Gviller

The Tavern is still open and doing very well actually. As far as the look of the building goes, I know that the new owner as of about 2 years ago put several options in front of the city with regards to the look of the building and they could not come to agreement with something that worked for everyone so for now it stays as is.

I was Eden yesterday and talked to the girl behind the counter. I thought they were just planning to remodel. Turns out they are closing the doors in two weeks. I also get the Feeling that Paris Cafe is struggling, and it that goes under then I could not blame it on the business model. The amount of Vacant Retail on those two blocks of North Main is eye popping and depressing. We got trouble, right here in River City!

I think I might have not been really clear on what I meant by comeing downtown to get what you need. I live over near Cherrydale, and I dont ever forsee myself driving downtown to do our grocery shopping, or to have the Oil Changed in the car or all the other things that surburbanites need to have done. I do think a drug store downtown makes a lot of sense and I thought that a drugstore was making a push but was rebuffed by the city. How much truth there is in that i dont know.

Working on main st for the past 8 years I have noticed a huge downturn in the buzz that used to swirl around downtown over the past year. I can speculate at the reasons but I have no evidence to back that speculation up. For one thing, several of the shops that closed, closed because they were bad business ideas or were run poorley. The two clothing stores were specific to a very select market and to be honest the product was just not what the people wanted. Bently's Books was a great store for browsing but I was never really sure how they made their money. So I dont see these store closings as indicitive of downtown Greenville. But, the palpable excitment that used to be in this place is not there at the moment and I attribute it to Greenvilles clamp down on entertainment and nightlife, not the lack of major retailers. Lets face it, Downtown Greenville will never be a place you will come just to buy stuff you need. It will always be a destination location. You are either here to work or have fun and in my opinion the City of Greenville has been paying for to much attention to local condo owners and condo developers and far to little attention to the people that brought downtown Greenville to the dance. Not allowing any new bars to open up, making them close earlier and earlier, and doing away with smoking in the city limits. These things drive away young people and the youth are the ones that bring a buzz. People might still come on a pretty sunday afternoon for the park or to eat a Rick Erwins, but trust me its the exitement and the buzz that they want and will bring them back. I have felt it all the time I have worked downtown and often been amazed that I never got tired of it or used to it and its absence echo's every time I walk out into the street from my office now. Make no mistake, this is a serioiuse problem and it needs to be corrected quickly. Greenville needs an injection of energy and a dose of cool in a bad way but I dont see anything on the horizon that will bring that. Bring back the fun and the retailers will come.

Zach, i would suggest spending a couple of nights at La Bastide, which is about 20 miles north of Greenville in the mountains...It is expensive for a couple of nights would be a real treat and the food, views and location is great. Would also be a good place to head North for day or so and check out Ashville which is only about an hour from there and another great town with a feel all its own.

Not that I am going to do the research, but I have a hunch that if you follow the money, you will find that with Rosen excluded from a major part of the deal the Governers lower state development compadres are the ones who are going to gain from the deal. And besides that, Rossen put the deal together and got shoved aside by bigger boys on the block. Even if the deal is better for the state it is a case of government messing around in private business and on the whole that usually is not a healty thing.

I have never met the man but I know some people that I respect that have worked with and for him and all of them say that he is a world class JackA--. And from some people that I have talked to who did business with him in the past this whole situation seems about par for the course just on a bigger stage. Just an opinion and it does not mean a thing and all based on hearsay but it is how I feel.

I have no knowlege of the case other than what has been in the papers and in the news and the whole thing stinks, and I hate to say this but I believe that Rosen has a case. If you ask me I believe that the majority of the fault should fall at the feet of Mark Sandford. I believe this project would already be completeded a year or so ago if Sanford would not have gotten in the middle of it...remember, he is a developer by trade. Just my two cents but I think when this all shakes out I believe that Rossen got jobbed by the big boys. Whether or not they ever have to pay for it I dont know but I think he has a legitimate complaint, and I have never trusted Sanford since this thing.

What are you shooting with RT..and what setting are you using to get those great night shots?

Hello everyone. I was wondering if all you people in the know could give me an update on what is going on downtown with all the towers. Which ones are still on go and which ones have shut down and a link to any websites for these projects, any help would be much appreciated. Gviller.