tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post842556658860073269..comments2024-03-01T07:43:16.529-06:00Comments on Smart City Memphis: Trafficking In The Answers For A Better DowntownUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-39663335182925886152008-05-21T22:51:00.000-05:002008-05-21T22:51:00.000-05:00Anon 11:08 - I've looked at a couple of places on ...Anon 11:08 - I've looked at a couple of places on Main Street and I'm still considering moving. The one thing I do know, I don't want a place on the side facing the Trolley. That is one noisy piece of equipment.<BR/><BR/>I grew up by railroads tracks and I'm sure I would get used to it ... but I'd rather not pay all that money and get that racket.<BR/><BR/>And I especially wouldn't do it if it were opened back up to traffic. I get enough thumping cars going down my street now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-48629837173877337322008-05-18T23:08:00.000-05:002008-05-18T23:08:00.000-05:00Smart City: What do make of Atlantic Station in A...Smart City: What do make of Atlantic Station in Atlanta? It seems like a synthetic pedestrian mall to me. You park underground and then ride the escalator up to street level where all the stores are. There is some street level parking as well. They also appear to have some condo/apartments above some of the retail shops. But the whole thing is somethng they built from scratch. In fact, I noticed several developments in Atlanta that were clearly modeled on neighborhoods in NYC or some of the other Northeastern cities. BTW, I personally have never been to Chattanoga, but find midtowner's suggestion intriguing, and I live on Main Street.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-52744335065542475642008-05-18T22:29:00.000-05:002008-05-18T22:29:00.000-05:00Re-aligning the grid seems like a pretty invasive ...Re-aligning the grid seems like a pretty invasive way of fixing the 4th street promenot (to steal Speck's phrase). The problem is like 3rd street, writ large: there's nothing to pull anyone out of Beale Street down 4th towards Union, or from Union down 4th towards Beale. On the west side of 4th the only standing structure is W.C. Handy's house. The rest is mostly surface parking and the yard surrounding the house. The bus station you mention is gone, replaced by the much bigger eyesore of surface parking. <BR/><BR/>Do we not have any planning tools to encourage the filling of holes in small lots? Or do we have to move to mega-developing and grid-shifting to accomplish even the simplest of things?gatesofmemphishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00401189819920871321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-12357642362312374012008-05-16T10:14:00.000-05:002008-05-16T10:14:00.000-05:00And what of the supposed arguments that light rail...And what of the supposed arguments that light rail (and the Trolley is a form of light rail) attracts businesses? Remember this before spending $400+ million on a LR to the airport.<BR/><BR/>The businesses on Main Street were dying off before the pedestrian mall was put there. The mall was an attempt to help them but, in the end, it hasn't.<BR/><BR/>I suggest we look at Chattanooga. The transit authority there owns the parking garages at each end of one of their main streets. The buses on that street are free!!! You pay to park and ride the bus free. What a concept. And btw, the buses are electric.<BR/><BR/>You're not going to get people to go thru the hassles of driving downtown, finding a place to park (and paying for it), then paying to ride the Trolley, and then walking in the weather ... Why do all of that when you can drive to Wolfchase, park for free, and walk around in air conditioned comfort?<BR/><BR/>You could however build garages at each end of Main Street and do as Chattanooga does ... they pay to park and then ride the Trolley free. It may help or it may not ... but what we're doing isn't working and I doubt letting cars drive down Main Street will work either.<BR/><BR/>Of course ... having a citywide bus system that was worth a flip might help a bit too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-65241191645690670722008-05-16T09:23:00.000-05:002008-05-16T09:23:00.000-05:00As much as I love the mall, there's so much vehicu...As much as I love the mall, there's so much vehicular traffic on it now (construction and government vehicles) that reopening it to cars probably won't be that much different. <BR/><BR/>My chief complaint, as a downtown worker, is that there is never a trolley when you need one. I work at the north end of the mall and my bank is at the south end. I can walk from Main and Jefferson to Peabody Place at lunchtime and never see a trolley. Without reliable people movers, how can businesses on the mall be expected to flourish?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12509286.post-64295241468125033942008-05-16T03:27:00.000-05:002008-05-16T03:27:00.000-05:00Wow, it's hard to wrap my head around this idea th...Wow, it's hard to wrap my head around this idea that there are pedestrian malls that are on the decline. I couldn't imagine Denver without its mile-long pedestrian mall, which always seems to be quite the happening place. They've actually been extending it in recent years -- the pedestrian corridor is more like a mile and a half, now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com