ITHACA — The owner of a store on the Ithaca Commons says the reconstruction of the downtown center hasn’t been the success story people had hoped for.
Barbara Lynn of “Now Your Cooking” recently wrote an editorial in which she strongly criticized many elements of the Commons redesign, including the lack of say residents and business owners had in the process and the lack of interesting architecture.
Lynn says contrary to what city leaders promised, business hasn’t been booming either.
“We had a flurry at first where it was better, and then it kind of went back to construction level,” she said. “Every once in a while it’s better, but it’s generally not. I think it’ll go back to the way it was before the original Commons was put in. It’ll be just head shops, pizza places, and bars.”
Lynn says one of the most stifling problems is parking near the Commons.
“Corning, Binghamton, everywhere around, to encourage business they give free parking. Not us, we double the rates,” she said. “We ought to have some kind of transportation to downtown so that people can get here without having to pay those ridiculous rates or go to a parking garage and find there’s nowhere to park.”
Lynn says she feels elected officials have mostly ignored or downplayed the concerns of residents and merchants during and after the reconstruction process.
