Postby muncien » 29 Nov 2016 14:45
Great post Duke... thx!
Yeah... I agree that a 100% conversion of Main probably wouldn't be the best solution. At the same time, I think blaming the failure of Raleigh's downtown on the pedestrian mall is a bit of an overstatement. Downtown's were failing all over throughout that period and few, if any can blame such a conversion. But it's been a long time since I've been to Raleigh, so maybe I'm off base.
I'm actually okay with 'cruising' too... Sure it causes unnecessary congestion in same areas (possibly Mckinney Ave), but the CBD has a ways to go before it reaches that point. Until then, we should encourage visitors to cruise through the city, maybe even repeatedly, at least up until the point of Friday evening through Sunday. Then, I think pedestrians should take over. If every weekend is overkill, maybe it should just be once a month, or every other week. Rents on the pop-up retail should be very cheap to get things going.
Now, as for a full on pedestrian corridor... That should be Harwood from Katy to Farmers Market. There really isn't any retail on that street to kill off. But the connectivity would be priceless.
"He doesn't know how to use the three seashells..."