Introduction
Eugenio
Maria de Hostos Community College and its environs
give many visitors their first impression of the
Bronx. The college helps to mark the entranceway
to the Bronx at the start of the Grand Concourse,
the borough's historic ceremonial boulevard. With
the growing importance of educational and institutional
uses in the Hostos area, it is time for a fresh
examination of the area and its relationship to
the larger Bronx Center which is also on the brink
of change.
Even
with the dominance of educational institutions,
the area contains a surprising diversity of land
uses including residential rowhouses and multifamily
buildings, retail stores, industrial firms, rail
lines and yards, and waterfront property used
largely for vehicle storage, parking and small
manufacturers. This diversity, coupled with the
growth potential for some of the uses, raises
a number of issues: the appropriateness of existing
zoning; and the need for traffic circulation,
mass transit, parking and pedestrian improvements
to sustain the area's future vigor and growth.
Like many of the city's older industrial areas,
manufacturing zoning in the Hostos area may no
longer be keeping pace with the decline in industrial
jobs over the last 30 years.
This
report assesses existing conditions and emerging
trends, and it offers an integrated plan for resolving
land use conflicts, facilitating new development
and enhancing the character of the area. Recommendations
call for rezonings where suitable to encourage
future commercial, institutional and residential
development along the Grand Concourse and East
149th Street as well as to preserve existing residential
uses along Walton Avenue. Site-specific land use
recommendations address the area's parking and
recreational needs, and street and sidewalk enhancements
are proposed to improve traffic and pedestrian
flow.
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