Comments on: Phoodie Exclusive: The Who And The What Of Stephen Starr’s Fishtown Bier Garten

By: optimism

optimism — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:53:30 +0000

Matt from Fishtown- I completely agree with your last comment.

I also live in Fishtown and have been here for 4 years. I am excited to hear about the new Stephen Starr possibly opening in our area. I live closer to York St, so the parking and noise issues will not effect me, but I can certainly understand the concerns of those who live within a few blocks of Frankford and Girard. I would love to see Frankford Ave and Girard Ave build up (not with multiple nail salons and convenient stores) but with nice restaurants, maybe a gym, farmers market…

I love the ‘neighborhood’ feeling of Fishtown, and I think the location that the restaurant would be placed in is perfect, being that it is close to the El and at one of the busier intersections. I think this could be a good thing. Maybe it will bring in people who would not normally travel into Fishtown, and other local businesses with trigger their interest and they will come back and spent their money at our local shops and restaurants (Hot Potato Cafe, Sulimays, Johnny Brenda’s, Sketch Burger…)

I believe the next Fishtown neighborhood meeting in March will have a big discussion about the restaurant. Maybe there will be a way to convince them to also add a small parking lot, so that parking isn’t too much of an issue?

By: alan

alan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:45:10 +0000

nimby, is it? don’t make me come’n see ya, shaggy, from scooby-do, with your peg jeans, funny hat, and fancy words.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:06:59 +0000

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=nimby

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:26:17 +0000

First off, there are two Matts in this thread, and I’m the one who attended the town meeting, and not the one who lives in Northern Liberties and came from Jersey Shore. I live in Fishtown, and came from Michigan because there are no jobs there.

If people have requests for things they’d like to see in the neighborhood, I’d recommend attending the zoning meeting in late February to talk to the developer that owns so much of the vacant property. (I heard a rumor about a vet hospital, but I don’t know what else is coming.) If you want something, let your voice be heard by the people who can do something to make that happen.

This neighborhood is changing, and it will become what we make it. My block is putting in a small park space and a mural. There are groups forming with an agenda to make Fishtown the greenest neighborhood in Philadelphia, with solar powered streetlights. Bitching on a message board will accomplish nothing. If you don’t like where things are headed, then grab the wheel. I don’t mean that like “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I really am urging people to make this neighborhood what they want it to be, because when we sit on our hands and watch what happens, we get whatever we get.

By: sonofafishmonger

sonofafishmonger — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:51:33 +0000

the success or failure of this enterprise turns on one detail: will they have deviled eggs?

By: curt vile

curt vile — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 19:17:15 +0000

Ugh! This is the yuppieficiation of Fishtown. Artists will be pushed out of Fishtown, and obnoxious people only concerned about their property values will move in. Time to move out.

By: Alabaster Blue

Alabaster Blue — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:36:24 +0000

He is Ringo Starr’s son?

By: Lems

Lems — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:43:12 +0000

Sorry to be dumb, but what is a NIMBY? I’m a recent transplant (from Williamsburg, actually, and I can attest that Radegast is killer, esp. in the summer, and if this place is half as good it will be a great addition to the neighborhood). Thanks.

By: rk

rk — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:06:41 +0000

Dan–normally, the restaurant comes first, the high paying professional jobs *maybe* second (those are relatively rare jobs). the low paying jobs come first because there’s less capital costs. I’m not saying one or the other…having a high quality beer garden can help bring in these professional jobs. Setting it up as either/or is creating a false dichotomy.

By: Dan

Dan — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:20:11 +0000

rk: I suspect that most people, if given the choice between being about to walk to work or having a Stephen Starr restaurant nearby would pick being able to walk to work. If a community has many businesses that provide high quality jobs then the restaurants will flock to that area.

Kelly, I have worked in restaurants. For each chef earning 80K there are 6 dishwashers/cleaning people making minimum wage. Prep cooks may make a couple of dollars more than minimum wage, Line cooks may make 1.5x minimum wage. The majority of the jobs are low wage and have few if any benefits. Most restaurant workers can no longer afford to buy a house in Fishtown like I did 20 years ago.

While it is nice to have good restaurants in the area, it is also nice to have businesses that provide high paying jobs with excellent benefits. I want to live in a community where software developers, accountants, architects, engineers, nurses, doctors, artists, carpenters, or any number of other occupations have an opportunity to work in Fishtown.