Economy & Downtown
Chapel Hill's downtown has long benefited from its proximity to a captive audience of University students without cars. While downtowns around the country have been failing, ours has survived fairly well. However, we have seen an increase in the number of chain stores locating downtown, and instability in the Downtown Economic Development Corporation. In the near future, we will see new Town-directed development on two major parking lots have a big impact.
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Carrboro's downtown has also done better than many towns of comparable size, thanks largely to the presence of Weaver Street Market and progressive shoppers from the rest of the county. The Board of Aldermen has been addressing the evolution of the downtown, and have established a number of community resources in the downtown area including free wireless Internet access, and a low-power radio station.
A guest column by Michelle Lewis was published in the Chapel hill Herald today promoting the merger of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, a position that I have advocated for many years. But this column articulated that position particularly well.
I am including a pointer to the column but one needs to be registered with the Herald Web Site to read it. I have e-mailed Ms. Lewis to get her permission to post the full text in this entry.
http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/columnists/guests_ch/110-1028506.cfm?
In today's economic climate a merger makes more sense than ever.
Receuved via e-mail:
"Why Stories Matter: An evening of performance and discussion about development and gentrification in Chapel Hill-Carrboro."
>
> Tuesday, Nov 11
> 8:00 PM
> Bingham 103
Join us as we watch sections of a promotional DVD put together by Greenbridge developers during their plans to build ten story building adjacent to Northside. We will watch the film in sections, with group discussion and performances by Spoken Word artists and others in between.
-Come out and learn how Chapel Hill and the University are caught up in the globalizing force of development, and the discourse that produces certain understandings of progress and progressive.
-Come out and see the amazing power of performance as an intervention in oppressive discourses and practices.
-Come out and help us think about how the stories we tell about ourselves and others have material and real impacts on humans and communities, how contested definitions of sustainability and community come out of different histories.
Greenbridge is a $50 million mixed-use project going up on the Graham, Rosemary and Merritt Mill Road block of Chapel Hill, bordering the Northside neighborhood, one of the few historically African-American communities in Chapel Hill. The building will be 10 stories high, more than three times as tall as any surrounding building. As the group started working on their application for a Special Use Permit from the Town Council for their project, they produced a "documentary" of the history of the community, weaving stories of elderly residents in the area and their vision of "sustainability" in the LEED certified building.
Northside, one of Chapel Hill's most historic neighborhoods, has been a community of African American families for more than a hundred years. It was an active site of Civil Rights activism, a pioneer in public education for African-Americans in the South, and a place known for vital church communities. In the 90s there was a community push to clean up the neighborhood, which also made it more lucrative for development. Now student renters and bigger developments like Greenbridge threaten to price out people on fixed income, long-term residents and keep out families from moving to the area.
Date:
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 - 2:00pm
One of downtown Carrboro's new development sites is for sale, putting the project on hold for the time-being. Read more in today's
Citizen:
Roberson Square site on the market. Do you think more slow-downs and cancellations will occur?
VIa e-mail:
The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership is holding a public forum to gather input from the community on the downtown Chapel Hill parking study. Parking has been identified by downtown business and property owners, residents and visitors as one of the top five issues affecting downtown.
The forum will be held at University Presbyterian Church on Thursday, October 30 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. The church entrance is located at 110 Henderson Street. Parking is available in the Wallace Parking Deck on Rosemary Street. For bus routes and schedules please visit www.townofchapelhill.org/index.asp?NID=397.
The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership hired the parking consulting firm of Rich & Associates to conduct the study. The study includes a current assessment of parking, an analysis of parking supply and demand, as well as parking promotions, management, policies and maintenance. The study makes recommendations on how to improve parking in the downtown.
To view the Parking Study Findings and Recommendations please click here.
To view the detailed Parking Study Recommendations please click here.
This information is also available at the Downtown Partnership's office located at 308 West Rosemary Street, Suite 202. To receive a copy by mail or email please contact the Downtown Partnership at 967-9440 or partnership@downtownchapelhill.com.
If you are unable to attend the forum but would like to make comments please contact the Downtown Partnership at 967-9440 or partnership@downtownchapelhill.com.
Date:
Thursday, October 30, 2008 - 1:30pm to 3:00pm
Location:
University Presbyterian Church, 110 Henderson Street, Chapel Hill
Announcement from the Downtown Partnership:
HOMEGROWN HALLOWEEN INFORMATION
Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership October 31, 2008
Homegrown Halloween in Chapel Hill is an effort to return Halloween on Franklin Street to its roots as a small town community gathering and reduce crowd sizes that have become unmanageable. The Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership and the Town of Chapel Hill are committed to focusing on the safety of the downtown community. Below are details on town operations for Halloween. For complete details please click here.
Thank you to the Chapel Hill Police Department and the many other town staff and departments who make extraordinary efforts to maintain a safe environment in Chapel Hill for Halloween visitors and everyone in our community!
If you have any questions please contact:
--Officer Phil Smith, Chapel Hill Police Department at (919) 968-2760 ext.134 or psmith@townofchapelhill.org
--Catherine Lazorko, Chapel Hill Public Information Officer at (919) 968-2743 or publicaffairs@townofchapelhill.org
--Meg McGurk, Assistant Director at the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership at (919) 967-9440 or meg@downtownchapelhill.com
General Information about Halloween:
Street Closures in the Town of Chapel Hill:
-Southbound traffic on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd will be merged into one lane prior to the intersection of Estes Drive. VIEW MAP
-Westbound traffic on E. Franklin Street will be merged into one lane prior to the intersection of Estes Drive. VIEW MAP
-Westbound lanes on South Road will be detoured onto Ridge Road to Manning Drive. VIEW MAP
- Westbound traffic on Manning Drive will be detoured south onto S. Columbia Street. Northbound traffic on S. Columbia Street will be detoured east onto Manning Drive. S. Columbia Street will be closed to northbound traffic at Manning Drive.
VIEW MAP
Street Closures in Downtown Chapel Hill:
The closed area of Downtown Chapel Hill will be larger in order to accommodate the size of the crowd. No vehicular traffic will be allowed in the closed area once the streets are closed. There will also be limited access to the residential areas immediately around the Central Business District.
Closed Area:
· Franklin Street - from Raleigh Street to Roberson Street
· Columbia Street from Cameron Avenue to Rosemary Street
· Raleigh Street From Cameron Avenue to East Franklin Street
Parking Downtown on Halloween:
-As always, there will be little to NO PARKING available close to downtown, and there will be no place for charter buses to drop off or pick up passengers.
- Parking meters on the 100 block of East Franklin Street, all of West Franklin, Henderson and North Columbia Streets will be bagged for No Parking starting at 3:30 P.M.
-Vehicles parked on streets to be closed will be towed beginning at 6 p.m.
-Vehicles that are illegally parked will be ticketed and towed, with a minimum recovery cost of $103.
Prohibited Items in the Closed Areas:
Items, even as part of a costume, which can be used as weapons or could reasonably be mistaken as weapons will be confiscated. This includes items made of wood, metal, cardboard or hard plastic.
Town ordinances and State statutes prohibit the following items in the closed area:
·Alcoholic Beverages
·Weapons
·Glass Bottles
·Paint
·Fireworks and Explosives
·Flammable Substances
·Animals
· Coolers
Downtown Merchant Restrictions:
-Downtown restaurants and bars will close their doors at 1 a.m. to new patrons.
-Patrons will be charged a minimum $5 cover charge not attending a private event.
-Downtown convenience stores that sell alcohol will either close their doors or stop selling alcohol at 1 a.m.
Public Transit Options on Halloween:
-There will be NO BUS SHUTTLES operating from park and ride lots.
- Safe Ride buses will operate from 11 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Safe Ride is a service funded by the University for the safety of students. Safe Ride buses will attempt to operate the normal printed schedule along the detoured routes. Safe Rides will not serve Downtown/Franklin Street area. For Safe Ride map and schedule details click here.
-Chapel Hill Transit riders should be aware that some regular bus routes will be changed on Halloween. For details on changed routes please click here.
Information for Downtown Residents:
The Town of Chapel Hill will make every effort to keep people who are attending the event from parking in downtown neighborhoods.
- Access to neighborhoods will be limited by barricades and police personnel at the roads leading into neighborhoods. This will begin early in the evening.
-Residents of the neighborhood will be able to drive in and out of the enclosed area. Residents should tell the officer at the barricade their address.
-Residents guests will also be able to enter and leave. They will need to tell the officer at the barricade exactly where they are going.
- Illegally parked vehicles (even of residents, guests) will be ticketed and towed.
-Traffic will be congested and getting past the barricades may be a slow process. We recommend that you plan accordingly.
Contact Information:
--Officer Phil Smith, Chapel Hill Police Department at (919) 968-2760 ext.134 or
psmith@townofchapelhill.org
--Catherine Lazorko, Chapel Hill Public Information Officer at (919) 968-2743 or publicaffairs@townofchapelhill.org
--Meg McGurk, Assistant Director at the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership at (919) 967-9440 or meg@downtownchapelhill.com
Date:
Friday, October 31, 2008 - 6:00pm
Location:
Franklin Street, Chapel Hill
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