Lockport NY

I saw this CVS while on a work trip SE of Cleveland last week. Another example of what can be done with these types of business sites. Surprisingly this urban site plan was located out in the suburbs. The 2 story building does not do much to help frame in the 5-lane roads that surround it but would work beautifully at a corner like Transit and West, or Washburn and East here in Lockport.

The entrance to the CVS is at the rear near the parking and the drive-thru pharmacy is also accounted for. The smaller store fronts along the street are all accessed from the street. The corner entrance most likely leads to the CVS but is unfortunately not used.

This image is a little dated. The store fronts had open windows and the ones near the corner were for the CVS and while blocked off, had some interesting window appliques.

It appears this may be a retro fit/expansion to an older building, especially since most modern zoning codes actually make new developments like this illegal. Either way, everywhere the city of Lockport has a Rite Aid, Walgreen's, etc we could instead have a urban pedestrian friendly building such as this while still providing parking. We just need to code for it.

From CNU 17:

“Built to Last made me laugh out loud,” said John Norquist, president and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism, which offered the submitter of the winning entry a complimentary registration to this year's leading gathering of urbanists,CNU 17, which runs June 10-14th in Denver. “But this video is serious too. First + Main and Paget Films show how New Urbanism is the convenient remedy, providing quality of life and economic value while protecting the environment.”

Luckily we in the city still have the bones intact. We just to make sure our developments work toward fleshing it back out instead of holding it back.

Thanks to fixbuffalo for being my source.

Read an article at Buffalo Rising today on the Buffalo River finally having a place that rents boats (kayaks). I'm pretty sure there is not one in Lockport (correct me if I'm wrong) and I've always wondered why.

The canal is one of the easiest place to paddle due to the always very calm controlled water. The locks also present a novel experience. The chambers feel 100x as massive when sitting down in a man-powered watercraft.

Looking to have people stick around through offering them activities? This would appear to be a great one. One could even wrap bikes into the mix. Create drop off points in Gasport etc and people could make a leisurely one-way trips back to Lockport.

I could see it being a nice fit over at the Lockport Locks and Erie Canal Cruises. Or I need to win the lottery for some seed money ;)

Image - Waiting to go up - Erie Canal Lock 34 - Lockport NY