7 Eleven at Pierce and Alameda

Construction is well underway on the new convenience store and gas station at S. Pierce and Alameda, and it will be a 7 Eleven, as I previously reported.

This will be only the second fueling station in downtown Lakewood (the other is at 5th and Wadsworth, across from the new Sprouts Market), and I think it'll be a welcome addition to the area. And while I'm sorry to see Alameda Burrito go, the old gas station on this site was an eyesore.

I'm particularly pleased with the footprint of the new building. Instead of sitting back from Alameda, the new building fronts the corner in a very visible manner. 

Large setbacks (as existed with the old gas station on this corner) are a characteristic or suburban or even rural street design. They're bad design in an urban setting, as they waste space and discourage pedestrian traffic by channeling people into an unsafe corridor between street and parking lot. 

The new building's position right on the corner will make S. Pierce feel safer for pedestrians to cross by giving the corner physical definition. This same definition will add to the streetscape, weaving the corner better into the more urban design fabric across the street in Belmar. At the same time, its height is much lower than anything in Belmar, serving as a transition into the lower density neighborhoods to the east and north.

So yes, it's only a gas station, but the design and location of it shows the behind the scenes zoning work that has been going on here in Lakewood to make the Alameda and Wadsworth area into a true urban space.