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For anyone who reads the Voice regularly, this piece in the San Mateo/Jose Times/Mercury about the new B'game Avenue streetscape project only has one tidbit of new news, the 25% estimate
Several store owners and managers said business is down about 25 percent since construction began on the block, which is scheduled to reopen to cars in August.
But it's just nice to see the supposedly local paper venture north of Palo Alto for a feature story once in awhile.
I’ve heard business is down up to 60% for some merchants. The Avenue is a complete mess, I understand why people avoid it. The police traffic sting they had a month ago didn’t help. The concrete is now laid for the parallel parking in the middle section of the Avenue. The new Avenue is going to be very narrow for traffic, so narrow I’m guessing this is a precursor to shutting down the street to traffic permanently. Might as well hand out flyers for downtown San Mateo, pretty much everything else to drive traffic that way has already occurred.
A narrower Burlingame Avenue- yes, that was the plan! The last I’d heard, there is a loss of just 13 parking spots for a gain of what amounts to thousands of square feet for the public–their pets, strollers, walkers, etc. all using the sidewalk for various activities. Maybe it’s just me, but that seems like a pretty good deal.
Narrower roadways slow down traffic, yes-absolutely. What’s the hurry? I am so tired of seeing egregious behavior on the part of drivers: illegally passing while crossing into oncoming traffic, mid block u-turns where the cars end up running over the sidewalk, blatant refusal to yield to pedestrians. The list goes on and on.
There are no plans to close off the street to vehicles. The previous 1970s (Chamber of Commerce) plan, that was only partially realized, called for the phased closure of a fairly large segment between Primrose and Lorton. The only closures of the Avenue for this redesign will be temporary, for special events and primarily involving involve Park Rd. or perhaps Lorton.
Is it more of a challenge to parallel park? That is probably a fair statement for all but the most skilled. However, the spaces were intentionally designed for the typical suburban oriented driver, so they are generous. Still, I don’t plan on parking on Burlingame Avenue because I am not skilled at that type of parking maneuver. Believe it or not, typically there are (and have been) plenty of spaces available at a distance of 1.5-2 blocks from all the activity.
San Mateo has a really nice, historic downtown, but they have the same parking challenges as we have, despite a centralized parking structure that straddles the core. Their parking machines are just horrible, several don’t work, and I’m glad we can learn from their trials what not to use in our downtown. People may be going over there, but I predict as soon as we’re done, they’ll return to Burlingame, because the experience is completely different.
If the store owners can last out this cluster-@#$!. Funny thing is this notion that wider sidewalks equals more business for the merchants. Ease of access seems to be more of an economic boon.
Well, I think it’s called “captive audience”. Malls use it, so do huge retail complexes, like IKEA, (if you’ve ever been, you’ll know what I mean). We like to call it the mouse maze…..maybe better called mouse trap.
In the case of our downtown, make it pleasant to linger, the opposite of “in” and “out”. Maybe I’m incorrect but I’d expect the longer people linger, the hungrier they get for food AND they might just happen to glance at something of intrigue in a store display……
Sorry, I have to disagree, wider sidewalks is not the equivalent of captive audience marketing as it pertains to retail.
When I was a teenager we used to hang out on the Avenue, they forced us to move on as it was considered loitering. When I think of lingerers, Berkeley and the Civic Center come to mind.
Funny you should mention it as I was down on laurel ave in san carlos recently. I haven’t been there in years. They have the narrow street and wide sidewalks and I saw more homeless guys there in an hour than I have seen on broadway or burlingame avenue in a long time. Do wider sidewalks make for loitering.
I aggree with Jennifer.
We just have to wait and see.
I do not think wider sidewalks will cause more homeless people to come to Burlingame, but those people need love too.
When this work is completednBurlingame business will boom.
We will be the only fresh site on the Peninsula and the mix of retail is about right. The car dealerships are spruced up and full, the train station is beautiful and the new main street will be crowded and safer.
Remember bicycle and motorcycle parking, please.
I LOVE this topic—I don’t have all the answers, Fred, but here are some thoughts…..
A long time ago before the age of delineated sidewalks and paved streets, the few townspeople ‘hung out’ wherever they wanted, chatted and did their business around the Station and Burlingame Square.
Could some have been loitering? Probably.
It goes without saying that there is a social and cultural component of any public street or sidewalk.
I grew up here, too, and the decade you are describing (I’m guessing the 1970s, though you didn’t say) was quite different than what we have now. By then at the latest, the mall at Hillsdale had firmly established itself as the ‘place to go’ for pretty much anything, including entertainment, remember the Hillsdale Theatre?– All in One, plus free parking.
The good old standbys that we had here, like Levy Bros., and Burlingame Hardware, even fine specialty stores like Rorkes, Simpsons and Gates had a really tough time competing. Merchants made attempts to fight back with promotions like Thursday evening shopping (until 9pm) and periodic sidewalk sales (the latter that we still have today), but with few exceptions, it was a losing battle. A new, very hip store started by two sisters made a splash then, in that post-hippie time, and that was Morning Glory. A store like that could not be found at Hillsdale mall.
Though we had the Fox Theatre and Primrose Lanes (bowling), the area generally struggled, (with perhaps the exception of the automobile sales and service sector that had proliferated and firmly established itself in Burlingame by the 1920s and ‘30s.)
We really didn’t have many restaurants that I remember in the 1970s, except for Towles, (that I couldn’t afford with my allowance), the counter at Woolworths, and what were essentially restaurant-bars, like Bit of England. Copenhagen and Ingeborgs were bakeries only. The few exceptions were one or two Chinese restaurants, and of course La Pinata, the latter that started much smaller and more modestly than what they eventually became.
What you describe as being considered a loiterer, does not surprise me at all. I remember also having been given the ‘evil eye’ for getting my bike too close to a store window or door, or when inside shops because I was “just looking” (a handy phrase my mom taught me) and not buying. Many merchants in Burlingame had not caught up with the looser, more anonymous vibe of the mall where people move in and out of stores freely, and nobody seemed to care whether there was a purchase, or not (because the sales person is typically not the owner).
Economically, there used to be a clear delineation between Hillsborough and Burlingame. But that line has blurred in the last 15-20 years. There is so much wealth here, and it has directly or indirectly driven the types of stores that want to move to Burlingame, and what we (as the Burlingame-Hillsborough population) will support. A nice eating experience at a local restaurant can pose serious competition to the trip necessary to do get the same in San Francisco. Another factor is that the kids have much more disposable income than we (at least I) had. Online shopping is not going away, and that is yet another factor that shapes what opens in any downtown.
Those who live within several blocks of either downtown core often walk or bike. I think it’s fair to say that if people are shopping, they want a car with them, if they are eating, or strolling, and live fairly close by, they don’t need or want one. The shift to walking is a significant change from habits of several years ago. Even lower Hillsborough is walking, and that didn’t happen before. Burlingame Avenue has really become a destination.
So back to the sidewalks…..
Since al fresco dining has become so popular here since its introduction (I think in the early 1990s) the sidewalks are getting congested. Cities are not allowed to do away with newsracks, so that is already a big chunk of square footage lost on each block. People with bikes and strollers need room to push them along, and also to “park” them. People are not leaving their dogs home anymore, either, so add dog water bowls into the mix.
We have a very social group of residents and visitors who enjoy meeting, and greeting and consider downtown Burlingame to be their ideal playground.
Loiterers will probably still be more at home hanging out at the Station. Some things never change…..
As you say, we all want the businesses to survive through construction and people need to remember to shop and eat locally, even if it means walking an extra couple of blocks.
Burlingame Avenue isn’t a playground it’s a business district. I feel really bady for the business owners on Burlingame Avenue. How many years is it going to take to recoup the losses incurred during this construction? Free parking on Friday and wider sidewalks aren’t going to do it.
Change is good.
Giving Change to down and out people is better.
I am sure everything will work out.
I think Freds description of Playground/Business District is the reason Burlingame Ave will be sucessful.
It is a fun place to go.
New business opening up all the time…
Does anyone have a review of new Resteraunt-Planet-Plant?
I am with you, Fred! Really, really bad idea in so many ways. How will the businesses ever recoup their losses and I can’t wait to see the traffic jams as a result of incompetent drivers having to parallel park. Dining al fresco is mostly limited to the afternoons since we have tornadoes that seem to brew in the evening, making people want to be inside. I think the whole thing is ridiculous.
It would be untrue to say that wider sidewalks always translate into more retail activity, they don’t. That would be like saying pedestrian-only streets guarantee more activity, and that is untrue.
There is a difference that makes Burlingame Avenue quite unique and it has to do with the anatomy of the street. Unlike Howard Avenue, Broadway, or other main drags that traverse cities like San Carlos, Millbrae, Palo Alto, Market St. in SF., Burlingame Avenue feels uniquely insular.
Bracketed by the “T” at Park Rd., El Camino Real and Burlingame Train Station, at only 3.5 blocks long, it is just about a perfect size; I think the insular feel is what contributes to people wanting to spend time here.
Also, since the distance from one side of the street to the other is not huge, it is very easy to recognize people walking and dining, and to see displays from afar. That is why I called the avenue a “social” place. In a way, it has become an extension of people’s personal space, just like some restaurants and cafes have.
That is not meant in any way to diminish its primary role as a commercial district, Fred. However, I think it will be an asset to retailers to have a comfortable space around their establishments, rather than skimpy and congested.
The street will be congested with cars eyeing the concrete put down so far. What’s even scarier is the Grosvenor project proposed for the post office and the two parking lots. Adding a mini Satana Row should really muck things up.
Burlingame Avenue is not an extension of people’s personal space, it is a large group of businesses with many different patrons. Most of the patrons don’t live in Burlingame and they drive to get here and support these businesses.
Don’t like land grabs and that is what these moves are. The Burlingame Avenue one is a grab for citizen’s communal space and the post office development is a grab for property taxes and other city revenue.
I love this topic as well!! I love Burlingame Ave and Broadway!
I am so very excited for the larger sidewalks – it was such a hassle to walk the avenue in the busy areas due to congestion and it just made me want to get out of there….I love shopping local and love the idea of being able to spend an afternoon on the ‘ave’
I do hope the businesses can hang in there and that the landlords are kind to their independent merchants – after all it’s not the city that charges the high rent!
This will now make the avenue a destination for people who want to take the train and hang out….
Let’s all remain positive …. change is good and this will be a great feather in our cap –
The rent is not the problem.
So, now there are two full blocks closed on Burlingame Avenue. To top if off, the farmer’s market is still being held on Park Road causing the closure of a third block in the downtown area. I’m stunned how little consideration is being given to the downtown merchants.
I know this isn’t the proper place, but I can’t find the original thread to post this good news in today’s DJ…
AcquaPazza may have shut its doors in downtown San Mateo…. Taking its place on the corner of Third Avenue and Ellsworth Avenue in San Mateo is Roti Indian Bistro, which moved from Burlingame.
…It’s tragic Sunny had to move from Burlingame, but it’s still a short bike ride for the BEST onion kulcha in the world.
Pat, for dining posts, use the “Dine Burlingame” category link on the right hand side (the frame). I added your post to the Roti RIP post for you!
Here is the piece from the SF Examiner on the streetscape impact on businesses:
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/work-underway-on-transformation-of-burlingame-downtown/Content?oid=2553875
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