♦ Recently The New York Times had a small editorial on Ronkonkoma’s downtown and train station. Below is the piece “Rethinking Ronkonkoma” followed by Sustainable Long Island’s response/letter to the editor.
Original article:
From high atop the five-story parking garage at Ronkonkoma’s Long Island Rail Road station, you can look far out at … not much. There is an ocean of parked cars, gravel lots, auto-repair places, a gym and scatterings of corrugated sheet-metal boxes, the all-purpose architectural style in that part of Long Island.
The view all but screams “missed potential” and “poor planning,” and it is one that the Brookhaven town supervisor, Mark Lesko, wants to change. He is pushing a plan to redevelop 50 acres around the station with shops, homes, offices, public art and a convention center. He wants to turn an unlovely place into a cool destination.
In theory it should work. Ronkonkoma (stress on the KONK, not the KOMA), is in the middle of everything. It has the busiest station on the L.I.R.R. and abuts a regional airport, MacArthur, and a major freeway. It is minutes from a large state research university and hospital in Stony Brook, and about an hour by express train from Manhattan. It has an active civic organization, and Mr. Lesko believes he has “buy-in” from the community.
Too often dreams like Mr. Lesko’s die on Long Island, whose residents block so-called smart growth projects, fearing high-density construction and too many of the “wrong” kind of people. Infrastructure deficiencies — no sewers — are also a problem. Mr. Lesko is betting that the innovative use of “form-based” zoning, which stresses appearance and scale in a landscape over the usual land-use rules, will win over doubters. He is also counting on his community’s weariness with ugliness.
Resistance to change, and tolerance of stagnation, have trapped many old suburbs in a downward cycle. Here’s hoping Mr. Lesko can break it.
Sustainable Long Island’s Response:
The 50 acres surrounding the Ronkonkoma Long Island Rail Road station are just a few dozen of literally thousands of acres across Long Island that sits idle waiting to be redeveloped into a “destination location.”
By constructing residential apartment units, high-quality restaurants, and varied retail stores within walking distance of Long Island Rail Road stations, Long Island’s downtown business districts will become invigorated and major issues, like the downward suburban spiral highlighted by the exodus of young adults, may finally find its solution.
What’s needed to turn areas, like the Ronkonkoma train station, into prime examples of positive change is determination by the community, support by local government, and the necessary infrastructure to support it.
Along with Mr. Lesko and Town officials across Long Island, we need to embrace transit-oriented developments which will provide the opportunity for residents to walk to-and-from businesses, schools, and local transportation hubs within their community.
