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They are the ones you need to get to come downtown. Many of them have money to spend. The locals are already there thus a bit of a captive market. I want them rich, suburbanites coming downtown for other then Soda City and the Greek Festival or just lunch for those that work there. Speaking of the Greek Festival, getting close to getting our Opa on.
When is the Greek Festival? We seem to have missed the last couple of years due to other plans.
It's a cultural change. People are not used to Columbia having the challenges that most cities experience. Since we love making comparisons, let's think about parking in Charleston. Given that the city is incredibly dense, most people probably expect to having difficulty finding street parking and therefore are more inclined to pay to park in a garage to avoid the headache.
Columbia, on the other hand, at least visibly has plenty of surface parking, giving the allusion that it the city should not have the same parking issues. Of course much of this parking is reserved for certain buildings or for the state, but most people will not take that caveat into account when thinking of the CBD. The attitude will start to change when development swallows these lots and downtown starts to resemble other cities at the ground level.
Yep you hit the nail on the head.. People often apply the suburban mindset to an urban environment. In an urban environment one expects to park and walk to your destination thus causing foot traffic throughout the area and the opportunity for businesses to snag additional customers.. This "park once" philosophy is what gave rise to shopping malls.. where people likely park and walk much greater distances than what they do in most urban cores. ... I have mused before how many natives are afraid of parking garages and/or expect to park right in front of their destination. If you think about it.. not even in the suburbs can someone be guaranteed to park right in front of the store they want to go in. Even if they do.. it will likely still be 20 to 50 yards of parking lot that needs to be crossed before they arrive at the door.
The X factors in all of this the cost of parking.. which is generally free in the suburbs versus a fee in the urban core. And, unfortunately, the homeless and people's perception of crime.. which makes them less likely to want to walk anywhere unless there are in fact more people around with similar interest. Owners of shopping malls can restrict loitering in their parking lots and hire security or police to move people along. Technically one cannot say you cant stand on a public street.. though "loitering" ordinances vary from city to city. Therefore; you are more likely to run the gauntlet among homeless individuals in an urban center than in a suburban mall... I only reference the homeless in this instance since there is an article in The State which shows how it could be a challenge to perceptions
Yep you hit the nail on the head.. People often apply the suburban mindset to an urban environment. In an urban environment one expects to park and walk to your destination thus causing foot traffic throughout the area and the opportunity for businesses to snag additional customers.. This "park once" philosophy is what gave rise to shopping malls.. where people likely park and walk much greater distances than what they do in most urban cores. ... I have mused before how many natives are afraid of parking garages and/or expect to park right in front of their destination. If you think about it.. not even in the suburbs can someone be guaranteed to park right in front of the store they want to go in. Even if they do.. it will likely still be 20 to 50 yards of parking lot that needs to be crossed before they arrive at the door.
The X factors in all of this the cost of parking.. which is generally free in the suburbs versus a fee in the urban core. And, unfortunately, the homeless and people's perception of crime.. which makes them less likely to want to walk anywhere unless there are in fact more people around with similar interest. Owners of shopping malls can restrict loitering in their parking lots and hire security or police to move people along. Technically one cannot say you cant stand on a public street.. though "loitering" ordinances vary from city to city. Therefore; you are more likely to run the gauntlet among homeless individuals in an urban center than in a suburban mall... I only reference the homeless in this instance since there is an article in The State which shows how it could be a challenge to perceptions
I took two separate trips to Main Street on Saturday and Sunday- I parked in a garage the first time and directly on Main the second time. I can now somewhat understand the irritation of parking in garages, at least the Lady Street garage. Public parking starts on the fourth floor, meaning drivers have to spend several minutes navigating sharp turns just to get up to the open section.
While I think many of us would call this reasonable, it's a slight obstacle to those seeking to quickly get in and out of downtown. The key in my mind is enticing people to stay around Main Street longer by providing a variety of activities and uses within a very short distance (no more than three blocks). The city is certainly getting to that point, but is not quite there yet. That said, I was shocked by how packed Sunday Brunch Farmer's Market was! The city has really transformed itself.
I took two separate trips to Main Street on Saturday and Sunday- I parked in a garage the first time and directly on Main the second time. I can now somewhat understand the irritation of parking in garages, at least the Lady Street garage. Public parking starts on the fourth floor, meaning drivers have to spend several minutes navigating sharp turns just to get up to the open section.
While I think many of us would call this reasonable, it's a slight obstacle to those seeking to quickly get in and out of downtown. The key in my mind is enticing people to stay around Main Street longer by providing a variety of activities and uses within a very short distance (no more than three blocks). The city is certainly getting to that point, but is not quite there yet. That said, I was shocked by how packed Sunday Brunch Farmer's Market was! The city has really transformed itself.
It was probably packed because of the solar eclipse weekend remember?
Downtown in general was packed i was shuttling a lot of people around Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday and Monday the day of the eclipse. Lots of out of Towner.
It was probably packed because of the solar eclipse weekend remember?
Downtown in general was packed i was shuttling a lot of people around Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday and Monday the day of the eclipse. Lots of out of Towner.
I'm sure eclipse foot traffic was part of it, but it looked to be mainly locals participating in the farmer's market.
What are your thoughts on the trees along Main Street? On the one hand, I like them.. they provide shade and add a nice feel to Main Street. On the other hand.. they block some of the nice architecture of the buildings and take away from some of the urban streetscape.. not to mention are probably a maintenance nightmare. I think most of these trees are ancient and thus wont be mucked with unless they die. If they were to be planted today.. they would likely be a smaller form of street tree.
In your second photo.. there is a multi seat ATV parked in the median. I have seen in some cities where longer multi passenger versions of these shuttle people around to various locations. They are used in lieu of a trolley or more traditional shuttle and people tend to like the open feel of them. Maybe something for the City to consider in terms of getting people to and from Parking Garages.
What are your thoughts on the trees along Main Street? On the one hand, I like them.. they provide shade and add a nice feel to Main Street. On the other hand.. they block some of the nice architecture of the buildings and take away from some of the urban streetscape.. not to mention are probably a maintenance nightmare. I think most of these trees are ancient and thus wont be mucked with unless they die. If they were to be planted today.. they would likely be a smaller form of street tree.
In your second photo.. there is a multi seat ATV parked in the median. I have seen in some cities where longer multi passenger versions of these shuttle people around to various locations. They are used in lieu of a trolley or more traditional shuttle and people tend to like the open feel of them. Maybe something for the City to consider in terms of getting people to and from Parking Garages.
I would always rather have more shade than not, especially in a city as hot and humid as Columbia. They do block the architecture to a degree, but that said, seeing all the way down the street might make it feel a bit windswept. The restricted view gives it a more approachable vibe.
IBM created a people mover in an area of DC (MD technically) called National Harbor. The minibus is called Olli (https://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/p...ease/49957.wss) and it's both driverless and interactive. Olli uses natural language response via Watson (like a high tech version of Siri) to have conversations with passengers. IBM probably gave it to National Harbor for free as a marketing tool. It would be very cool to swing that, or if not, the one you attached above.
Glad they made the right decision on this one. Maybe they actually learned something from the time they sold out all 5 points, Vista, and Main St. business owners when they funded the boondoggle at Bull St.
Quote:
The Five Points franchise owner’s bid to set up a food cart selling chicken sandwiches, waffle fries, cookies and drinks was shut down by City Council on Tuesday night after hearing lengthy comments from community members.
“Chick-fil-A wants to capitalize on the favorable environment that we have all fostered,” said Matthew Bridges, referring to investments made by business and property owners in the Main Street district. He is the co-owner of Main Street’s Drake’s Duck-In restaurant, which, coincidentally, is well-known for its chicken sandwiches.
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