any pedestrians east of Delaware, and no wonder, it is very unpleasant, and difficult, at best to cross the street.
Check out this article about the one-ways that appeared a about a year ago- One ways are not pedestrian friendly, or retail friendly.
http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/09/29/are-two-way-streets-the-way-of-the-future/
Are Two-Way Streets the Way of the Future?
by Sarah Goodyear on September 29, 2009
Today on the Streetsblog Network, we're featuring a post from San Francisco's Pedestrianist about two-way street conversions in Minneapolis and how such changing traffic patterns could benefit pedestrians and other users:
The city of Minneapolis is about to return two of its downtown streets to two-way traffic after nearly 30 years of one-way flow. Those streets, like many in downtowns across the country, were converted to one-way couplets by auto-centric traffic engineers in the middle of the last century.
Their goal was to squeeze more cars through older, narrow streets as fast as they could. And that's exactly what happened. The problem is that the fast, thick traffic along these one-way streets has proven to be dangerous to vulnerable road users, especially pedestrians, and has often pushed away much of the street life.
In San Francisco, the grid of one-way streets on either side of Market and around the old ramps to the Central Freeway in Hayes Valley and the Western Addition are among the most dangerous places to walk. The recent killing of a woman on Fell Street has prompted numerous calls to calm the traffic on that and other unidirectional expressways. One of the more common sentiments expressed in comments on Streetsblog is that these one-way couplets should be restored back to two-way traffic.
Two-way streets are naturally calmer because cars approaching from opposite directions make each other nervous. Nervous drivers are slower and more alert to their surroundings. Two way streets are also easier for bicycles to navigate, and the presence of bikes on a street further calms car traffic.
There is, in my opinion, no reason not to begin restoring two-way traffic on San Francisco streets, starting with the most dangerous first. The lives of our neighbors are too high a cost to justify a slightly faster car commute.
Posted by: Jennifer | June 19, 2010 at 07:37 PM
Brownrigg has disappeared. Just another empty polo shirt looking to get his ticket punched for some higher office. Just like Nagel but with better diction. Where are all the brilliant ideas to create revenue?
Nagel as a county supervisor. The woman couldn't lead a row of ants to a picnic. Carole Groom with hair dye. Brownrigg is starting to look like the same. All talk. No action. The only one who thinks not is Holyrolled.
Posted by: dtn | June 20, 2010 at 08:14 PM
Thank you class acts. Little bird often gets the tweet wrong and in the case of Pot Pourri - it became a crow call.
San Mateo Times today has an important article about Councilmember Keighran and Deal working towards getting biotech firms into Burlingame:
... Burlingame officials have been asking biotech companies what they need to stay here, and already they have started hooking up companies with one another.
"They need to know that other people are there," Deal said. "They need to communicate with each other so they can use each others' assets."
Burlingame biotech companies told officials their biggest problems with the area were the lack of public transit from the nearby Millbrae BART-Caltrain station ...
http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county/ci_15339779?nclick_check=1
Posted by: blgme | June 21, 2010 at 11:39 AM
thank goodness for Deal and Keighran!!!!! as for blogging, really, AVENUE...cute will only get you to Sephora, correct spelling, grammar, attention to detail will bring burlingame around...there's a reason we don't call a fraternity a frat.
Posted by: chianglo | June 21, 2010 at 04:11 PM
Dear Chianglo, my copies of Webster's Collegiate dictionary, Roget's New Thesaurus, Strunk and White's Elements of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook are more dogeared than you might imagine. Please let me have my fun with words now and again. And fear not, a retail job at Sephora is not in my future :-)
Posted by: Joe | June 21, 2010 at 09:39 PM
Maybe Sephora, but definitely not at the MAC store.
Posted by: fred | June 22, 2010 at 08:00 AM
Here's the essence of the Daily Journal article on the BID meeting. It appears to be progressing towards happening:
Under the updated proposal distributed Wednesday, businesses would be charged a flat fee based on the area it is located — $125 for businesses on the ground level of Burlingame Avenue, $100 for those on the ground level of surrounding streets or $100 for those on any level other than ground within the entire downtown area — with an additional charge based on the business’ square footage. The square footage fee ranges from $0 for businesses less than 500 square feet to $1,100 for those larger than 7,500 square feet on the ground level of Burlingame Avenue. Businesses off Burlingame Avenue but on the ground floor will face a range from $0 for businesses less than 500 square feet to an additional $740 for those larger than 3,500 square feet. All businesses downtown not on the ground floor will only pay the $100 flat rate.
The full story is here http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=134372&title=One%20more%20big%20step%20for%20Burlingame%20business%20district
Posted by: Joe | June 24, 2010 at 12:18 PM
I guess all our worries are over.
I know they-Corparations pay taxes.
But if the front of "your home" is a mess, you clean it up. No matter who may/may not be the "owner" because it is the right thing to to do.
Instead the people who live in Burlingame are supposed to see who wins the game.
In the mean time Main Street, Burlingame, CA is a mess.
Those new fees are a joke.
Posted by: Holyroller | June 24, 2010 at 05:37 PM
Please visit the Friends with Benefits post.
Posted by: Holyroller | June 24, 2010 at 05:38 PM
2classacts, I used to frequent Potpourri often, til I became aware of Chris' mistreatment of several of his employees, which resulted in lawsuits. By the way, he ended up settling out of court with them.
My, my, is that a tweet or a crow call? Get your facts straight before shooting the bird.
Posted by: alittlebird | June 26, 2010 at 12:09 PM
To a little bird..obviously we know nothing of such maltreatment on the part of Chris to his employees..please enlighten us..
Posted by: 2classacts | July 09, 2010 at 12:14 PM