the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, We call them “Destination Stores ” if you have a special spot with a unique product people will find parking . The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood. & Davidoff Lounge is an example .Its called common sense! I know, it’s an old fashioned idea but something that is severely lacking nowadays.
Stores that have a commodity or service that is backed by good business have continued to prosper here in Ridgewood. Hillman, Country Curtains, Jekyl & Hyde, The Art Spot and Panico are examples of a few. Been in business a long time and continue to attract new customers. Mango use to be a good option but the last few years it’s grown stale, not a decline in business because of lack of parking but because the goods are pretty much the same stuff as 5 years ago. A place like Pazzazzed is stealing Mango’s thunder, better, more interesting goods.
If you offer a strong commodity or service, people will find parking, it’s worth the effort to walk a block or two. If it’s mediocre or lost its appeal, you won’t last.
Some business owners think because it’s Ridgewood, they are guaranteed to make money. As many have learned, that’s not the case. The owners of Novo tried the salad place, it didn’t work, now they have a restaurant that is currently successful. Did the salad place not work because there was no parking garage? No, because status quo with parking and now its success.
People like coming to the Village because it’s charming and for many their own towns don’t have a CBD. The worst thing this village could do would be to jam 4 or 5 massive high density building and an ugly, doesn’t fit on the lot garage. If they build that crap, I hope the 3 amigos have a huge plaque with their names and faces on it so all the people who see it and think “what the hell happened to Ridgewood” they can point to those plaques and go “right there, a very dark period in the Village’s history when the door was opened and a no good politician and his cohorts hijacked the place”.
Used to be a great place to walk around and shop. Greedy landlords took care of that.
Wait until the apartments are built. The builders have invested too much into the politicians. All that money spent into the politicians will go into cutting costs and poor quality construction. At the end, they need to make profits. The more they have to invest in politicians the more they will have to cut from the construction costs. Disaster waiting to happen.
What do you mean “invest in politicians.” The three amigos didn’t spend much to win council seats. And let me tell you something:. The deputy mayor will win again, because he is active in many Ridgewood organizations. For example, the Art Council people love him They will vote for him and probably all the people who attended the art council’s opening exhibit at Village Hall a couple weeks ago. And on and on. Get real. It is only a few of us who really appreciate Ridgewood as a charming village with a small-town feel. Most people don’t care. By a few of us I mean a couple of hundred. We are unique and unfortunately in the minority.
The worst thing is to accuse the three amigos of corruption. Accuse the thousands of Ridgewood residents who don’t appreciate a charming village that is not like a city.
8:56… If those that oppose the council majority were as savvy as you, there would be a real race in May… Thank you for your dose of frank reality… maybe if those that oppose the majority get beyond name calling in anonymity and understand that yes, most people don’t care, a strategy can be taken to get another candidate who feels the way you do into office by increasing turnout. As we saw in the previous election (3rd place), every vote does count.
8:56am.. just wait and watch.
10:22 from 8:56 I will vote; not wait and watch. And I will have signs up on my lawn for those I support.
I disagree with the size of this bond and really disagree to bond with BCIA, we should be working it out within Ridgewood. That said, I would not accuse anybody of out and out corruption. I do think the mayor wants political favors and to get you have to give…not illegal just the way politicians work and why they are so disliked.
Back to the topic, Glen Rock has ample free on street parking and half of the stores are empty.
Lawn signs – that’s funny.
10:46… It’ll take about 2600 opposition votes to change the status quo if you look at the last 2 elections…
seems a lot of the pro council majority seemed to have amnesia about the huge vote victory of Susan and Mike
2:24 Is that funny. Lawn signs? What about Vote Parking signs all over town. Was that funny? Since it’s so funny, I won’t have any; No I won’t have any for the candidates who want this town as a village and not a city. Now is that funny?
James… when you look at the 2014 and 2012 elections the magic number for victory is in the 2600-3000 range total vote wise based on 20-30% turnout. Susan and Mike gathered the same percentage range as the previous victors… So opponents have a benchmark to meet the challenge…