Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I would say car-obsessed isn't limited to the South. I think this is a problem most cities face. As a native of the Midwest, I'm a big fan of good downtown design. Cities like Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Kalamazoo, Chicago suburbs, etc. are all investing a lot of money to increase walkability. But as with Greenville, are plagued by the American car-crazy culture. I like the idea of more pedestrian malls or walkability in general, but I'm not sure that it'll work here.
Does anyone have experience with Hickory, NC? I've only briefly visited the brewery, but I recall that part of downtown being extremely pedestrian friendly. If it can work in Hickory, it could work here.
I recently visited Europe and was blown away by how good the non-driving infrastructure is set up. You can get anywhere without a car. I haven't experienced anything like it here in the USA.
Thank you, AshSchaef, for providing a balanced answer to the pedestrian mall suggestion. While we’ve seen many examples of successful pedestrian malls, as a few have stated here: there are many examples of failure. If my dream of Greenville building one were to come true, I wouldn’t want the city half-assing it — either we make he investment or we don’t. As we both seem to have seen cities with mature ‘non-driving infrastructure’, we both seem to understand that the car-culture across this nation isn’t great. As I’ve said before, I feel Greenville, due to its small size, is in a fortunate position in regards to being less car-dependent for its not that large and therefore correcting the problem doesn’t require too much.
I do question rather I am too ambitious — maybe I am. But I don’t feel it’s bad to be a dreamer and have our community, as a whole, dream to be better.
Thank you, AshSchaef, for providing a balanced answer to the pedestrian mall suggestion. While we’ve seen many examples of successful pedestrian malls, as a few have stated here: there are many examples of failure. If my dream of Greenville building one were to come true, I wouldn’t want the city half-assing it — either we make he investment or we don’t. As we both seem to have seen cities with mature ‘non-driving infrastructure’, we both seem to understand that the car-culture across this nation isn’t great. As I’ve said before, I feel Greenville, due to its small size, is in a fortunate position in regards to being less car-dependent for its not that large and therefore correcting the problem doesn’t require too much.
I do question rather I am too ambitious — maybe I am. But I don’t feel it’s bad to be a dreamer and have our community, as a whole, dream to be better.
Anyone interested in making downtown Greenville more pedestrian friendly should be on board for removing the parking lot at 5 Points and replacing it with a pocket park. As well add another parking deck on the periphery (like corner of Reade and Dickinson). Where you have parking is where people will drive to. Then they will park and walk from there. Having a parking lot in the middle of where you want to walk is counteractive to that goal.
Carmax Auto Superstore just received their building permit for a 2.8 Million dollar new commercial/business at 601 Whitley Drive behind Starbucks/Chipotle across from PCC. Maybe construction will finally begin.
Anyone interested in making downtown Greenville more pedestrian friendly should be on board for removing the parking lot at 5 Points and replacing it with a pocket park. As well add another parking deck on the periphery (like corner of Reade and Dickinson). Where you have parking is where people will drive to. Then they will park and walk from there. Having a parking lot in the middle of where you want to walk is counteractive to that goal.
HP91, I appreciate your input on removing the parking lot on 5 Points and it’s replacement with a ‘pocket park.’ Aside from constructing the parking deck, I’ve also thought of how it should be closed and made way for a park and market combination therefore I’m glad to see someone else thinking as I do. With the theater opening nearby, it would be wonderful to have a pocket park nearby. As I will be having a call with the leaders of Uptown Greenville soon, as well as meeting with the Mayor and some local business people, I will communicate such an idea to them to see the feasibility of it.
On another note, I also appreciate that you’re also on board with making Uptown more pedestrian friendly. Successful cities, while they have cars, are vibrant in part because of their walking culture. Yesterday, while in Philadelphia, I observed people walking in and out of shops, sitting down in parks, and just enjoying the scenery of the city. Greenville has a long way to go, but with our willing partners, our Uptown area can grow into an area that is just as pedestrian friendly as Philadelphia, Raleigh, or Greenville, SC, we just have to work at it.
If anyone has a Facebook page, I do hope you will ‘Like’ the page I’ve set up and will offer commentary on the proposals. Counter to the beliefs of some here, I am open to hearing everyone out, but I don’t want to hear why Greenville cannot be a better place.
The state has finally taken action to prevent left turns and cross overs on Arlington near Firetower in between the Bojangles and the Walmart Neighborhood Market by erecting a series of poles to restrict access. That specific spot has been a danger zone since all the new stores opened behind the CVS. It's dumb enough to try a left there, down right insane to try to cross over...
Anyone interested in making downtown Greenville more pedestrian friendly should be on board for removing the parking lot at 5 Points and replacing it with a pocket park. As well add another parking deck on the periphery (like corner of Reade and Dickinson). Where you have parking is where people will drive to. Then they will park and walk from there. Having a parking lot in the middle of where you want to walk is counteractive to that goal.
I was down there on Saturday (game day) and that lot was FULL from morning until the game started. It was a Saturday, so offices were closed, and the library was closed for the holiday weekend. So the cars were not for any of those.
When people actually do want to go downtown and patronize businesses where do you expect them to park?
I was down there on Saturday (game day) and that lot was FULL from morning until the game started. It was a Saturday, so offices were closed, and the library was closed for the holiday weekend. So the cars were not for any of those.
When people actually do want to go downtown and patronize businesses where do you expect them to park?
The city and developers are seeming to be going the direction of the parking garage, and based on what HP91 said: they would also like the city to build a parking garage to accommodate the lot it would replace. If one were to look at a satellite view of Greenville, one would see just how many parking lots Uptown has — they need to be filled with other things such as HP91 suggestion of pocket-parks, or additional mixed-use properties. Hell, in the vicinity of the stadium I encourage ECU to construct a few parking garages and to better integrate GREAT and the ECU shuttle to accommodate gameday spectators.
They were planning to narrow Reade circle from four to two lanes and add side parking.
This wouldn't be so bad to the east of Evans but west of Evans it would be a nightmare. Lots of north-south traffic uses that to connect to Greene and Pitt streets.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
