Affordable places for people to live

I think Steinway desperately needs to be revitalized. I live, walk, and do all my shopping in Astoria. Many of the commercial spaces on Steinway are enormous, big footprint stores from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. They don't work for retail in 2020 anymore and they sit vacant. They need to be remodeled. Some of the current stores don't fit the character of the neighborhood. As others have pointed out there is a hardware store and urgent care close by and we don't really need others in the immediate area. However, I don't agree that every big box or chain retail store will cause a fundamental shift in the neighborhood. A couple of chain retail stores may be needed. In my humble opinion we could use a Trader Joe's or something similar. Do we need 10 chain retail places? No, because that would fundamentally alter the landscape. I believe that you could add one or two places that would improve the quality of life for Astorians, but it's about balance and making sure current residents don't get priced out of the neighborhood due to the new amenities.