Later today I hope to write a few things about last night's presentation by Jeff Speck, but for now I'll just put up an open thread.In other news, there's a good write-up in the QCTimes about the HAPPEN program. Hopefully as houses are successfully renovated, more people will see this great program and take advantage of it.
12 comments:
Must be some soggy cornflakes in your bowl after Speck's comments about moving the Farmers Market from the Freight House to the center of town.
Must be some soggy cornflakes in your bowl after Speck's comments about moving the Farmers Market from the Freight House to the center of town.
Nice double post... twice as pointless.
Was that such a revolutionary concept?!? Having lived in Des Moines I can tell you that residential next to the stadium would be a win-win. The Brown Camp Lofts (owner-occupied, not rentals) next to Sec Taylor Stadium (Principal Park, sorry) filled up almost before the project was finished. Why? Because it's friggin' cool, that's why! Do you know what people pay to sit on a Wrigleyville rooftop on game day?!? On average at least 3x what a seat inside the park will cost you.
FWIW, I think an evening Wednesday market on 2nd St. makes a LOT more sense. Grab a drink after work, go buy your fresh local produce, and bike home. Nice.
Just like the gruppies, expecting fresh produce delivered to their bar table.
WTF is a gruppie? Is that part groupie, part guppie?
But what is the 'center' of a town? I don't think geographically the mall is any closer than the Freight House. The traffic patterns do suck when it comes to trying to hold any type of street fair downtown. Good luck changes that with two US routes running thru downtown.
Changing the 1-ways back to 2-ways downtown isn't difficult at all, including the portions on Brady and Harrison.
Unlike River Drive, the City has long been able to do what it pleases in the center of downtown to those roads. They're closed regularly for festivals at their own will, as well as painted and maintained.
Switching back to 2-ways, with a well-planned use of lane sizes or addtional mid-road streetscaping would slow down traffic, look nicer, be safer, and increase traffic to retail. It's a no brainer. The 1-ways were only created decades ago when the City was busing figuring how to get people OUT of downtown when it hit rock bottom. Those days are gone, and the 1-ways should be too.
Despite what the QCT said, he did't say to move the market to the center of town. He said to move it to the center of downtown.
I was also dissapointed to see the Times forget to clarify the "Down" portion of downtown in reference to the Farmer's Market.
I think that many people, like myself, enjoy the location of the Farmer's Market and its proximity to the River. I think that its in its rightful place. I'd like to see a Frieght House Market similar to the Reids near the downtown light rail line in Charlotte, NC. Bakery, restaurant, wine bar, and affordable and high end grocery items. Locally grown produce, meat and cheese. Efficient use of space with a wide variety of items. Outside seating to eat or to wait for the train-very nice. The large Children's Museum is across the street/rail and the public library is on the opposite corner of the block.
Everyone knew Speck was talking about downtown. The idea that he would abandon the Freight House shows how out of touch Speck is. The City has invested tons of time and money in this location and it attracks more people then 2nd Street does. People should accept the idea that the plan for an elite Davenport One downtown is dead. Just walk into to the Figge and look around, then go across the street to Starbucks. There are no people. What Speck is suggesting is moving the Farmers Market in attempt to inflate the numbers. This is what consultants do. Inflate the idea that nobady comes downtown. Remember how many more people the current plan was supposed to bring downtown. Time to put Barney & Russell Co.where they belong.
His point was that 2nd Street is the most vibrant area of downtown. That's true. Rather than putting the market on the edge, which creates its own vibrant area twice a week, he thought it made sense to put good things together.
Personally, I disagree with moving the Farmer's Market, as I think the Freight House setting and river view are what makes it truly unique. As I'll explain when I eventually write a post about this, I doubt anyone agrees with EVERYTHING Jeff suggested, but everyone probably liked at least some of his ideas.
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