Safeway, Too, Can Do the New Urbanism
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 15 July 2009 — 8 comments below »
Some readers may have thought my earlier post was some sort of endorsement for a Whole Foods in Hercules. It wasn’t. What we need is an everyday grocery market, not necessarily a specialty high-priced one (which should only complement an everyday grocery store, not functionally replace one). The two nearby Safeways — in Rodeo and Pinole — are small and run-down; the Lucky in Hercules is disproportionately scaled and smells like cat-food. We need something better.
Rather, what I like about the Whole Foods in Oakland — and strongly prefer — is the New Urbanism design. And we can do the same here in Hercules. (Yes we can.)
And it is not only Whole Foods that is designing its stores within the framework of New Urbanism and in the context of the surrounding neighborhood. Safeway’s latest design for its planned renovation in Rockridge is another perfect example of a grocery store that is bucking the old, and adopting the tenets of New Urbanism…
And here is a virtual tour (the design firm is, again, Lowney Architecture)…
This wasn’t the original design for the renovated store however. The community was upset — and rightfully so — when the original plans were released, which was much more typical, and much more Safeway-like. This is simply more evidence that a community that wants better design, such as New Urbanism, can demand it from the developer. And if the City represents the concerns of its residents, it too will demand a change from the status quo, and we can see our neighborhood grow as a pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented community. (Yes we can.)
THE IRONY OF SAFEWAY STATION:
I enjoy the irony of this post Jeff, almost as much as your cat food comment (you got some good chuckles out of that).
In June, our City unintentionally presented to us a suburban 1970s “Safeway” styled TRANSIT station in a crucial piece of our New Urbanism waterfront. This is nothing but odd, strange, and almost humorous that the actual GROCERY store chain of Safeway could have done a much better job themselves designing our Amtrak and ferry terminal. This definitely hurts my brain.
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Cool building. Love the ship prow roof deck. Curious how effective it is in responding to the context in which it sits.
I would love to see some version of this in our neighborhood. A grocery store tops my list of everyday necessities and I would love to be able to walk to one and not drive – talk about facilitating the development of pedestrian friendly neighborhoods.
please – please – please – a decent grocery store is a must. I love Trader Joe’s but that cant be the only game in town! Come on Hercules – get us a grocery store that has more than peanut butter and jelly. Out in far east county the supermarkets are awesome…and ours sadly does have a kitty smell …LOL!
I agree that Hercules desperately needs new grocery stores, whether it’s Trader Joe’s or upscale Safeway. Why we live in the stone age with 1960′s designed stores….I’m not sure, I wonder when they’re considering upgrading, if at all. I spend grocery dollars at Trader Joe’s and Costco in Richmond, and nicer stores elsewhere because our stores here aren’t user friendly, are depressing to walk into, prices feel inflated, and it feels like the stores don’t value Hercules residents. I want good prices, beautiful displays, lots of fruits and vegetables, and really great looking seafood please!, and prepared foods, and a de-emphasis on candy, sweets, and non-grocery items. Sounds like I must be dreaming.
I agree with all the comments. We need a new grocer. The Lucky is nasty; they don’t put a dime into maintenance and upkeep, they just take our money. I sent disgusting photos to their headquarters showing the conditions in the store; they never even responded.
I say, city should get the Rockridge treatment. Mike B., at what stage is this? WHen can we expect a formal proposal to go to the Planning Commission? What about the encumbrance on the title to the old Penterra property?
There are a lot of nice Safeways out there now. Have you seen the one south of market in SF, just west of Giants stadium? Wow!
Victoria, I agree especially on Costco! I would LOVE to see Hercules get a Costco in town, I would take it ANYWHERE, we desperately need something. I would love to see both Costco and Safeway! I fear that sometimes though we as residents get too picky and shun ideas and thoughts and stick up our noses at the thought of a store coming to our town because we think we are so above such a thought of store xyz coming to town. Guess hat people, have you picked up a paper or watched the news lately? Hercules is a joke, I’m surprised ANY company would even think about coming to our town. I’m not saying I was in favor of walmart but I hope that we don’t do anything stupid to ruin the possibility of Costco or Safeway coming to our town!
A new urbanism style Safeway, as Jeff has presented here, would be fabulous. We need a well rounded grocery store to serve everyone’s needs in the community. I would love to be able to walk or bike to such a store when I didn’t have to shop for a lot of groceries all at once. A Trader Joes would be too limited in selection; besides, there is one close by in Pinole. A Whole Foods type store would be too upscale and expensive. I’m for one of these new style Safeway stores.
Since the downtown Sycamore Crossing, etc. is pretty much dead, a new urbanistic style Safeway would still be great. I’m reminded of that old saying, “…when life gives you lemons, make lemonade”. Let’s make some lemonade!