Comments on: DDA OKs Budgets, Gets Downtown Report

By: Steve Bean

Steve Bean — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:57:00 +0000

@8: “Property owners are going for the maximum rent, and grocery stores are historically low-margin. They simply won’t be able to pay the rent.”

That will change over the next 1-2 years as deflation kicks in and the dominoes start to fall.

By: Timothy Durham

Timothy Durham — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 13:31:50 +0000

(#8) Vivienne, I wish I could say the "asteroid belt" reference was my idea but I heard it (along with a bunch of other good ideas) from JH Kunstler: [link]

By: DrData

DrData — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 04:03:12 +0000

Don’t forget that Babo is a new entry to the near downtown (Washington and Division). It is on the street level of one of the new high rises – 411 Lofts.

It is an upscale, small grocery, with fresh produce, a deli, wine, beer, and a small eating area that serves wine/beer/coffee and food from within the store.

I find the prices high but not unreasonable and go to it when I’m in the area.

By: Vivienne Armentrout

Vivienne Armentrout — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 19:35:58 +0000

I love the reference to the “asteroid belt”.

I live a little outside the residential area that ties closely to the downtown. But I understand a little what the charm of a truly urban (i.e., downtown) existence might be and I agree with Tom Whitaker that going to different specialized markets would be part of it. (I’m especially happy to have Knight’s in my neighborhood so that I can avoid the asteroid belt part of the time.)

Why isn’t Village Corner where it used to be? Why is White’s Market gone? It’s the real estate market, same reason we have lost most of the independent stores downtown. Property owners are going for the maximum rent, and grocery stores are historically low-margin. They simply won’t be able to pay the rent.

Council’s zoning innovations have probably made this situation worse. If you can build a 14-story student resort, you won’t be putting in any grocery stores, especially not broad-spectrum ones. Even Whole Foods would be unlikely to succeed if it quadrupled its prices.

Thank goodness for the legacy slots filled by Kerrytown, People’s Coop, and Knight’s. And for the Farmers’ Market. Would we install that today, or would the DDA be clambering to put in 14-story towers there too?

Our downtown isn’t a food desert. Be grateful.

By: Jim Rees

Jim Rees — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:06:46 +0000

I agree there is no need for a Kroger at Main and Liberty, but I would like to see something like a Knight’s or Village Corner somewhere in the core downtown.

By: Tom Whitaker

Tom Whitaker — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 23:13:12 +0000

On another subject: when will we see (if ever) a full accounting of the costs of the underground parking structure and the Fifth and Division traffic calming project, both of which were funded from the same bond issue? Was all the bond money spent? Were savings from the Fifth and Division budget applied to overages in the underground parking structure budget? What was the final, total cost of the structure and did that align with initial estimates?

By: Tom Whitaker

Tom Whitaker — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 23:09:18 +0000

@1 and 2: Don’t forget Babo at Washington and Division, South Main Market, and of course, Farmer’s Market. On the other end of the spectrum, the entire first floor of CVS is devoted to grocery items, and Walgreens is coming soon to State and North U. There are three or four beer/liquor stores, too.

I agree, the one-stop, buy anything and everything model is strictly suburban and car-centric. Part of the joy of living downtown is having a favorite place for bacon, a favorite place for produce, and a favorite place for bread that may be a few blocks apart from each other. All locally-owned.

We, and our near-downtown neighbors make periodic trips to the big stores in the asteroid belt, but we also spend a tidy sum in the Co-op, Kerrytown and all the other specialty stores downtown.

By: Edward Vielmetti

Edward Vielmetti — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 20:01:17 +0000

> At the full board meeting on Feb. 6, Roger Hewitt indicated that the operations committee was continuing to consider ways to provide more detail in the parking reports to give a more accurate barometer of actual usage of the system [...]

I’d be interested in hearing more about these long-promised plans.

By: Jack Eaton

Jack Eaton — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 19:24:52 +0000

Kunselman “might face competition in that [Ward 3 Council] race from Julie Grand, current chair of the city’s park advisory commission, who is mulling a possible candidacy for Ward 3 city council.”

This would be an interesting race. It would pit Council member Kunselman, who has vigorously opposed using Fuller Road parkland as a site for a City-financed Amtrak station, against Ms. Grand, the chair of the park advisory committee who supported repurposing that parkland for an Amtrak station. It seems to me that failing to protect parkland would undermine any claim to the value of having served on the park advisory commission.

By: DrData

DrData — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:23:30 +0000

I sort of agree with #1.

I used to have relatives in a small NJ city, which had a small grocery store with shopping carts on the edge of the original small downtown area. Alas, the parking lot was also small so folks would trek the carts to their cars parked nearby. It was a mess, really ugly to see. And, the store had the issue of rounding up the carts all day long, just to have them be left alongside the car over and over.

So, the magical grocery store folks want to see really have to be like what we already have. Places, where you shop and carry a few bags away on foot. More stores for competition & variety would be nice, but we’re not going to see Busch’s take over the Border’s space.