What is
Eastwood like?
Start with the fact that, as
reflected in the above sign, Eastwood
really is a village within the city. That is, it was a village
until the mid-1920's when it incorporated with the city of Syracuse.
This means that in Eastwood, there's a "there" there! Our
"Main Street" is James St. North and south of James there are
residential areas laid out pretty much in a grid. The streets are
lined with very tall, gracious old trees. The homes are a healthy mix
of single-family and 2- or 3-family homes, with a few larger apartment
complexes. Most commercial
activity is concentrated along James St. toward the north and Burnet
Ave. on the southern boundary of Eastwood.
But what makes Eastwood such a great place to live in? The
people! There's a healthy mix of people here and a lot of them
care very deeply about Eastwood. In many families, the children
who grew up and moved away eventually moved back - and that's saying a
lot for snowy Syracuse!
Okay, it's also Eastwood's good old-fashioned walkability
that makes it so great. Within a fifteen-minute walk from
nearly every house in Eastwood, you'll find:
A movie theater (the recently-renovated Palace Theater)
A cafe
Many salons
A hardware store
Two music shops (okay, one is headed just over the city line, still on
James St. but actually in East Syracuse)
Two used book stores
A hat store
A dress shop
A donut shop
A couple convenience/grocery stores
A couple bars
Several restaurants (Eastwood's
White
Tower)
Some of the best mechanics in Syracuse
An old-fashioned diner
Banks
Car sales
Antiques
A Brooklyn-style sandwich shop
A host of other services and businesses
Eastwood is not gentrified. It's not perfect. It's waking
up to its own potential. Improvements on James St. are being done
by the city. Some businesses are investing in improvements, too.
We expect others will follow.
There are a number of Neighborhood Watch groups, there is a very active
TNT (Tomorrow's Neighborhoods Today) group, and there is the equally
active Eastwood Neighborhood Association. Eastwood has an
elementary school, a high school, a golf course, ski trails and a
skating rink! All within walking distance of the residential
areas.
But if you want to get to other parts of the city or the world, I-690
and I-90 are less than a 5-minute drive from anywhere in Eastwood.
Getting to Syracuse University takes all of ten minutes.
Live in Eastwood and you go gentle on your gas expenses and
gentle on the environment.
Syracuse
ranked #14 in medium cities by Inc. Magazine!
Top
25 Cities for Doing Business in America
"If
you're
looking for cities large, medium, and small where job growth is robust
and economies are strong, head to the ones on this year's Top Cities
list."
One aspect listed as important to economic growth: diversity of
businesses.
Let's keep diversity on James Street.
See
more rankings -
Syracuse is great!
"Developers have recently
recognized
opportunities in walkable shopping centers that offer a "sense of
place."
Lifestyle centers (and "New Town Centers") are being developed to
replicate
many of the community or neighborhood shopping experiences offered by
downtowns.
These new centers try to recreate downtown's sense of place with small
building footprints, multi-story buildings and an open-air environment.
They are built to be pedestrian friendly, convenient and safe.
Traditional
downtown areas that are walkable already possess what many developers
are
trying to duplicate."
- Economic
Benefits of a Walkable Community