Many years ago Lex Alexander was kind enough to point out that my reference to downtown GSO's y-axis really indicated its x-axis, thus putting himself on the list with Mrs. Collins and Mr. Gilbert of people who tried to teach me geometry. Still, the basic point stands that downtown is more than Elm Sreet. 

Anyway, I doubt we'll see anything this dramatic anytime soon in terms of infill between UNCG and center city, but surely we could make Spring Garden a more appealing pedestrian/bike route (and maybe spark some business development in the process). Not sure what can be done to reattach McGee, the severance of which by urban highways is a minor tragedy; Lee Street is a whole nother problem.

Comments

[Fec]

At least put some flowers in front of Don Vaughan's office on Friendly. Of course, on State Street we buy our own flowers.

[Ed Cone]

But are they in baskets? That makes all the difference.

Recently I was pondering uses for the long-dead Eckerd building, which should be a great front door to State Street instead of a sad reminder of the drug-chain wars, recession, and GSO's inability to repurpose existing commercial space.

[tim]

Honestly I think the "dramatic" infill is doable for a city our size. the university district concept is still much smaller than similar projects built by other cities. Do we want to do something bold or continue to hang baskets?

[tim]

I do think it's a good idea for us to start figuring out now how we are going expand this university district if this idea really takes off. In fact, communities that have done this told us we need to plan ahead for future expansion. It seems that city leaders are serious about creating a university district.

[Fec]

There are big dumpsters parked behind the two derelict properties beside Ghassan's on Cornwallis. And the trees beside St. Pius never lost their leaves this year, meaning they are dead.

[Ed Cone]

Amazing to me that the former restaurant by Ghassan's has stood empty for so long. Derelict is no exaggeration.

[Hartzman]

"the long-dead Eckerd building"

Line the walls with small food vendors and the middle with tables and chairs for all.

Make it into an indoor food truck rodeo with a common area.

[Roch]

Yes, an indoor food truck and carbon monoxide emporium sounds great to me.

[Mick]

The indoor generator music would be swell too.

[Ed Cone]

I think George is trying to suggest in his hard-to-decipher way an indoor analogue to a food truck rodeo, with vendor stalls instead of trucks -- kind of like a farmer's market -- not actually bringing trucks inside.

Which would not be a terrible idea, if prepared foods for carry-out were part of the deal. Or, just a regular restaurant might work, too.

[Ginia Zenke]

Wow. About time.
Of course, being located where we are, we always thought Washington St., w/ Blandwood to the west and the Depot to the east, with the Carolina Theatre and Elm in the middle made a very interesting architectural corridor/axis. We might be too small, but wouldn't it be interesting to put up a school of Architecture right in front of Blandwood that was designed by one of America's foremost architects, Alexander Jackson Davis?
May we suggest also, that instead of just having a school of architecture that would work w/ UNC-G's interior design department, that the land between the RR and Lee St could also be used for a school of Applied Arts, to expose students from handcrafted to computer generated/manufacturing? Get these three elements working together and we might get more interesting buildings and living/work areas. For too long the building arts have been reduced to 3 materials:: concrete, glass & steel. Having the applied arts in the mix would expand the vocabulary to include all kinds of metal work, wood, artistic glass, textiles, ceramics, industrial and community design and handcrafted methods taught for all of those crafts. It would also make this school unique amidst the offerings in Raleigh and Charlotte.

[tim]

btw, the mayor loved the university district concept drawings. He is passing them along to a few top people involved in the project.

[Roch]

I applaud the mayor for sharing his thoughts so openly and personally.

[tim]

Ginia, your idea about the school of Applied Arts is great. I love it. The school could go in one of the nearby buildings in the drawings. As the drawings indicate, the focus on that part of the district could be education, arts and architecture. I think its about time that area between Spring Garden St and Lee St gets cleaned up. Its the southern gateway into our downtown so its a good idea to have a long range plan there.

[Roch]

I remember when I was eight, I sat on the beach with my cousin and we built in the sand a model of our perfect dog kennel.