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Originally Posted by SuziQ07
Ithaca is wonderful place...I love the Commons for lunch and shopping.
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Was a long time ago (in a faraway place, etc.) When I first got there The Commons was still a road you could drive down. A lot of the merchants were pissed when they made it pedestrian only. So were a lot of the people. I don't know how it's doing these days, but it was built as an overreaction (fear of other malls - first a wegman's, then the unsightly Pyramid Mall [where I was ultimately employed, as was my wife - but that's another story.]) Many of the "meat and potatoes" stores went under, either immediately or eventually and were replaced by various t'shirt and incense type places - which also eventually went under. Rothchilds, Woolworths, CVS, Mcdonald's - all tried to make a go of it and all eventually closed. In the 1990's there was talk of throwing in the towel and un pedestrianing it and making it a street again, but the last I heard, it's coming back, anchored by a... (wait for it) Starbucks.
I didn't miss much of the merchants, they were mostly probably doomed anyway, but one fatality, The Rosebud, hit hard. Was one of those no-frills blue collar diners where you could get a decent breakfast for a couple bucks. Last time I was there (05?) it was gone - replaced by some chi-chi sushi place.
Anyhoo, I enjoyed some good times in Upstate New York but I couldn't handle the rough economy or the tough winters and I left in '83.