Elizabeth Projects (7th St, Elizabeth Ave, etc)

[dubone]

What is the opposite of Guerrilla Gardening? Should we get a UP crew there and extend the sidewalk ourselves?

[tozmervo]

$20 (est. for a 1' x 6' section) x 1300' (length) x 2 (sides of street) = $52,000. If we all chip in a little I'd say we're good to go for a little guerrilla hardscaping campaign!

[appatone]

I don't mourn the closing of the Starbucks on the corner. With the nearby 7th St locale there was no need for it. Perhaps an indie can replace it.

Wouldn't SK netcafe be considered an indie coffee shop? And it's been there for at least the better part of a decade.

[dubone]

And they did do hardscape to the curb in front of it, and as a result have tons of indie-type people out in front of it hanging out and livening the up the area.

[atlrvr]

In relatively big news, Elizabeth is the next neighborhood to get an overhaul for its Small Area Plan....the last time it was done was in 1985. The boundaries of the plan is the Elizabeth neigbohood, and the Elizabeth Ave district including all of CPCC.

Link to Planning webpage

Word that I've heard is that the charette done last year is basically been ignored by all parties, though the same stakeholders will be invited back to this plan, which should in theory follow the same principals and be a bit more enforcable (morally, not legally).

I'm hoping that the city will be pro-active about zoning along the commercial nodes on 7th, and allow for urban friendly design (instead of the suburban setbacks now required), and that they will also create a PED overlay district to help with street aesthetics with new development.

[nonillogical]

ground has broken on something at 7th and charlottetown, right beside memorial stadium. is it just supposed to be a parking garage? this is what i heard several months back but it actually looks like there are 2 adjacent sites being worked on. it looks too large to be just one deck.

[voyager12]

Wouldn't SK netcafe be considered an indie coffee shop? And it's been there for at least the better part of a decade.

Yes it is and we could always use another one with a different vibe, another local music shop would be cool too.

[uptownliving]

This has probably been mentioned before...but biking over to Customshop today for brunch I was really shocked to see there were NO bike racks. Hello the street and sidewalks were just redone in what was supposed to be an urban environment...and there are no bike racks on the sidewalk like you would typically find in other parts of the city.

Please...someone Grubb, City...someone put in some bike racks. Thanks :-)

[Spartan]

The City installs them for free, so there is really no excuse not to ask for them.

[atlrvr]

On a hopeful note, the planting strip on the block in front of Carpe Diem and the Martini Bar building has been dug up, and I believe they are going to pour concrete to the back of curb. I hope I hope I hope.

Also, I saw a cyclist do this section of Elizabeth a week or so ago, and once he crossed Charlotte town, he hopped the rails and rode between them to Travis where he hopped them again to turn left. He was on a road bike, so it can be done, but I wouldn't want to.

[dubone]

Keep us posted but that sounds promising about the sidewalk!

[atlrvr]

Ok....so they are definitely replaceing the planting strip with concrete. The sidewalk will now go from the building facade all the way to the back of the curb with no planting strip, except for maybe in just the 2-3 bump outs where the trees have been planted. Looking MUCH better and more urban already.

[dubone]

Well that is a relief. I'll have to check it out this weekend.

I wonder how much of this was based on complaints or the project managers themselves realizing that it was too narrow.

I still regret that they didn't use pavers on the whole stretch, which I found out recently was the original plan, but at least the sidewalk is corrected.

[voyager12]

NOFO is no more. Very sad. Especially since the road was just reopened. And the city staged a "celebration" of the new design yesterday. I really liked the food and the quirky atmosphere. Now we will have a big vacany on a strip that is already too small. How depressing.

Edited September 29, 2009 by voyager12

[dubone]

That is depressing. I wonder why since it seemed to pick up every time I went recently. Maybe they gauged the customer levels after the project and it was still too small to make up for the losses during construction. That is NOT good news for this area, though.

[tozmervo]

Its also possible they closed for other reasons, but that is unfortunate. Hopefully the newly finished construction will attract more businesses a little more quickly.

[nonillogical]

Hmm that is too bad. I liked their brunch a lot, and it was always pretty busy when I went (during construction). The mexicafe side was more hit-or-miss. Well, I don't think it will be a hard spot to fill.

(wish the noodle place had closed instead. i really loathe those for some reason.)

[Spartan]

Before and After:

Sidewalks are definitely wider and more comfortable to walk on.... but is the concrete overload an improvement?

[ScottCLT]

Sidewalks are definitely wider and more comfortable to walk on.... but is the concrete overload an improvement?

Big improvement IMO.

[atlrvr]

Sidewalks are definitely wider and more comfortable to walk on.... but is the concrete overload an improvement?

Absolutely....though they do need some amenities like benches, bike-racks, newsprint stands, etc to break up the concrete some. Pavers would have been better, but this is much better than the previous suburban solution.

[InitialD]

Absolutely....though they do need some amenities like benches, bike-racks, newsprint stands, etc to break up the concrete some. Pavers would have been better, but this is much better than the previous suburban solution.

I agree. Maybe enough room for some outdoor cafe style seating?

[voyager12]

Funny, you should mention outdoor seating ^ I was in Charleston last wkd and was just about to post that Liz Ave has great potential for cafe style sidewalk dining. Upper King St especially, has several outdoor seating areas and they really add a great lively vibe. Very European with round tables and comfy chairs where you can hangout with friends for hours and chat while watching city life go by. That's what says "urban" to me.

[dubone]

Yay! Now that the sidewalk is that wide, people will come up with a way to use it. As a planting strip, it was virtually off limits or else people would've used it as overflow and killed the grass.

Of course pavers would have been a more aesthetic improvement, but functionally, this is far better. Plus, you'll be able see the millions of black gum polka dots on it after a year or two.

It really is too bad that NoFo folded, as they could have done al fresco dining and added to the ambiance of the area. Really, this stretch needs that to look more alive and draw people there. I'm not sure Carpe Diem would do outside dining, but we'll see.

I guess this was the lowest cost fix to what all of us knew was a huge mistake. But hopefully they will add some street furniture to break it up a bit.

[nonillogical]

any word on whats happening at 7th and Charlottetown? it's a rather massive site.

[southslider]

^CPCC is building another parking deck at 7th & Charlottetowne.