On April 13 Derf and I took a trip to the Shoppes of Farmington Valley. We went up I-84, got off Exit 33 took 72 west to Rt 44 turned right and we were there. The first thing that struck me was fence surrounding the entire perimeter of the shopping center. The fence must have been at least 6 feet high. There were small trees and shrubs planted in front of the fencing that will eventually grow in but the fence to us made the Shoppes seem uninviting.

Maybe they were trying to make the shopping center feel “separate” from the rest of the commercial development in the area I don’t know. In fact the only way I knew I had arrived was that I saw the “steeples (or clock towers) that I remembered from the W/S Development website photo. We turned right and noticed that there was at least three lanes in front of the center. Actually there were four lanes right at the traffic light. one dedicated right turn lane into the shoppes, two center traffic lanes and one dedicated lane to turn left. This was the case on both sides of the road. It seemed to handle the traffic. Once we turned into the shoppes we noticed traffic flowing north south east and west. One has to travel very slowly the signage is not very good. There is good visibility there but there has to be because it seems traffic is coming from all over. We turned right and found the “main street”. This is the street one sees in the photo on the W/S website. We saw the Barnes and Noble Bookstore on the corner, the Old Navy store, Talbots, Sur La Table (on the table), Claires, a few children’s clothing shops, etc. The one thing that bothered me as a driver being unfamiliar with the layout was the head-in parking on both sides of the street. One has to look out for people backing, look out for people crossing the street while trying to find a parking space at the same time. We finally did find a small parking lot off to the side kitty-corner from the “main street” that had regular parking, so we parked there because there did not seem to be enough parking. The crossing areas were well marked with signs telling people that pedestrials did have the right of way. Everyone that day did yield to the pedestrians but I did not feel comfortable crossing the “street.” We walked around the entire area and one thing noticeable was that there did not seem to be any employee parking. It seems they had to park where everyone else parked which was mostly head-in. It was nice and clean and neat–they did have a nice Barnes and Nobles a nice Panera which is a restaurant and a nice Kohls. There were not a lot of stores, less than 30 . They had a Shaws but that was separate from the rest of the Shoppes which had their own parking lot which was also a regular lot not head in parking. The Shoppes in itself was not objectionable, but we were looking for more. There was a Talbots, Coldwater Creek, and a Baskin Robbins. Near the main entrance also separate from the “main street” was a Cingular Wireless, a Lenscrafters, a video store, but it was not the same facade as the stores on the main street. It wasn’t as nice or fancy looking. As we walked around- it was 2::30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, the weather was not that great and I really did not see that many people, walking or even in the stores. As far as a lifestyle, I honestly did not see a lot of grassy areas, just little strips by the parking areas near the stores. We wished there were more natural areas which seemed to be lacking. They did have small trees planted near the street where one comes in and out of the stores and a few restaurants that had picnic tables or outdoor cafe tables, but I did not see large grassy areas or a gazebo or anything that would warrant a “parklike” atmosphere. I noticed down the end of one of the “streets” across from the Baskin Robbins there was a steep gulley with a small stream running through it. It was fenced off, and they had trap rock covering each side of the slope to prevent runoff. The Shoppes were kept nice, the grounds were nice, but like my husband said, it seemed “artificial” like a “set.” It was almost like when we used to take trips to Flemington, New Jersey to go to the outlet shops. They made it look like an old time village. But it wasn’t a place you would go to all the time. One would still have to go to the Mall or up and down Rt 44 to do other shopping. I am going to contact The Shoppes to see if I can get permission to film what it was like to go there and drive through there. Although I did not see any security, I do think they were situated in those “towers” or they had cameras there. The “towers” seemed to have one way glass on all four sides and there were several of them, which makes me believe that is where the security cameras were. I believe in my heart after living in Cheshire nearly 25 years, that Cheshire needs to take small steps. This is too big of a step for this town, which strongly values it image and its privacy. When you have commercial development on this scale you have “issues.” And Cheshire is not used to this. Cheshire cannot be what it is not. They are not used to a lot of people descending on the town in one area at one time. They need to take “baby steps.” That is why I am still advocating fixing up West Main Street, fixing up the old Ball and Socket Factory, maybe putting some shops in there, opening that lock trail that goes by the Lyon and Billard lumberyard, and possibly integrating this with the Watch Factory Shoppes which is an unpolished gem. Cheshire is a town that want to be quiet. So I don’t understand this step at this time. When I was in school at Kansas State University, I took a job running a newspaper in a small town of 1600 people. Now I was from a big city, Bridgeport, and used to being near everything. Used to commercial development, used to crime, used to mixed use. I remember a friend saying to me that I would never make it in that small town. She told me if you were not born into that you could never adapt. She was right. I did not last six months. Cheshire: see what you are, don’t try be what you are not. Take small steps. When a person decides to quit smoking, in order to be successful, one does not go cold turkey. One puts on a nicotine patch to reduce the dose of nicotine a step at a time. Cheshire needs to do the same thing–one small step at a time.

On April 13 Derf and I took a trip to the Shoppes of Farmington Valley. We went up I-84, got off Exit 33 took 72 west to Rt 44 turned right and we were there. The first thing that struck me was fence surrounding the entire perimeter of the shopping center. The fence must have been at least 6 feet high. There were small trees and shrubs planted in front of the fencing that will eventually grow in but the fence to us made the Shoppes seem uninviting.

Maybe they were trying to make the shopping center feel “separate” from the rest of the commercial development in the area I don’t know. In fact the only way I knew I had arrived was that I saw the “steeples (or clock towers) that I remembered from the W/S Development website photo. We turned right and noticed that there was at least three lanes in front of the center. Actually there were four lanes right at the traffic light. one dedicated right turn lane into the shoppes, two center traffic lanes and one dedicated lane to turn left. This was the case on both sides of the road. It seemed to handle the traffic. Once we turned into the shoppes we noticed traffic flowing north south east and west. One has to travel very slowly the signage is not very good. There is good visibility there but there has to be because it seems traffic is coming from all over. We turned right and found the “main street”. This is the street one sees in the photo on the W/S website. We saw the Barnes and Noble Bookstore on the corner, the Old Navy store, Talbots, Sur La Table (on the table), Claires, a few children’s clothing shops, etc. The one thing that bothered me as a driver being unfamiliar with the layout was the head-in parking on both sides of the street. One has to look out for people backing, look out for people crossing the street while trying to find a parking space at the same time. We finally did find a small parking lot off to the side kitty-corner from the “main street” that had regular parking, so we parked there because there did not seem to be enough parking. The crossing areas were well marked with signs telling people that pedestrials did have the right of way. Everyone that day did yield to the pedestrians but I did not feel comfortable crossing the “street.” We walked around the entire area and one thing noticeable was that there did not seem to be any employee parking. It seems they had to park where everyone else parked which was mostly head-in. It was nice and clean and neat–they did have a nice Barnes and Nobles a nice Panera which is a restaurant and a nice Kohls. There were not a lot of stores, less than 30 . They had a Shaws but that was separate from the rest of the Shoppes which had their own parking lot which was also a regular lot not head in parking. The Shoppes in itself was not objectionable, but we were looking for more. There was a Talbots, Coldwater Creek, and a Baskin Robbins. Near the main entrance also separate from the “main street” was a Cingular Wireless, a Lenscrafters, a video store, but it was not the same facade as the stores on the main street. It wasn’t as nice or fancy looking. As we walked around- it was 2::30 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, the weather was not that great and I really did not see that many people, walking or even in the stores. As far as a lifestyle, I honestly did not see a lot of grassy areas, just little strips by the parking areas near the stores. We wished there were more natural areas which seemed to be lacking. They did have small trees planted near the street where one comes in and out of the stores and a few restaurants that had picnic tables or outdoor cafe tables, but I did not see large grassy areas or a gazebo or anything that would warrant a “parklike” atmosphere. I noticed down the end of one of the “streets” across from the Baskin Robbins there was a steep gulley with a small stream running through it. It was fenced off, and they had trap rock covering each side of the slope to prevent runoff. The Shoppes were kept nice, the grounds were nice, but like my husband said, it seemed “artificial” like a “set.” It was almost like when we used to take trips to Flemington, New Jersey to go to the outlet shops. They made it look like an old time village. But it wasn’t a place you would go to all the time. One would still have to go to the Mall or up and down Rt 44 to do other shopping. I am going to contact The Shoppes to see if I can get permission to film what it was like to go there and drive through there. Although I did not see any security, I do think they were situated in those “towers” or they had cameras there. The “towers” seemed to have one way glass on all four sides and there were several of them, which makes me believe that is where the security cameras were. I believe in my heart after living in Cheshire nearly 25 years, that Cheshire needs to take small steps. This is too big of a step for this town, which strongly values it image and its privacy. When you have commercial development on this scale you have “issues.” And Cheshire is not used to this. Cheshire cannot be what it is not. They are not used to a lot of people descending on the town in one area at one time. They need to take “baby steps.” That is why I am still advocating fixing up West Main Street, fixing up the old Ball and Socket Factory, maybe putting some shops in there, opening that lock trail that goes by the Lyon and Billard lumberyard, and possibly integrating this with the Watch Factory Shoppes which is an unpolished gem. Cheshire is a town that want to be quiet. So I don’t understand this step at this time. When I was in school at Kansas State University, I took a job running a newspaper in a small town of 1600 people. Now I was from a big city, Bridgeport, and used to being near everything. Used to commercial development, used to crime, used to mixed use. I remember a friend saying to me that I would never make it in that small town. She told me if you were not born into that you could never adapt. She was right. I did not last six months. Cheshire: see what you are, don’t try be what you are not. Take small steps. When a person decides to quit smoking, in order to be successful, one does not go cold turkey. One puts on a nicotine patch to reduce the dose of nicotine a step at a time. Cheshire needs to do the same thing–one small step at a time.