> I would like to find some excellent examples of grocery stores that have
> provided economic revitalization without destroying the urban fabric of
their
> neighborhoods.  The best studies would provide numbers demonstrating that
more
> is not always best and that good design can benefit everybody.
>
> Please let me know of such developments and I will research them further.
>
> Chase L. Robertson   [log in to unmask]
> Preservation Consultant
> New Orleans, LA

There is an interesting experiment in Manhattan, that, anecdotally, seems
to be an example of what you are looking for, though it might well be so
site-specific that it offers no real opportunity to study an approach that
is applicable elsewhere. I don't know if there have been any organized
studies of the store, but it has certainly received a good deal of press
attention, and I would be surprised if there weren't studies of available
of its impact on transportation issues.

The store is the Fairway Market, a branch of an existing up-scale West Side
institution that was opened a few years ago in a disused building in the
meat-distribution district hard against the Henry Hudson Parkway (actually,
under it) just above West 125th Street, on the fringe of Harlem. Harlem is
a neighborhood famous for its inability to attract chain stores (though
that is apparently about to change, due to some very ambitious development
plans). The location of the store, at the terminal of the 125th St. bus
route, makes it convenient for shoppers from the neighborhood, as its
location at the base of an exit/entrance ramp of the highway makes it
convenient for shoppers from elsewhere in the city. The is a fair amount of
parking available in a lot directly across the street from the shop on what
was essentially waste-land before the advent of the store.

As I understand it, the relatively low cost of the real estate, and the
lack of ambitiousness in site preparation (the building remains essentially
the same visually outside, and involved minimal, mostly cosmetic,
construction inside) allows for a pricing structure that makes it a
reasonable choice for neighborhood shoppers even while the variety of
exotic and high quality foodstuffs makes it very attractive to up-scale
shoppers in what is, arguably, the most sophisticated food-buying market in
the country.

From what I have observed from long waits in the parking lot as my wife
aggressively shops inside before we return from New York to gourmet food
challenged Mid-Coast Maine, the goal of serving the two classes of
clientele seems to have been met successfully.

I think that this may well be an example of a supermarket that has had a
positive economic impact on its neighborhood, while preserving an
interesting built environment and not having a negative impact on
transportation flow.

Bruce