With the crucial public meeting scheduled for January 10th, I thought I would take the time to point out that the additional questions the developers were asked have all be responded to, and the Township of Lower Merion has posted the responses:

Lower Merion's Website/Left Side Column see "What's New"/Click on Ardmore Transit Center Project

BET
Dranoff
EBL&S
Strategic Realty Investments
Mariner

So what do all of you out there think about Ardmore? Especially those of you adjacent to the Lancaster Avenue business districts in the residential neighborhoods and those of you who are in the business district already along Lancaster Avenue and on side streets like Greenfield, Rittenhouse Place, and so on? Because the Township needs to hear your voices now. Not just mine. Not just Save Ardmore Coalition's or even the collective voice of your civic association. And yes, that probably means standing up at a public meeting, or sending a letter to the editor of a local paper, or something like that. But you know what? It's not so much time out of your life in the overall scale of things so why not just do it?

Am I excited about Ardmore's future? If things go along smoothly, realistically, with respect for the past while moving towards the future, I should be ok. But I have to be bluntly honest: if all of us as "Ardmore's Architects" allow it to become too much of what it is not, that might not be a solution, merely another problem. I think the RFP plans need to be more in keeping with what the ULI suggested long ago, but it doesn't have to be all that....as long as the entire focus is not solely targeting upscale and luxury because Ardmore is Lower Merion's melting pot and should be darn proud to retain that part of it's history.

The Ardmore I envision accomodates people from all walks of life, not just some targeted demographic that some outside overpriced consultant decreed is a "must have". The Ardmore I envision melds the past, present, and future with fun and vivaciousness (kind of like my friend Sherry's store). The Ardmore I envision doesn't take itself so seriously it ceases to be fun. The Ardmore I envision isn't afraid to pay homage to the past while envisioning the future. The Ardmore I envision is still a happy place where people will continue to greet you by first name on the street. (and when I am not dreaming of visions of Ardmore dancing in my head I am looking forward to Joe Rufo's proposed new restaurant that will go in that decrepit All Natural site - God Bless you Joe for having the vision to make a sow's ear into a silk purse and for believing in Ardmore no matter what happens.)

Where do all of you stand on other Ardmore issues like 130 Cricket Avenue, for example? What does the Ardmore in your mind look like? What businesses will be there in your Ardmore of tomorrow? If you live in Ardmore now, will you stay in Ardmore?

I personally suggest standing up at a public meeting and simply stating what is on your mind as an individual. After all, your words and opinions are valued - and yes, sometimes it is daunting (even for me)to get up there and speak, but who better to express your opinion then you?

Citizens need to take advantage of the opportunities they have for input. Truthfully, there really aren't that many opportunities to do so.

Will speaking out win you endless popularity contests? Maybe not, but you the individual will feel the difference. And as long as you can look yourself in the eye in the mirror, do you really care what someone who has an opposing opinion might think? (Ok, I will answer that for you: you shouldn't care because they aren't really giving a rat's fanny whether you agree with them or not and to my friend Jeff I say free speech probably exists most easily when it is not representative of an inconvenient truth for someone else, but I digress.)

Sometimes people are more comfortable expressing their opinion via a petition. If that is your desire, well then go for it. But again, it is an expression of sentiment of individuals, albeit in this case like minded, for the sense of expediency.

Because petitions are indivdualistic, they will not necesarilly be embraced or endorsed by all individuals, or even organized groups or organizations. That's fine and utterly common. If you believe you are right and others join you in your sentiments, get your petition together and present it respectfully at a public meeting.

The point is: people you need to get out there. You can't just depend upon others to carry your message because there are times in life when you have to be heard standing on your own two feet.

And this doesn't just mean in the situation of all things Ardmore. Take Bryn Mawr - a lot is happening in Bryn Mawr too.

Let's take a look now at what is Haverford Township Bryn Mawr (where Haverford ends and Bryn Mawr begins): the demolition and rebuild of the Bryn Mawr Acme and the proposal by Bank of America to demolish the former Silo/Storehouse Furniture site and build a new bank branch.

With regard to the Acme, the meeting I attended a few weeks ago indicated that the store would be approximately 27200 square feet. The building design not bad for what it is, could benefit from additional articulation/tweaking and better articulated landscaping - it is somewhat unimaginative. ALL deliveries will be from Lancaster Avenue to accommodate San Marino neighbors.

Acme needs to relocate that pedestrian stair towards middle of lot on Lancaster Avenue side to corner at Penn Street traffic light for safety reasons - people exit that stair and jaywalk mid block at Lancaster - there have been serious pedestrian accidents around Penn Street and Lancaster Avenue, so why not line the stairs up with the pedestrian crossing at the corner to encourage better pedestrian safety?

ONE major Acme issue - they seem to wish to relocate their entrance driveway on Penn Street/Pennswood Road to essentially within 10 feet of San Marino, which means BOTH San Marino and ACME will be fighting to get out at same time at bottom of Pennswood Bridge -and there is a rise coming over that bridge. Wouldn't that be considered a serious safety hazard? More positives are that deliveries and hours of operation will be limited a la Wendys - I believe like 7 a.m. to midnight (new ACME stores wish to be 24 hours a day too. just like Wendy's). I wonder if Acme has an opinion on fake red mulch? Wendy's apparently still likes it.

Occasionally at the meeting I attended on Acme I found Acme's attorney uttering my favorite phrase "It's by right". When I hear that I fear things could then evolve "by wrong", but I will hope for the best.

One drawback is I bet BOTH Bank America and Acme will be under construction at same time. Both were told about Ardmore design guidelines and what is trying to occur in both Bryn Mawr and Ardmore.

Now Bank of America presents an interesting situation: the positive is that an empty storefront which is somewhat of an eyesore will be reinvented into an utterly new space. The drawback of course, is the potential of the bank's "design". Like car dealerships and fast food chains, banks seem to have development design formulas that leave me wanting something better, or more specifically something better articulated and less box like. I know I am not alone in that sentiment. To me it seems win-win to try to develop a property so that it matches the existing surroundings. Look at Bryn Mawr Trust Company - their Bryn Mawr Branch is a landmark and their Ardmore branch, now open about a year, echoes Main Street Ardmore in it's design and building articulation -and THAT makes a really big design difference!

The proposed design of the Bank of America also includes two drive thru lanes where Lancaster Avenue is quite narrow. But where I really wonder if the "gods are crazy" is the location/proximity to one particular business: Tehrani Brothers.

The Tehrani brothers are dealers in oriental rugs. They have a location in Wayne (211 East Lancaster Ave) and a location in Bryn Mawr (650 West Lancaster Ave).

So bookmakers, what are the odds of an independently owned small business ending up with the same corporation next door to them in two locations? Seriously, go drive past the Wayne location - look at what is immediately next door: Bank of America.

Fate has a strange sense of humor when it comes to providing the playing field small businesses must try to eke out an existence by....and speaking of banks, Dunkin Donuts in Bryn Mawr may now become a Citizens Bank with one drive thru lane. The danger of that location of course is the problematic area in Bryn Mawr where it would be located: adjaxent to Staples/Cosi/Bertucci's, across the street from the former site of Barne and Noble, and oh next door/just across "Towne Place" to another bank in a former Boston Chicken/Roy Rogers site.

From fast food to banks? Hmmm. Is that a Bryn Mawr thing?

Also up in Bryn Mawr? A public meeting on Wednesday January 23rd as per Lower Merion's website on Bryn Mawr rezoning. Is that the meeting where the powers that be will decide to TRID or not to TRID? I suggest people who live in Bryn Mawr brush up on what has been discussed for Bryn Mawr, and as is the case for Ardmore, does Bryn Mawr wish to remain a village? Where is the Bryn Mawr Business Association's visioning on this today? Or the Bryn Mawr Civic Association for that matter? I am not being provacative asking that question, I truly want to know, just like I want to know if there is going to be a Bryn Mawr BID (business improvement district) structured a la Ardmore Initiative because that takes a long time to set up. And if the Bryn Mawr BID is approved who will head it up?

And when talkling Bryn Mawr, moving backwards again to the Haverford Towsnhip side of Bryn Mawr, does anyone else wonder about the rest of the problematic block across from the Acme? Will what has been a hair salon, sneaker store, cell phone store and most recently housed Marcella Soret children's clothing until it's final demise find a tenant that will be a keeper? What of the former Spada's/Marita's/Bryn Mawr Pub site? How long will that just sit there? And what of that gas station on the corner of Lancaster and Penn and the businesses along side them on Penn? Will they continue to be allowed to park trash dumpsters and vehicles on what should be the public sidewalk? Will Penn Street save itself from the student housing that makes it look so sad towards Lancaster? Or will student housing continue to cause it's own problems?

When all is said and done and I am a very old lady looking back on it all, will I be happy with the way Bryn Mawr and Ardmore turned out or will I long for the days of yore?

If you notice, I did not even get into Haverford because Haverford along Lancaster Avenue seems to be chronically forgotten...the biggest problem there other than a relatively inconsistent streetscape that is very unattractive in places?

TRAFFIC.

Who will stop the madness that causes all the accidents in Haverford along Lancaster Avenue? It's a bitch when you feel like you are playing "chicken" even at traffic lights when the light is in your favor.

But is it up to me? Nope. It's up to all of you out there to offer input. And even beyond Lower Merion into townships to the west....For example, Wayne has the downtown I love, even if the restaurants are all now of one particular theme......but as other areas around Wayne grow in different townships will Wayne remain quaint and charming? Will there, in the end, be too many condos there too and an imbalance in other types of housing? And what of Garrett Hill and Ithan? What will happen there?

Moving onto other areas --- What about Berwyn? What about Malvern? What about Paoli? What will 2008 and beyond mean for all of these communities?

Is it the right time now for neighborhood groups up and down the "Main Line" to ask their local governments to come together and have a summit of sorts? Seriously, it's not as kooky as it sounds: we are all facing similar issues and often similar redevelopment and development plans.

Why not avoid reinventing the wheel from town to town? It might, just might, in the end help our communities to maintain their individuality and avoid becoming utterly homogeneous.

A final note? I hope it is not so bitter cold tomorrow since I noticed that volleyball net go up across from Bryn Mawr Hospital's Warden Lobby - where the houses used to be?

Apparently, Friday January 4th they are playing volleyball from 10 to 11 a.m.....I hope it warms up because it would be ironic if hospital employees developed hypothermia in an effort to get fit!

Seriously, I can't make this stuff up (but will gladly come hang out in warmer weather because volleyball is fun!):

Ever thought you would see folks playing volleyball outside in January? Friday, January 4th is your opportunity! Rain, sleet, or, better yet, snow, come to the parking lot across the street from Bryn Mawr Hospital's main entrance (the Warden Lobby) and the Medical Office Building North, 830 Old Lancaster Rd. Bryn Mawr, PA 19010.

In an effort to increase physical activity in the workplace and encourage healthier living, Main Line Health is teaming up with the American Heart Association (AHA) to accept their Start! challenge. To launch their healthy lifestyle program, Jack Lynch and Terri Jones, AHA Sr. VP and Executive Director, Southeastern PA AHA, will lead two teams of Main Line Health nurse ambassadors in a game of volleyball. As an added bonus, Mike Buongiorno will referee the game!

We are asking all MLH managers to encourage any available staff to attend and learn more about Start!

For those of you afraid of the cold weather, a heated tent with warm food and beverages will be provided. Come on out and enjoy a nice cup of hot chocolate or a warm bowl of oatmeal while you view the game.

Date: Friday, January 4, 2008
Time: 10:00AM – 11:00AM

Location: Parking lot across the street from the hospital's main entrance (the Warden Lobby) and the Medical Office Building North, 830 Old Lancaster Rd. Bryn Mawr

Hmmm....well enough from me...it's a New Year, people! Make the most of it, hear? It's not just about burning those extra calories....and making those resolutions impossible to keep which are to an extent, always improbable...Heck, make a resolution you CAN keep: get involved where you live or play or work (or any combination of the three!)....