Someone was listening besides the Planning Board :A place to downsize
JUNE 20, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 20, 2014, 12:31 AM
A place to downsize
Tess Giuliani
to the editor:
Ridgewood reminds me of the village I grew up in, Garden City, N.Y., where my family still lives. Both are beautiful, historic towns.
I remember how the Garden City Hotel, a 1901 historic landmark designed by Stanford White, stood proudly in the middle of town. Sadly, this magnificent building came down in 1973. An ugly gaping hole remained on the site for 10 years, surrounded by a chain link fence. Finally, a new Garden City Hotel with Wyndham luxury condos was opened in 1983
Why did it take 10 years? Longtime residents tell me that 40 years ago, the idea of downtown condos in Garden City was unacceptable to many villagers. What changed? Over time the residents got tired of the eyesore, and their personal concerns also changed as they got older.
In 2001, I put my Ridgewood home on the market and found that the best housing for me was an apartment complex right here. I wanted to stay in town and stay involved. Though as it happened, I stayed in my house another 11 years, the apartment prospects had not changed. The best complex in 2001 was still the best in 2012 – so I moved in.
As a designer I’ve worked with hundreds of clients in Ridgewood, developing creative spaces from the smallest full bathroom to the most stately, grand house dubbed The New American Classic by DesignNJ. Today’s clients among the “young seniors” ask me to “create uncluttered, beautiful spaces that reflect our tastes and make our lives easy.”
They hope to downsize from a big house to a nice apartment in Ridgewood, with covered parking, elevators, central air, large windows, nice kitchens and baths and ample closets. But where are they? I found only one.
The Enclave invites the community to an open exchange of information, pros and cons and all views, on Thursday, June 26 at 7 p.m. at the Ridgewood Library Arts Studio. I’ll certainly be there, and would like to suggest that we review these websites in advance for more background: downtownridgewood.com and citizensforabetterridgewood.com – See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/opinion-letters-to-the-editor/letter-a-place-to-downsize-1.1038600#sthash.PNUkkp9Q.dpuf
Garden City is very nice , but it is also home to Adelphi University — do we want a university to move into Ridgewood too ?
They are two very different towns regardless of their similarities (on paper or otherwise) – what works in one place is not necessarily a good fit for the other one.
Downsize? How much will a 2 bedroom cost? What will the maintenance and taxes be?
I don’t want to downsize and pay the same as I do for my home.
The website for the developments is interesting. But a few suggestions:
The site should have more continuity. Each development should have its drawing on the first page. Then they should list the number and size of the units, the maintenance and the anticipated taxes.
They claim that they will be self sufficient for parking, but based on what? How many spots per unit?
There is no way that the addition of that many families will not impact congestion in the downtown.
They talk about “1.5 million net tax” but where did they pull that number from? The rumor v Reality section is not very good.
As I mentioned above, if I am going to downsize from a 4+ bedroom house I do not just want a smaller residence. i expect the carrying expenses to be downsized too. Otherwise I can buy a house in Saddle River.
I don’t think many are opposed to the idea of apartments in town. Many are opposed however to amending the master plan to build something that is too big. Let’s hope we learned some lessons from the most recent round of the Valley fiasco.
Agree #4. Sensible. Let’s not re zone and create a monster. Take each project individually.