City to improve Park Avenue

Christina Daly/Herald

The city chose Park Avenue, between Riverside and National boulevards, for its pilot program in part because of its proximity to the Long Island Rail Road station, what officials described as the “gateway to the city.”

Christina Daly/Herald

For the first time ever, the city regularly powerwashed sidewalks this summer in accordance with a new streetscaping initiative to improve the downtown area and provide a boost to local businesses.

Courtesy City of Long Beach

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In an effort to create a more attractive downtown and support local businesses, the city announced last week that it is undertaking a new streetscaping initiative to improve its business districts.

The goals of the initiative, as determined by a needs assessment conducted over the summer by the Department of Economic Development, include enhancing residents’ quality of life and increasing safety and walkability along Park Avenue and other shopping districts.

The effort comes at a time when a number of residents and merchants are questioning efforts to help local businesses thrive after Hurricane Sandy and to improve business districts following a number of store closures, including Long Beach Craft & Variety, a longtime staple of the community at 50 W. Park Ave., which closed last month. Though 17 businesses have closed in the past year, City Manager Jack Schnirman emphasized at the Sept. 16 City Council meeting that 34 have opened, including a new hair salon for which the city held a public hearing at the meeting.

According to Schnirman, the city hopes to fund a broad streetscaping initiative with a $500,000 state grant it has applied for, but in the meantime will move ahead with a pilot project administered by the city’s capital improvement program. The city expects to find out if it will receive the grant money by the end of the year.

The pilot will focus on Park Avenue, between National and Riverside boulevards, and include sidewalk planters, additional bicycle racks, new user-friendly garbage receptacles and sidewalk powerwashing. The goal of the initiative, officials said, is to help local businesses by beautifying the area and improving infrastructure there in order to stimulate shopping.

Patricia Bourne, Long Beach’s director of economic development, said that the needs assessment considered appropriate locations and space availability when planning the initiative, which will complement existing infrastructure. Restaurants with outdoor warm-weather seating, for example, will need to be considered during the planning of the new streetscapes.