Economy & Downtown
Chapel Hill's downtown has long benefited from its proximity to a captive audience of University students without cars. While downtowns around the country have been failing, ours has survived fairly well. However, we have seen an increase in the number of chain stores locating downtown, and instability in the Downtown Economic Development Corporation. In the near future, we will see new Town-directed development on two major parking lots have a big impact.
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Carrboro's downtown has also done better than many towns of comparable size, thanks largely to the presence of Weaver Street Market and progressive shoppers from the rest of the county. The Board of Aldermen has been addressing the evolution of the downtown, and have established a number of community resources in the downtown area including free wireless Internet access, and a low-power radio station.
The Chapel Hill Town Council held a second public hearing tonight on the rezoning and redevelopment of the University Square/123 West Franklin Street complex. UNC Chancellor Thorp made opening remarks about the redevelopment, calling it key for our downtown and detailing the need for more housing, parking, and green space downtown. Chancellor Thorp remained for the entirety of the two-hour discussion, which ended up being a very fortunate thing.
Previously on CityBeautiful21 I talked about Informal Markets -- events
that are marked by an agreed-upon time and place to sell and buy goods,
but may lack features of a permanent retail establishment. When I think
about the things that the town of Carrboro has going for it, our talent
for finding room for Informal Markets is near the top of the list.
When I began researching this post, I was not surprised to find that
Carrboro has been finding a place for Informal Markets in the community
for over 35 years.
Like Krakow, Carrboro has nurtured an informal
market into a formal one in the heart of the community- the Carrboro
Farmers' Market. On their website, the Farmers' Market even refers to
itself as a previously informal market!
At the start of the new year I'll be hosting another round of Open Office Hours in coffee shops across Chapel Hill. Please stop by if you have issues you would like to discuss, or just want to hear more about what local government is doing.
Date:
Wednesday, January 30, 2013 - 5:30pm to 6:30pm
What: Community Town Hall Meeting with Greenpeace Energy
Expert Mike Johnson
Where: AARP Raleigh office, 1511 Sunday Drive Raleigh, NC
27607
When: Tuesday, November 13th, 7pm
Mike Johnson is on a state wide tour, talking about the possibilities for a
cheaper, cleaner, renewable energy future for North Carolina. Mike brings 10 years of
experience including stints at the Illinois Solar Energy Association and City
of Chicago’s
Department of Environment.
Mike will discuss the recent Greenpeace report, Charting the Correction Course, produced in association with
leading energy software company Ventyx. The report details how North Carolinians could save more than $108 billion
dollars over the next twenty years if Duke Energy switched to cleaner, cheaper
renewable energy.
Date:
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 - 7:00pm
Location:
AARP Raleigh office, 1511 Sunday Drive Raleigh, NC 27607
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