Blogs
Chapel Hill Herald, Saturday November 19, 2005
Last summer, as the threat loomed of a Wal-Mart just south of the Chatham County line, there was much talk of how to stop the retail giant from moving in and sucking the life-blood out of local business. Less attention was paid to strengthening our home grown retail sector to create an economic base that might withstand such an onslaught.
As the Wal-Mart style big box has spread, the business districts of small town America have been hard hit, losing their historic retail anchors and leaving residents to drive out to a freeway interchange for the nearest strip mall.
In 2001, Powell, Wyoming was in trouble when the Stage store, the latest owner of the downtown department store that had operated for generations, decided to pull out.
Citizens of Powell formed a corporation and began selling stock to open their own store. Some 800 investors bought shares, and in the summer of 2002 the Mercantile opened in a 7,500-square-foot space downtown that once housed a portion of the Stage store.
Here's a really good idea from the letters to the editor of the Chapel Hill News:
Former sorority house would be ideal shelter
As Chapel Hill struggles with the issue of homelessness, shouldn't citizens of the town seize upon an opportunity that has been laid at its feet? Hasn't anyone noticed that the Delta Zeta sorority house is up for sale? It would be the perfect answer to the question of where to put the next homeless shelter.
This structure is specifically for the housing of a large group of people. It has countless bedrooms and bathrooms for the needs of unrelated residents. It also has a commercial kitchen, dining hall, a large meeting area and office space. The building is in excellent condition, needing no substantial modifications to serve its new purpose, and it is ready for immediate occupancy. It is ideally located near jobs and transportation.
Zoning of the area is obviously not a problem since it had a similar use in the recent past, and the neighbors might actually consider the transformation from sorority house to homeless shelter a move in the right direction.
Enjoy some Tofurky tomorrow and try not to go shopping on Friday!
OrangePolitics is going to take a little vacation until Sunday, so meanwhile here's a list of of other local blogs (and web sites with RSS feeds) to entertain you if you just don't want to spend time with your families...
Elections are over now, and the community expression of support for the creation of the Bolin Creek Park and Preserve was overwhelming.
Thanks in no small part to Carrboro Mayor, Mike Nelson, we're on our way to making this park and preserve a reality. The 27 acre Adam's Tract is now in preservation, and last month the Carrboro BOA voted to accept a Conservation Map of the Bolin Creek Watershed.
But where do we go from here?
The planned Claremont development just west of Bolin Creek on the north side of Homestead Rd. is rapidly moving forward. UNC is in the concept stage of Carolina Commons, a development of 140 affordably priced homes for UNC faculty and staff just north of Winmore and east of Lake Hogan Farm. Much of the land targeted for preservation is developable and remains elusive. Clearly, if we are serious about making this park and preserve a reality, we must press on quickly.
It's certainly good news for current and future residents of northern Carrboro that UNC will be leasing land to the town for $1/year. The town will be able to build a fire station for the newly-annexed area for about $2.5 million.
But I have to wonder if Carrboro noticed what happened to Chapel Hill's similarly sweet deal. For decades, the town leased space for it's public works facilities from UNC, also for $1/year. A few years ago UNC decided it needed the land back (to build Carolina North) and Chapel Hill scrambled to find a location to build a new Town Operations Center which is costing the town millions of dollars (but which will rock - although it's not very conveniently located unless you live at the landfill).
Wouldn't it have made sense for Carrboro to build a station on land owned by the town, instead of borrowed? What if UNC decides it needs the land back to build a Carolina NorthWest in 2020?
And is Carrboro going to respond to this gesture the way UNC Assistant Vice Chancellor Bruce Runberg hopes they will:
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