Magnolia Center- an amenity rich mid-century neighborhood several miles from Dwtn Riverside, CA

Magnolia Center has long been an important commercial hub for Riverside since its foundation in 1883. This is thanks to the convergence of major streets at Magnolia Center (i.e. Magnolia, Central, Arlington, Jurupa and Brockton Avenues) making it a natural location for commercial activities. The neighborhood was developed with small farms and orange groves interspersed with single-family residences. Residential development began in the northern edges of the district in the 1920s but really picked up with the post WWII boom. While retaining some walkability with sidewalks and some orientation to the street, most of Magnolia Center’s commercial development is rather auto centric. Thankfully good urbanism is beginning to win out with the renovation of Riverside Plaza into a walkable lifestyle center and a new mixed-use urban overlay implemented along Brockton and Magnolia Avenues.

Magnolia Center also is a very safe community, hosts several quality schools, has decent park amenities, and good cultural and retail amenities. As long as the neighborhood continues to densify and built more mixed-use, urban orientated development along its commercial corridors, it could become a quality urban neighborhood.

Click here to view my Magnolia Center album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Several dedicated bike lanes running through Magnolia Center, but no dedicated bike stations.
* Excellent diversity across the board, especially economic diversity.
* Overall a very safe community.
* Decent park amenities with several small/medium parks spread throughout. Magnolia Center also hosts a public pool too.
* Pretty good tree canopy throughout.
* Good array of walkable schools (both public & private) with good ratings.
* There appears to be a decent amount of aff. hsg in Magnolia Center.
* Some very nice 1920s-1940s residential homes, especially in the northern half of the district.
* Cultural amenities include a good array of ethnic restaurants, several bars & cafes, a performing arts center, a cineplex, and a night club.
* Retail amenities include several supermarkets & drug stores, several boutiques, a Nordstrom Rack, Marshall’s & several other brand name clothing stores, several antique stores, a staples, a bookstore, plenty banks, a hardware store, several gyms & dessert joints, and a community post office/public library. Many of these amenities however, are set in auto centric developments.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density is pretty low .
* Okay public transit but pretty good access to Downtown.
* Some rental product available, generally on the expensive side. 1-beds lease btwn 1.5K-2.5K, 2-beds 2K-3K, and not much 3 & 4 bed product available.
* For sale Hsg is pretty expensive but some moderately priced smaller units available. A handful of 1-beds sell around 400K. 2-beds 400K-650K, 3 & 4 beds anywhere btwn 300K-1M depending on size and condition.
* Sidewalks exist on about 70% of all streets in the neighborhood. Up to date ADA infrastructure is hit or miss.
* Most of Magnolia Center’s commercial streets are auto centric but always have sidewalks. Once one enters the Riverside Plaza, it becomes pretty walkable like a lifestyle center.
* Modern in-fill ins a mix of decent mid-century architecture, crappy autocentric commercial, and some more recent urban in-fill.
* Imageability isn’t great due to a lack of defined boundaries, mediocre connectivity, a lack of iconic landmarks, and semi-autocentric business districts. But the newly renovated Riverside Plaza is helping create a heart to Magnolia Center.
* Pedestrian traffic isn’t great.

Wood Streets- an attractive early 20th inner-city neighborhood in Riverside CA

Riverside’s Wood Streets neighborhood was devoted to orange groves until about 1913 when fill was introduced to the Tequesquite Arroyo River, allowing Magnolia Avenue to connect with Downtown. Wood Streets was then built out as a typical early 20th century streetcar suburb with residential design reflecting a traditional aesthetic. This is likely Riverside’s most cohesive and urban neighborhood outside of Dwtn.

Other positive urban aspects to Wood Streets include good public transit, excellent racial, economic, and generational diversity, a decent # of walkable schools, good parks, and good retail amenities on its northern and southern edges. But in order for Wood Streets to become a truly quality urban district it needs to densify and modify its zoning to permit multi-family construction at least along its arterials. With a lack of density Wood Streets is missing quality mixed-use fabric, walkable cultural amenities, and vibrancy. There is also need for better bike infrastructure here and more affordable housing in this single family dominated neighborhood.

Click here to view my Wood Streets album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Consistant curbs and sidewalks just outdated ADA ramps.
* Good public transit and convenient access to Dwtn Riverside. Unfortunately Dwtn Riverside doesn’t host very many jobs.
* Excellent diversity across the board, especially economic diversity.
* Retail Amenities include a decent number of amenities on the northern and southern edges of the neighborhood. This includes a supermarket, several drug stores, a couple salons, Major Hospital, several banks, a couple boutiques & dessert shops, and a staples. Lots of retail amenities, bars, and restaurants at Riverside Plaza (a quasi-urban outdoor mall) located 2 blocks from Woods Street.
* Good park amenities including the expansive Ryan Bonaminio Park and recreational Evans Park to the North. The mountainside park of Mt Rubidoux, is only 1/2 mile to the north of the district.
* A decent # of walkable schools but of mixed ratings.
* Overall a very safe community.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density is pretty low.
* A couple dedicated bike lanes but not dedicated bike stations.
* Cultural amenities are very limited as there is a mostly residential only neighborhood. The only cultural amenities in the neighborhood that I see are at Riverside City College (College Art Gallery & Performing Arts Center). Decent access to cultural amenities in Dwtn to the North and Magnolia Center to the south. Score
* Hsg is pretty expensive but some moderately priced smaller units available. A handful of 1-beds sell around 400K. 2-beds 400K-700K, 3 & 4 beds anywhere btwn 500K-800K.
* Rentals are very limited. What does existin are SF homes for rent and there are few apt. bldgs here.
* Where commercial does exist its pretty auto centric (i.e. Jurupa Ave).
* Pedestrian traffic is pretty sparse here.

Downtown San Bernardino- A struggling Downtown in the heart of the Inland Empire

I used smaller boundaries than what is typically considered Dwtn Bernardino. I feel this better captures what should be considered a “downtown”. I decided to evaluate this as a neighborhood as Dwtn Bernardino is not a major job center and lacks many of the qualifications of a typical major city Dwtn. The boundaries I used include I-215, Sierra Way, 5th St., and Rialto Ave.

San Bernardino really came to form starting in the late 19th century as the City proved to be an important commercial hub at the crossroads between Southern California and the American Southwest. This helps explain why San Bernardino has such a large historic railroad station. The City reached 13K residents in 1910 and 43K by 40K. Since then San Bernardino has continued to sprawl and now hosts around 220K residents. Sadly, the City, especially the urban core has fallen on hard times. The City filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy in 2012 after having more than 1 Billion in debt. Even through these challenges San Bernardino remains an important regional hub for the Inland Empire and hosts multiple consulates for Hispanic countries, due it is large Latino immigrant population.

While once a thriving and well built urban environment, Dwtn San Bernardino is a former shadow of itself. Only chunks of the original historic fabric remain. Most of historic San Bernardino was removed for parking, government office towers, or the failed Carousel Mall. Dwtn currently feels like a drivable Dwtn that permits pedestrians to exist if they choose. But there are still some positives not to overlook. Downtown has good ADA infrastructure, excellent public transit access, several walkable schools, decent cultural and retail amenities, and good parks. There are major plans underway to redevelop the former Carousel mall into a lively mixed-use hub. Hopefully this can succeed and pave the wave to an attractive Downtown San Bernardino again. There is just too much development pressure in Southern California for this dwtn to languish.

Click here to view my Dwtn San Bernardino album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGHTHS:

* Pretty good ADA infrastructure.
* Excellent public transit access.
* Walkable access to some jobs in Dwtn San Bernardino. Convenient 15 mins drive to Riverside and 45 bus ride.
* Very Hispanic population but good racial diversity overall. Also a surprisingly high number of households with Children Dwtn.
* Several walkable schools in the Dwtn area with decent ratings.
* Several Housing Authority Sites in the Dwtn area.
* Ok Cultural amenities. Only a handful of restaurants & bars, a couple cafes a cineplex, historic performing arts theater, a couple art galleries, and a couple night clubs/live music venues.
* Decent Retail Amenities as well including a budget supermarket, a drug store, a suburban power center on the southern edge of dwtn includes many retail stores, handful of boutiques & consignment stores, lots of gov’t offices and court houses, several banks, dwtn post office & public library.
* Not much hsg dwtn but a decent mix of retail, governmental bldgs, and entertainment venues.
* Several good park amenities most notably the large Seccome Lake Recreation Area. Meadowbrook Park is another decent sized park and there are several plaza spaces spread throughout dwtn.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Very low density. This is partially attributable to this being rather Dwtn in character with limited residential bldgs.
* Poor bike infrastructure Dwtn with few dedicated bike lanes and not bike stations.
* While there is good public transit dwtn I can’t say this is a very walkable neighborhood given how auto oriented it is with half the land dedicated to parking lots.
* Very impoverished area with 35% living below the poverty line.
* Rental housing is fairly inexpensive for CA standards but very little of it Dwtn.
* Some for sale product in the Dwtn area. 1-bed condos sell btwn 60K-200K, 2-beds sell btwn 100K-400K, 3 & 4 beds btwn 300K-500K.
* San Bernardino is pretty notorious for high crime rate. This certainly pours into dwtn, but a bit more activity here so doesn’t feel terribly unsafe.
* Some blocks of historic fabric but much of dwtn is surface parking and lots of auto centric fabric.
* Lots of auto centric crap but some interesting 70s & 80s in fill.
* What remains of Dwtn’s historic architecture is decent, but so much has been demolished.
* No real heart to Dwtn Bernardino. Imageability is pretty poor.
* Not great vibrancy dwtn as most people drive
* Tree canopy is so

Redlands, CA- Historic Citrus Growing Center of Southern California

Its difficult to pick out precisely the urban core of Redlands but I did my best using San Mateo and Center St. as the western border, Highland Ave as the southern, Brookside and Lugonia as the northern, and University and Redlands as the eastern.

Development of Redlands started in the 1880s with the arrival of the Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroads, connecting Southern California to San Francisco and Salt Lake. Immigrants quickly discovered the area with its hot, dry climate and ready access to water was the ideal center for citrus production. The City was named “Redlands” after the color of the adobe soil. The Pacific Electric Railway completed an interurban connection between Los Angeles and San Bernardino in 1914, providing a convenient, speedy connection to the fast-growing city of Los Angeles. Redlands reached 2,000 people by 1890 and 10,500 by 1910, 14K in 1940 and population steadily grew as it continued to sprawl. Redlands now hosts just over 71K souls.

Downtown is pretty spreadout centered along State Street, a very intact main street. Orange St also has some nice Dwtn fabric. The rest of Dtwn is a hodgepodge of urban and auto centric blocks. Also included in this rather large evaluation area is the gorgeous residential Smiley Park Historic District with especially beautiful Victorians along Highland Avenue. North of I-10 is a more modest district with a mix of attractive 1920s-1940s homes and gritty areas. This is also where Redland University is located. Really no urban biz district of note in this sub-district. Redland does very well, from an urban perspective, with racial and economic diversity, a decent amount of dedicated affordable hsg, good parks and schools, good cultural and retail amenities. The main areas for Dwtn Redlands to improve is more density, better public transit access, more affordable housing, better tree cover in areas outside of the Smiley Park Historic District, and better urban in-fill in the Dwtn area.

Click here to view my Redlands Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Several decent bike trails but no dedicated bike stations here.
* Great racial and economic diversity and good generational diversity as well.
* Good array of walkable schools in central Redlands with generally good ratings.
* A couple sections of Central Redlands are a bit rough north of the highway but generally a safe community.
* A decent amount of dedicated affordable hsg sites in Redlands.
* Several solid parks in Central Redlands and pretty well distributed.
* Cultural amenities include a good # of restaurants, bars, and cafes, several art galleries, several performing arts theaters (including Redland University), a local cinema, a couple local museums, several live music venues & night clubs. Most of these amenities are concentrated Dwtn.
* Retail amenities include several supermarkets & drug stores, plenty of boutiques/consignment stores, several antique stores, banks, a couple bookstores, plenty of gyms & dessert joints. Also within Dwtn is a post office, office depot, public library. The Mountain Grove Shopping Center (a healthy power center complete with several dept. store and lots of retail) is just NW of the evaluation area. Much of this retail is auto oriented.
* State Street hosts the best urban form, followed by Orange St. Redlands Blvd is very auto centric.
* Excellent pockets of historic architecture in central Redlands, esp. in the Smiley Park Historic District. Other areas are so .

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density isn’t that great.
* Sidewalks are generally there. Up to date ADA infrastructure is hit or miss.
* Public transit is so .
* Decent access to Dwtn Riverside as its only a 20 min drive but only ~10-15KK work in Dwtn Riverside. Also terrible public transit connection. A drive to Dwtn LA is 1 Hr. + and 2 HR+ by transit.
* Not a ton of rental product but what exist is pretty expensive, although not too bad for California standards. 1-beds lease btwn 1.5K-2K, 2-beds anywhere btwn 1.5K-2.5K, 3-beds in the 2Ks & 3KS.
* For sale is also expensive but some moderately priced options. 1-bed condos/small homes sell anywhere btwn 200K-500K, 2-beds anywhere btwn 300K-800K, 3 & 4 beds btwn 400K-1 M with some higher end product reaching the mid 1 Ms.
* Modern in-fill is mostly unattractive in-fill architecture.
* Tree cover is good in the Smiley Park Historic District. Not so good Dwtn or north of Dwtn.

Palm Springs- California’s Desert Resort

Palm Springs became a fashionable resort town starting in the early 1900s when health tourists arrived here. It received another boast in popularity when movie stars began to buy second homes here in the 1930s helping to create the ultra exclusive Movie Colony, Tahquitz River Estates, and Las Palmas neighborhoods sitting just outside of Downtown. Palm Spring also built California’s first self-contained shopping center “La Plaza”, which still stands today. The 1950s brought architectural modernists and the blossoming of the arts and cultural. Many argue that Palm Springs became the model for mass-produced suburban housing, especially in the Southwest. The 1970s brought more and more year round residents to Palm Springs as many retirees began to live here fulltime. Since the 2000s much effort has gone into building up and urbanizing Dwtn especially along the main drag (S Palm Canyon Dr.) and surrounding blocks.

Not surprisingly Dwtn Palm Springs hosts great cultural and shopping amenities, very interesting architecture from the 1920s-1950s, and several very walkable blocks. But the eastern half of Dwtn has many dead spaces and plenty of vacant lots or self-enclosed apartments and subdivisions. These areas need to urbanized for Dwtn Palm Springs to be a quality urban area. There is also need for more affordable housing, better connectivity, bike infrastructure, and better walkable schools.

Click here to view my Dwtn Palm Dessert Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Other than some outdated curb cuts the ADA infrastructure is very good in Palm Springs.
* Poor access to Job centers and Dwtn. Residents are a 1 hr. drive to Dwtn Riverside and 2.5 hrs. by bus. Dwtn LA and Anaheim and even further.
* Surprisingly very good racial and economic diversity.
* Park amenities just got a lot better with the construction of the expansive and multi-faceted Downtown Park. Frances Stevens Park is another nice one with a couple other pocket parks. Dwtn Palm Springs also has access to get hiking and trails with the mountain practically hoping right up to it.
* Great culturally assets including many restaurants, bars, and cafes, tons of art galleries, several performing art galleries, several museums, and many night clubs.
* Retail amenities are also great and include a discount supermarket, a couple gourmet grocerias, a couple drug store, tons of boutiques and clothing store with a good mix of name brands and locally owned, many gift shops, a couple bookstores, a couple gyms, many dessert joints, and a dwtn public library.
* Vey safe dwtn.
* Interesting 1920s/1930s and mid century architecture especially along the core of Dwtn. The eastern edge is mostly modern in-fill and pretty bland. Good urban in-fill in the core as well.
* Great urban massing and streetscaping along S Palm Canyon Dr., decent massing along Indian Canyon Dr. and the western half of Tahquitz Canyon Way.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density is more similar to a suburb.
* A couple dedicated bike lanes but no bike stations dwtn.
* Not surprisingly the medium age is about 60 and few children households here.
* Only a couple schools within walking distance to Dwtn Palm Springs.
* For sale hsg is on the expensive side but a decent # of moderately 1-bed condos in older bldgs selling btwn 200K-500K. A good # of 2-bed condos sell btwn 300K-500K. Also plenty selling btwn 500K-1M. 3 & 4 beds go for anywhere btwn 500K-1.5 M. Multi-Million $ hsg exists just outside of Dwtn.
* Not a ton of rentals available. They are also expensive with 1-beds renting btwn high 1Ks-3K, 2-beds 2K-4K, and 3-beds a very rare.
* Dwtn is missing a dwtn post office, only has a handful of churches, and a major hospital is about 1 mile north of Dwtn.
* A couple dead/gritty parts of Dwtn on the eastern edge.
* Connectivity is good in the western half of Dwtn (the core) but not so great in the eastern half. Lots of private developments. Lots of open vacant lots here too and urban massing is very good.

DC’s Near Northeast Neighborhood- Devasted by the 68′ riots but has seen new life

There is some ambiguity and crossover between Near Northeast and NOMA & Stanton Park. To avoid overlap in this evaluation I included the areas between 4th Street NE, Florida Ave., H Street (from 4th NE-8th NE) and Maryland Ave. (from 8th NE to Florida Ave).

The Near Northeast remained undeveloped and sparsely populated through the end of the 19th century. Development picked up in the 1890s with the construction of a streetcar line down H Street. Commercial development then began to fill in incrementally during the early 20th century. Demographically the Near Northeast evolved into a mixed ethnic district becoming a major center Afircan American center of DC. The district also attracted many immigrants form Ireland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jews from Eastern Europe. Sadly the Near Northeast was devastated by the race riots that ripped Washington for three days following the death of MLK in April 1968. It experienced some of the worst looting, vandalism, and arson in the City. This setback the neighborhood for several decades as it become a very poor African American enclave. Things began to improve in the Near Northeast in the early 2000s starting with the revitalization of H Street followed by increasing residential rehabs. By 2020 most of the district had been stabilized other than a couple missing teeth and vacant storefronts on H Street.

From an urban perspective this is another solid DC neighborhood with good density, walkability, great public transit access, convenience to Dwtn, and wonderful bike infrastructure. Improvements certainly include more affordability but the neighborhood could use more park amenities, and a local public library and post office.

Click here to view my Near Northeast Neighborhood on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good density and public transit access.
* Convenient access to Downtown among all modes. Great bike infrastructure.
* Excellent connectivity and less confusing diagonal roads than most DC neighborhoods.
* Great racial diversity and decent economic.
* A fair amount of public housing remains in Near Northeast.
* Good cultural amenities in Near Northeast include a great array of bars, decent # of restaurants & cafes, a couple live music venues, a performing arts center in an old Art Deco theater, a handful of art galleries, a couple of local museums, and the cultural amenities available at Gallaudet University.
* Good retail amenities including 3 full-service grocerias, Union Market vendors, a couple drug stores, several boutiques & consignment stores, a book store, several banks, many gyms & dessert joints.
* Good array of many well rated schools.
* Solid historic and modern-infill architecture. More ornate historic bldgs on the neighborhood’s western and southern borders.
* Great tree canopy.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Not many families with Children here.
* For sale housing is expensive but still some moderate priced hsg. Lots of 1-bed flats sell btwn 350-500K. Also some more expensive. 2-beds sell anywhere btwn 450K-1 M but some product is more expensive. 3-beds generally sell btwn 750K-1.5M. 4 & 5 beds sell for a bit more, maxing out at around 2M.
* Studios lease in the high 1Ks, 1-beds high 1Ks and 2Ks, 2-beds lease btwn the high 2Ks-4K, and 3-beds lease for 3-4s. Some 4-bed product leasing in the 4 & 5Ks.
* Good access to many small parks/parkettes and a recreation center. But no medium or large parks here.
* No public library of local post office, several churches. No local hospitals either.
* Generally a safe neighborhood but some gritty spots remain along H Street and eastern edge of the district.

NoMa- DC’s boomtown neighborhood

My evaluation for NoMa includes both the Sursum Corda and Union Market subdistricts. Thus I used New Jersey Ave as the western border, Massachusetts Ave as the southern, 4th St as the eastern and New York/Florida/Penn St as the northern.

“NoMa” is a moniker for the area North of Massachusetts Avenue located north and east of Union Station. Historically NoMa was a mix of the Sursum Corda projects, Union Market, industrial/warehousing uses around the rail lines, the Union Station area, and historic DC rowhouse fabric. NoMa was created in the 2000s after significant planning for its redevelopment and the opening of the NoMa-Gallaudet U station in 2004. These set in motion the rapid redevelopment and densification of the neighborhood. By 2020 the NoMa district was mostly filled in and is a hot district for young professionals to reside. Fortunately the redevelopment of NoMa has come with great urban form, mixed-use development, and some affordable housing set asides (although probably not enough). It is poised to become a great DC neighborhood although it has a couple missing pieces before it becomes one of DC’s best districts. These pieces include a lack of park and plaza space, a central hub to the district, and more affordable housing. Other than that I’m very pleased with how NoMa has developed.

Click here to view my NoMa album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Excellent public transit service here and highly convenient access to Dwtn.
* Very good bye infrastructure including several dedicated bike lanes and many dedicated bike stations including both electric and non-electric. Overall great walkability here.
* Great racial diversity and decent economic diversity.
* Fortunately a decent # of new units in NoMa are being developed affordably.
* Lots of walkable schools across all grades and generally good ratings.
* Lots of modern in-fill and of a very high and urban quality.
* Culturally lots of good restaurants, bars, cafes, the Union Market, several breweries & art galleries, a small independent theater, a live music venue, a couple night clubs, and several federal museums in Noma’s SW corner. Also easy access to all the Smithsonian’s museums on the mall.
* Good retail amenities including several supermarkets, clothing and food vendors at Union Market, an REI Store, an urban Walmart, several drug stores, a small shopping mall within Union Station, plenty of banks, a couple book stores, decent # of boutiques & home good stores, plenty of gyms, a local post office and public library, and a decent # of churches.
* This is generally a very safe area.
* Very good urban form and massing throughout all of the district except Sursum Corda (the old projects site undergoing redevelopment).

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Good but not great connectivity largely thanks to the extensive urban renewal that occurred in NoMa.
* Very families live here.
* Rentals are expensive but lots of supply and some moderate smaller units. Studios lease from the mid 1Ks to low 2Ks, 1-beds in the high 1Ks and low 2Ks, 2-beds btwn mid 2Ks and mid 3Ks, and some 3-beds lease in the 4K & 5Ks.
* For sale condos are expensive too. Some 1-beds sell in the 200Ks but most in the 400Ks & 500s, 2-beds sell generally btwn 600K-800K but a few older ones sell btwn 300K-400K, 3-beds also sell btwn 600K-800K.
* Historic in-fill is limited to the Eastern Edge of NOMA. What is exists is attractive.
* Park space limited to a couple small plazas within NoMa but some larger Mall space south of the district.
* Tree canopy is decent for a very dense area without much grass.

McDonald, PA- A small borough located on the Allegheny/Washington County Line

Like many small boroughs in Western Pennsylvania, McDonald was established in the late 1880s around light manufacturing. By 1900 the town hosted 2,400 residents and peaked at 3,500 in 1950s. Since then the population has declined by nearly half and just over 2,000 souls resident in McDonald.

While McDonald is in the Pittsburgh MSA, it feels pretty disconnected to the Pittsburgh Metro. There is no Port Authority Service here and its surrounded by woods and farmland. But McDonald is only a 1/2 hour drive to Downtown Pittsburgh. This is one of the less developed sides of the Pittsburgh Metro. From an urban perspective McDonald has stable housing, largely in-tact but gritty and often vacant commercial buildings. The community does have several important amenities including a Giant Eagle, a local library and post office, a handful of shops and restaurants, good parks, and overall a pretty safe community. The only way for this to become a thriving urban area is more people. But without a major wave of immigrants I don’t see McDonald changing much (other than continuing its slow decline) anytime soon.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Decent connectivity.
* Excellent economic and generational diversity.
* Lots of affordable and moderately priced SF homes with prices ranging anywhere btwn 75K-335K
* Pretty good tree canopy.
* McDonald hosts a pair of medium sized parks (Heritage and East End Parks) with good recreational and sports amenities.
* Overall a pretty safe community.
* A set of very nice historic business buildings and pretty good historic homes as well.
* Good urban form in the core of Dwtn. But it drops off outside of the core and becomes pretty auto centric.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Pretty low density for an urban center.
* Very limited public transit here.
* Driving to Dwtn and Oakland only takes about an hour but very limited public transit options.
* ADA compliant ramps is hit or miss. Sidewalks missing on about 1/3 of streets.
* Nice recreational bike trail cutting through town, but other than that no other bike amenities.
* Limited racial diversity as McDonald’s population is 90% White.
* Rental options are very limited.
* Several well rated schools are a 10-15 minute drive. But none of them are walkable.
* Cultural amenities are limited to a handful of restaurants & bars, a historic theater (now an event space), and the Calwell Historic Home (now an B&B).
* McDonald has some retail amenities including a Giant Eagle, a couple pharmacies, a couple banks, several salons/barber shops, a local post office, a couple antique and home good stores, a gym, a local public library, and several churches.
* Very limited modern in-fill and what does exist is generally crummy auto centric bldgs.

Washington, PA- Heart of the Whiskey Rebellion

Washington PA has a long history going back to colonial times. Washington was first settled by colonists around 1768 by mostly Northern Irish and Scottish immigrants. It is not surprisingly then that an open rebellion broke out when the new US government decided to tax the Whiskey production in Western PA. This resulted in the well known ‘Whiskey Rebellion’ of 1791. Fortunately things settled down in Washington and the Washington & Jefferson (a small liberal arts college) was established and the town was incorporated as a borough in 1810. Washington is also located along the Marcellus Shale formation and had several oil booms in its history including the turn of the 19th century and more recently. Washington’s population peaked in 1950 at 26K souls but has decreased in half to only 13K today. Fortunately its decline slowed significantly between 2010 and 2020.

Given its significant population decline its not surprising there are many blighted areas of Washington, but it has not completely lost its form and many of the Downtown buildings (especially along Main St) are still in-tact. There are some signs of rebirth as population decline is slowing and new food and beverage businesses are opening again downtown. Washington also has several walkable schools with decent ratings, lots of affordable housing, and decent cultural and retail amenities. To become a quality urban environment again Washington needs more people and businesses. The City also suffers from a lack of any bike infrastructure, limited public transit access and park spaces, and a pretty high crime rate.

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* Good generational diversity (thanks in large part to the college) and economic diversity.
* Several walkable schools with decent ratings.
* Some rentals available and very affordable.1 & 2 -beds lease btwn 700K-1,000, and 3-beds btwn 1K-1.5K
* For sale is also very affordable . Very limited 1-bed product selling btwn 40K-75K. 2-beds btwn 50K-250K, 3 & 4 beds is similar but with some product selling btwn 250K-300K.
* ADA infrastructure is very good in parts and pretty bad in others.
* Culturally a decent # of restaurants & bars, a couple cafes breweries & art galleries, a couple local museums and local theaters. Washington also has a local symphony and good performing arts coming from Washing & Jefferson College.
* Decent but not great retail amenities including a Shop n Save and large Mexican grocerias & local farmer’s market, several dollar stores, a couple drug stores, several consignment shops & gift stores, a couple antique stores, several banks, a dwtn library & post office, a local hospital, and plenty of churches.
* Urban form and streetscaping is good in Dwtn but pretty poor outside of Dwtn.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Density is pretty low.
* There is a local; Washington Co transit system and a commuter bus to Dwtn but I sense its pretty limited. Commute takes over an hr to Dwtn. To drive to Dwtn Pittsburgh is 40 mins.
* No bike infrastructure here.
* Only one park within my evaluation area although there are several on the edges of the City. Pretty limited park amenities overall.
* Crime is high in spots but overall not terrible in Washington. Certainly areas of blight still remain.

Berea, OH- Home to Baldwin Wallace University and lots of History

I include pre-WII development of Berea in this evaluation using Eastland Rd as the eastern border, the bottom of Coe Lake Park as the southern, Valley Parkway as the western, and the railroad as the northern border.

Berea was established in 1836 when educator John Baldwin joined forces with 2 Methodist circuit preachers to form an ideal Christian community. The town’s name was divinely decided by a flip of a coin between Tabor and Berea. The utopian Christian community didn’t last long but Baldwin tried to create Lyceum Seminary instead. At same time Baldwin started making grindstones from sandstone in the nearby creek bed of the Rocky River and a quarrying industry arose in Berea. In 1845, Baldwin created an innovated new school, providing education to all, regardless of sex, race, religious creed, or ability to pay. It was renamed Baldwin University. In 1913, the current name Baldwin-Wallace University was established after the merger of two schools. Since then the town of Berea has slowly grown around the college starting as a satellite community of Cleveland and eventually becoming a fully connected suburb after WW II. Berea now hosts the Brown’s training facility and the Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds.

Berea’s central biz district is located at Front and Center St. This is close to the heart of the Historic Balwin-Wallace Campus and the Berea Quarry (now Coe Lake). Attractive late 19th and early 20th century homes are nearby as well. Berea excels with plentiful affordable for-sale hsg, a safety, great park amenities, and decent cultural and retail amenities. To become a great urban community it needs more density, better transit access to dwtn, more walkable schools, more rental options, better bike infrastructure, and more mixed-use buildings along Front Street.

URBAN STRENTHS:

* Pretty good ADA infrastructure.
* Great economic diversity thanks to the large student population.
* For sale hsg is very affordable in Berea. Several condos bldgs where 1-beds sell btwn 50K and the low 100Ks. 2-bed sell btwn 100K-200K. 3 & 4 beds btwn 100K- the low 300Ks.
* Great tree canopy.
* Great park amenities including the Berea Recreation Center, the extensive Metro Park Trails, Lake Abraham Metro Reserve, Coe Lake, Baldin Creek trails, and green space on Baldin Wallace’s Quads.
* This a very safe community.
* Decent cultural amenities with several restaurants, cafes, and bars, a local arts center, a couple local museums, and the vibrant music program at Baldin Wallace.
* Decent retail amenities as Dwtn Berea host a supermarket, a couple drug stores, a handful of boutiques and home good stores, a couple banks, a dwtn library & post office, several dessert joints, a couple gyms, several churches, a couple doctor offices, and good access to Southwest General just east of Dwtn.
* Good historic architecture with lots of attractive homes from the late 1800s, historic University bldgs, and some good early 20th architecture in the biz district.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

* Poor density.
* Pretty convenient drive to Dwtn but poor transit connection. It takes about 1 hr. to take the bus into dwtn.
* Overall transit connection is pretty poor in Berea.
* Nice bike lanes along the Metroparks but none on City streets.
* Limited racial diversity and esp. family diversity as much of the population is students.
* Only a high school and Catholic grade school are located within Dwtn Berea. 2 other schools are semi walkable in the more suburban half of Berea. Also schools are rated well.
* Not sure where all the students live but rentals are very limited but inexpensive. Few 1-beds available. 2 & 3 beds lease in the 1Ks.
* Good ped activity in Baldin Wallace and around Coe Lake but pretty limited elsewhere.
* Not much urban in-fill but a decent mixed-use bldg and several 1960s in-fill condos and townhouses. Also some unattractive auto centric in-fill.
* Some good urban massing at the core Biz district at Front and Center. But the rest of Front and Bagley are a mixed-bag and often pretty desolate.