Whole Foods is coming … you think they’d get 420 parking spaces into Park Slope without a fight?? An excerpt from the petition:
“… there are some problems with Whole Foods’ design plans. They intend to build 420 parking spaces, an excessive amount for an urban neighborhood, especially one in which only about 40% of households own cars. Oversupply of parking encourages people to drive rather than use mass transit or other more environmentally friendly modes of transportation, and more cars means more traffic in Park Slope and surrounding neighborhoods, which are already seeing a major upsurge in traffic from rapid development…”
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Let me get this straight… People build all these condos on 4th avenue with no parking and people (rightfully) yell their heads off that they are building irresponsibly. These guys build PLENTY of parking (and truth be told it might not be enough given that it’s the only whole foods in the entire borough) and you say there’s too much parking? That’s ridiculous.
These guys cant win. Too few parking spaces and you yell. Too many and you yell. I’m not one to go around defending big corporations but you make no sense. Did you ever think that the world does not revolve around slope? That someone from Bay Ridge might want to drive in and buy some groceries w/o spending 10 hours driving around for a parking spot?
enough with the cars already folks get a prius or ride a bikes
Yo!
Give it a rest. Lets just have a market and quit bellyaching about everything that anyone propses for Brooklyn. The rest of the world is moving forward.
It’s called PROGRESS friends. Stop fighting it.
Does it sound like a bunch of privileged NIMBYs complaining? Yes, it does, unfortunately. However, they have a point…and “Me”, you apparently have a skewed understanding of what “progress” means. In a city with parking and traffic issues like NYC (even Brooklyn) it’s necessary to study the impact of each proposed situation and weigh the cost/benefit ratio…this isn’t East Bumblef4#%! Kentucky where space isn’t at a premium. Rodrigo, I travel from dumbo to 14th st in Manhattan to shop at trader joe’s b/c it is worth my time and effort (actually most of the time I stop there on the way home from work), but you have to be kidding me that you’re argument rests on people from Bay Ridge needing to get to a Whole Foods by car. Much more than 50% of this city handles grocery shopping without a car, so Bay Ridge can suck it up. If the residents of that area are in dire need of a Whole Foods, then convince the company to open a store there instead of adding to the traffic hell on the small, one way streets of Park Slope. PS residents are doing what is necessary to combat the over-abundance of cars in a city with mass transpo – it may seem like whining, but so do a lot of good causes before they get the majority behind it.
I just got back from a week in HELL aka Los Angeles. Those poor suckers built their metropolis around the fabulous automobile and now that they are slaves to their cars everyone gets to sit in traffic for at least 2 hours EVERY DAY. Cars creep along the freeways at 20 mph or so and its the ONLY WAY to get from A to B. NY may have it’s share of problems but at least we have tons of public transportation. I own a car and live in Manhattan, but I never use it. It sits parked in the Bronx unless I am going out of town. Shame on WF for encouraging car use. They do it at Columbus Circle by offering free parking there with large purchase – yet I couldn’t find a bike rack anywhere near the place.
If our cities are to remain livable places and our planet as well, we need to plan AWAY from single occupancy 2 ton metal boxes as our primary means of getting around and filling our bellies. Shop local, shop smaller, and get fresh! Farmer’s Markets are the best. Whole Foods, sure, but buy what you can carry home. How much stuff (food included) do we really need?
Look to Europe for a good example of dense populations living well.
Don’t LA-ize NY. Less parking means less cars, for sure.
SPS and Steven – clearly you are single guys! It’s totally impractical and unrealistic to think that you can transport a weeks worth of groceries for a family of 3 or 4 or (gasp)more, by public transportation. Even if you don’t own a car but rely on the use of a zip car from time to time, you still need to park it.
When you walk or bicycle over to Whole Foods, please make sure you only buy produce grown locally. Buying products that come from far away in trucks is wasteful.
If you want to shop using your bicycle, try the Grand Army Plaza Farmer’s Market. Live on what’s local, plentiful and cheap. Learn to can and preserve produce.
I’m not buying a hybrid car until my ’94 Saturn finally dies.
Still, I would drive to whole foods and be grateful for the parking if I could afford to shop there.
i agree that 420 parking spaces are unreasonable for an area like park slope. And please, do not forget the two viable sources for cheap, local and organic food in the neighborhood: thepark slope food coop and the farmers market.
i doubt whole foods could compete with the competitive pricing at the coop. 20% markup on all products from the cost price is a great deal. lets support the institutions which were created here, and lets support our local farmers.
The last time I looked, 3rd Ave. & 3rd St. wasn’t in a residential neighborhood. It’s in Gowanus, an industrial area. The Whole Foods site replaces a large auto radiator warehouse, and is surrounded by utilities, big box stores, and gravel crushers.
I live in the Slope, have a car, and last weekend I drove to Fairway in Redhook and brought back 5 bags of groceries. I look forward to driving to Whole Foods, which is closer. I avoid doing large shops within walking distance so I don’t have to have 5 bags of groceries pulling my arms out of their sockets as I walk home.
So if you want to ride your bicycle to the greenmarket or Whole Foods, go right ahead. I’ll keep my lifestyle, thank you.
Go, Phil.
I’ll keep my lifestyle as well.
Phil, mom,
I think we can infer from their comments that SPS and Steven are volunteering to carry our groceries home for us if we leave our cars at home. In my case, they will have to carry the bags all the way to Flatbush, but I’m sure they’ll feel good about all the carbon-offsetting they’ll be doing.
ronman,
I drive a Prius. But even the Prius needs to be parked somewhere.
The Coop has great prices… if you feel like paying a membership fee and working there on a regular schedule. Not to mention being swarmed by petitions as you walk in. I’ll take my higher mark up at a normal store thank you. I don’t want my oranges to taste like politics… ruins the juice.
I drive a Honda hybrid, but shop at local markets if walking or taking public transportation. I drive to Fairway when I need certain foods and for major shopping. I could never carry that much home on a bus, not even if my husband accompanies me. I did take the convenient bus to Fairway twice, but had to limit my purchases. If I only need a few items, I generally shop at the local supermarket or walk to some of the specialty markets in the area. My son also does his major shopping because he can use our car. Personally, I think parking is a necessity even though less than 50% own cars. I can tell you that Fairway’s first parking lot is usually mobbed, especially on weekends. I’m not certain about their second parking lot.
Julia