2012 Outlook

I meant to put this together last month but unfortunately this part-time blogger just didn’t have enough time.  Anyway, it’s always interesting to take a look into the crystal ball and see where we will be in the future.  This year, we are going to take a stab at what will happen in Roswell and around the metro area in 2012 as well as recap some of the bigger changes we've seen in and around the Historic District.  It's shaping up to be an interesting year in many ways.  Check out our recap, thoughts and predictions in each of the areas below:

2011 Recap - Keep up the Good Work Roswell!

• Midtown Streetscape - Initial work has been completed and is a great improvement.
• Norcross|Grimes|Warsaw Roundabout - This has been a huge hit.
• Oak Street Streetscape Improvements - This came together nicely.  The street no longer looks like an industrial dump.
• Wayfinding and Road Signs - These have added even more character to the HD.
• Info Kiosks - Well done, they still need to get the info on them but the kiosks and the maps look great.
• Improved Bus Stops - These are a great improvement for the neighborhood.
• Table & Main - A great addition to the Roswell Restaurant Scene.
• Roswell Provisions - How can you not love this place? Nice addition to Canton St.
• Roswell Tap - This was a good addition along hwy 9.  We miss suburbanite pizza but we'll take the tap.
• Roswell Restaurant Week - The 1st annual event was a hit.
• Renew Social Ventures - The rehab of their building has been well done and we appreciate what the organization is doing.

Roswell 2012 

Food

Food Access - One of the biggest obstacles to making the Historic District a vibrant living spot is the lack of a walkable or bikable grocery store.  We think there may be an announcement sometime in 2012 about a small(er) grocery store going in somewhere near the HD.  Unfortunately, it won’t be a Trader Joe’s or a locally owned market.  A Fresh Market would be good or even a Publix GreenWise Market.  However, it will most likely be a Walmart Neighborhood Market.  So, our HD might just be graced with the beautiful tan and green color scheme that WMNM's are trying to force feed their new suitors.  I'll stop griping now and dream about riding my bike to the grocery store.

Restaurants - No new restaurants will open in the old Pico/Relish spot, the old Red Building or in the Old NOLA building on the square side of the Historic District.  We do think there is and off chance that someone may try to open a cafe in the spot where Wedding Angels used to be.  There’s already a kids cupcake place (Gluten Free Cuties) going into one half of that space.  We think at least one restaurant on Canton Street will close but we’re not sure which.  Nine will continue to disappoint on the quality of food.  Table & Main will keep moving up the list of top spots and may become another entrant to regional lists (Salt Factory #91 on Jezebel Magazine's top 100 & Greenwood's Atlanta Magazines top 50 have made some lists recently)

Locally Grown Food - A community garden will open in the Historic District... maybe at Barrington Hall?

Farmer’s Market - The saturday farmer’s market at city hall formerly known as the Riverside Farmer’s Market will stay put even though we think it would be a bigger draw if it moved to either the Canton Street Antique Market parking lot or to the square.  The city’s allowance of additional markets (i.e. Sweet Apple Village) will cannibalize business and potentially end the one at city hall.

Mobility

Historic Square Sidewalks - We will finally have completed sidewalks along the square and around Barrington Hall.  Or at least mostly completed sidewalks.  Construction is slated to start sometime this month.  Oh yeah.. we’ll get some nice new traffic light poles as well which will take some of the unsightly wires out of the air.

Historic Gateway Project - Option 3a will be approved and the people at Creekview Village condos will go berzerk because they will lose their tennis court...  The anti-roundabout camp will come out in full force and there will be a prolonged battle to get this redevelopment project going.  The truth is, this design has the potential to be truly transformational for the HD.  However, one thing that is a MUST is on street parking.  We'll probably know this year whether GDOT will allow that.  If they don't, everyone should oppose this option as it won't work.

Building a Network - Work will continue on the plans for the Oxbo Rd realignment and Elm Street Connection to Oxbo.  However, no actual work will start for another couple of years.  We are very excited about this initiative.

Planning

Historic Gateway Master Plan - DPZ, the world renowned team that designed Seaside, will completely rock the master plan for the historic district laying the groundwork for Roswell to become the best place to live in the northern burbs as well as a regional destination.  Some might say we are now but we don't have a grocery store and if we are to be a destination and at a minium we need a hotel to be a destination.  To get this all started, we just need to find the private investment.  Hmm.. Maybe the DDA can work on that.

Form-Based Code - Roswell’s first form-based code will officially be approved for the Groveway Community.  This will be another huge event in ushering in a new age for Historic Roswell and it will hopefully become a trend in the Atlanta area.

Downtown Development Authority - Our prediction is that the DDA will focus too much on large empty shopping centers along Holcomb Bridge and the HD will be a smaller part of what the initial design for the DDA was before the opportunity zone was expanded.  

Tax Increment Financing - The newly formed DDA will start to talk about implementing TIF in the revitalization area but nothing official will happen.  We need to be very careful with this tool.

Civic & Community

Alive After 5 - Our premiere event will continue to thrive and there will be a strong push to close down Canton Street during the event.  We think it should be closed from Norcross St to the Hwy 9 intersection from 5-8pm.  There has been a push for this recently after a teen was hit by a car last year.

Parks

Riverside Park Area - Plans will be finalized for two projects.. the extension of the riverside trail will be approved despite NIMBY and Environmental Concerns.  The design plans for the bike/pedestrian bridge over the Chattahoochee River will be finalized and approved.  Some think this is a waste of money and there will probably be a little bit of a fight.  We love the idea but think the bridge design will be a disappointment to some.

Retail

Same ‘ole Same ‘ole - Other than the shops along Canton St continuing to do what they do, we don’t expect to see much going on in non-food related retail this year.  We’d love to see Roswell Bikes open up shop in the Historic District (where the old soccer store(s) used to be) but that’s just wishful thinking.  We’d also love to see something other than thrift shops open up...  

Employment

Large Employer Void - We don’t expect any major announcements here but we do expect the city to court a large employer to move operations to the historic district in conjunction with the Groveway neighborhood revitalization plan.  The mayor's recent annual state of the city speech to the Roswell Kiwanis was an indicator that the city is going to push economic development in 2012.  Additionally the formation of the Roswell Business Alliance last year and DDA will help but we won't see much movement this year.

Housing

Development Revitalization - Several developments will get new life.  We are guessing that there may be some action on foreclosed Vickery Falls development just south of Chaplain's on South Atlanta Street due to the prime location and the added focus on cleaning up the area around the square.  This could push out into 2013.  

Goulding Estate for Sale - The $8.75M, 16 acre Goulding Estate will not move this year.  However, when it does in 2013, the land will be subdivided into ridiculously expensive smaller lots.  We think the the original building will remain intact and potentially become another event facility (we don't need more though).

Charlie Brown Part Deux or Trois?- Someone will make a pitch for the old Charlie Brown parcel on the southeast corner of 400 and HBR.  Citizens on the east side of town will say it will ruin their lives by increasing congestion and bringing crime to Roswell in the form of nefarious transit riders.  

Around the Metro Area

Transit Bill - TSPLOST will pass (barely) and Cobb county will still have no idea how to get its collective act together.

Ponce City Market - Work will begin on Ponce City Market late in the year.  This will be a huge step in the continued revitalization of the Old 4th Ward.

Avalon (formerly known as Prospect Park) Alpharetta - The development that I like to call The Avenue Avalon will gain approval from the Alpharetta council with two dissenting votes even though the development would further tilt Alpharetta's target ratio of apartments in the city above the 85/15 ratio that is approved in the city's comp plan.  Stay tuned for the March 26 Alpharetta City Council meeting.  North American Properties will begin work later in the year.

The Beltline - The trail portion of the Beltline that connects Piedmont Park to the New 4th Ward Park will open up and will become an instant hit amongst locals and non-locals.  We will see a more formal timeline of transit implementation after the Transit Bill is passed this summer.

The Atlanta Streetcar - Love it or Hate it, construction will start this year!

Boondoggle Field at Art Blank Stadium - This true taxpayer ‘boondoggle’ will continue to be pushed even though no NFL stadium has EVER created a net positive economic impact.  Paying half a billion for something that will be used ~10x/year just isn’t a wise decision.  

The Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal (aka The Gulch) - We will see the initial vision of this project toward the end of the year.  Long range economic impact estimates were already released and the number look very positive. 

Well, that's it!  If you made it this far, you're a true NUR fan.  Thanks and have a great (rest of) 2012!

Transit Stations May Reduce Crime?

With the kickoff of the MARTA Connect 400 initiative tomorrow night (link), I thought it would be interesting to toss this out there.  This article from The Atlantic Cities, Transit Stations May Actually Cut Down Crime, compares crime surrounding the LYNX Blue Line light rail system in Charlotte and finds that there was actually a decrease in crime after the stations opened.

An additional study to check out which points to a reduction in crime around suburban transit stations following their opening is Rail Transit and Neighborhood Crime: The Case of Atlanta, Georgia, Southern Economic Journal.

So, if you're going to the meeting on Thursday, be sure to remember that Transit Staitons and Increased Crime are NOT always synonomous with eachother.

Big Box vs. Mixed-Use

Joe Minicozzi has been doing this kind of analysis for a while and this article is definitely an interesting read that should be considered by our local government officials.  Here's the link. 

image: Urban3

Town Planner, Bulb-Outs, Rickshaws and Food Trucks

Historic Gateway Master Plan Contract

It's looking like the city may be awarding a $110k contract to a team led by planning and landscape architecture firm jB+a at Monday's council meeting.  This comes as a surprise and small disappointment to us as two of the three finalists for the contract were Tunnel-Spangler & Walsh (TSW) and Duany, Plater-Zyberk (DPZ).  These two firms are at the forefront of New Urbanist planning.  TSW master planned Glenwood Park, Woodstock Downtown and the modification of the DPZ Vickery Village town center plan.  DPZ is known most notably for their designs of the towns along the beaches of South Walton, Seaside, Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach.  

Comparing the three firms, it's quite obvious where the experience is.  DPZ has master planned over 200 villages and town centers.  TSW has master planned over 100.  jB+a has a more challenging resume to figure out in the master planning area but they did do work on the Sewanee town center and presented plans that they did for the downtowns of Mooresville, NC and Macon, GA.

When you're in the market for a heart surgeon, who do  you want performing the procedure? A Resident (JB+a), A General Surgeon (TSW) or the Best Heart Surgeon in the World (DPZ)?

I'm sure jB+a and team will do a fine job but I can't help but think we missed an opportunity to get a world class planner into our historic district.  (Click here for the memo)

Bulb Outs on Mimosa

We love this.  The city is planning on taking down a number of no parking signs along Mimosa.  You know how we love those road signs.  While they are at it, they will be installing 8 bulb outs along the street to bring curbs closer to the traffic lanes.  This will improve crossings and aesthetics and help reduce speeds on the road .  The project will also add 7 parking spots along the street bringing the total to 141.  Here's a link to the proposed map.

Rickshaws on Canton

Here's another recent item that we love.  Anything we can do to promote regular, everyday bicycling in the historic district is a good thing.  Having bicycle cabs (pedicabs) will definitely do that.  Continued visibility of bicyclists on the road is a key to improving bicycle safety.  When we see moms and kids regularly riding their bikes in the historic district, we will know that we are a truly bicycle friendly community.  But pedicabs are a great start.  I can't wait to take a ride on one.  I just hope they will come all the way down to the square. (Link to Story on the Roswell Patch)

Food Trucks

The Roswell Neighbor reported last week that the city is looking into how it can accommodate the rapidly growing supply of food trucks in our metro area.  Currently no food trucks are allowed to operate in Roswell however there have been some that have applied for permits.  However, we do have a 'food truck' inside INC which severs some sweet street food.  Personally, I haven't had the opportunity to enjoy any of the food trucks in the metro area (save the King of Pops) and it would be nice to have that opportunity here in Roswell. Check out the Atlanta Street Food Coalition's website to see what trucks could make their way out to Roswell one of these days...

Signs, Signs, Everywhere a Sign

I would like to take the time to thank the City of Roswell for two utterly pointless signs in the Mill Village neighborhood of Historic Roswell.  I believe they were just installed this week but I could be wrong.

These signs are on Vickery Street which is a very picturesque little street in the historic district with the Bricks and Sloan Street Park on the north side of the road and some very nice houses on the south side of the street.  A couple of the houses have been turned into small businesses such as an attorneys office.  There are a total of 11 houses on the south side of the street and the Bricks has 9 units on the north side.  So, there are a total of about 17-18 dwelling units on the road (several of which don't use the road for their driving needs as they use Sloan St) and a few very low trafficked businesses.

My question is, did we really need these signs?  See the diagram below:

The two signs that I'm talking about are the one way sign at the end of the small cul-de-sac and the wrong way sign warning the handful of people who failed to see the one way sign that they are going the wrong way.  Now, I'm no traffic engineer but I'd have to guess that this is a pretty low volume street compared to others in the area.  I can't imagine more than a couple hundred car trips per day max and I'd wager that 95% of those trips are made by people familiar with the road.  

The number of people who could conceivably take a left turn out of that cul-de-sac is so few that this sign is utterly pointless.  So, the liability experts have decided to protect the residents from hypothetical head on collisions that wouldn't occur anyway as this is a low speed street that is wide enough to accommodate two way traffic anyway (and it probably should).

Here are the two shiny signs unnecessarily polluting our historic district protecting ourselves from ourselves.  Thank you Roswell.  I'm sure we created some jobs and boosted our economy.  Stop putting up unnecessary signs!

I feel safer

No way anyone can sue us now

Historic Roswell's Top 31 Recap

Here's a recap of our top 31 of Historic Roswell rankings.  We did take our own liberties with the #1 spot but what the heck, it's our blog.  The rest of the top 31 we feel are legitimately chosen and ranked.  There is defintiely some room for argument in how they are ordered and I'm sure some things are missing from the list. If you have any comments, please let us know.  Happy New Year!

1. My Patio
2. Our Restaurant Scene
3. Canton Street
4. Our Festivals and Events
5. The Covered Bridge
6. The Chattahoochee National Recreation Area and Vickery Creek Park
7. Alive After Five
8. The Bricks
9. The Mill
10. Our Monuments and Historical Markers
11. The Roundabout
12. Bulloch Hall
13. Our City Hall
14. The Art Galleries
15. Sloan Street Park
16. Go With the Flow
17. Barrington Hall
18. Roswell Provisions
19. Our Wayfinding and Lights
20. The Red Door Playhouse
21. The Primrose Cottage
22. The Smith Plantation
23. Oak Street
24. Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Shop
25. The Farmer's Market
26. The Midtown Streetscape Project
27. The Historic Roswell Fire Station
28. Our Churches
29. Soda Salon
30. Roswell Ghost Tours
31. Our Brick Sidewalks

#1.. My Patio

Why We Love It..

Yes.. that's the view from our patio on Christmas day 2010.  Vickery Creek, The Covered Bridge and the National Forest are our backyard.  Sure am glad I don't have to mow that and you really wouldn't think it was a 'creek' down there when you hear the constant rush of water.

This may be a bit of a disappointment to most of you but it is truly NUR's favorite thing about Roswell.  We probably wouldn't have moved here if it weren't for the view from the back patio of our condo in Mill Street Park.  It truly is breathtaking and reminds us every day of just how lucky we are to live in a city that embraces it's parks and environment while also emphasizing responsible development in its historic center.  It reminds us that you can have mixes of use within a small area while still maintaining privacy.  Within view from our patio are, single family homes, townhomes, condominiums, an office building, a church, a city park and a national park.  That's a lot of uses and building types to have in your backyard.

What We Would Change..

We need more sun in the afternoon.  But until we are able to change the orientation of the planet, we're going to have to live with it.

Thanks for reading our top 31 things in Roswell and we hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!  We apologize for not making these updates daily as planned but I'm sure everyone understands that things get a little busy during the holidays.  We'll have an update out with all 31 in the next day or two.  

#2... Our Restaurant Scene

image: Yelp Melanie N.Why We Love It..

Who doesn't love great food close to home?  The dining options in our neighborhood range from affordable to fine dining and almost everything in between.  There are over 20 eating establishments in Historic Roswell alone with a number of others just on the periphery of our neighborhood.  

One huge bonus is that we don't have any fast food establishments in the heart of the historic district which is fantastic.  Virtually all of our restaurants are locally owned establishments so our dollars stay in the community instead of feeding into a corporate profit center.

What We Would Change..

We would love to see a good Italian restaurant on Canton Street.  We have Sugo and Amalfi at the southern end but they are not very walkable in their current locations.

Here are some of our favorites:

• Salt Factory
• Swallow at the Hollow
• Inc.
• Zest
• Ceviche
• Greenwoods
• Pie Hole
• Table & Main
• Pastis
• J.Christopher's
• Spiced Right
• Sugo
• Amalfi

#3... Canton Street

image: Roswell Historical SocietyWhy We Love It..

Canton Street is an excellent example of what we are about here at NUR.  It incorporates elements of mixed-use (residential, commercial, retail, restaurant, park) all along one walkable street.  The key to it's success if having all of these uses in close (walkable) proximity of each other.  It defines our City and is our centerpiece.  It was recently won the 2011 Great Street award given by Georgia Planning Association.  They dubbed it the "hottest scene outside the perimeter."  I'd tend to agree with them.

The street is innately historic and has incorporated a great deal of adaptive reuse in the buildings.  Former homes now host a wide variety of businesses and shops.  Former businesses are now restaurants, shops and salons.  Uses they were never intended to have but they work because they weren't designed to do just one thing forever.  Do you think any of our suburban subdivisions will have this kind of success 80 years from now?  It's probably unlikely.  The nature of the place is what has made it successful.

The street is home to some of Roswell's most successful events such as Alive After 5 and the Roswell Criterium which bring a steady draw of visitors to the area.  It is also home to one of the greatest concentrations of unique and tasty restaurants in suburban Atlanta.

Add to all of this, the fact that it is insanely picturesque and you have a successful street that is serving as an example to many other places in our region.

What We Would Change..

Hard to Say.. It's difficult to argue with its success.  We'd like to do something with the parking lot at the intersection of Canton and Magnolia and figure out a way to get the old Antiques building outta there and bring a development to the street.  Additionally, a parking deck solution might eventually be warranted but we're not 100% convinced that it's needed yet.

#4... Our Festivals and Events

Why We Love Them..

Our Festivals and Events are part of what make our historic district special.  They are part of the social program that makes our city more than just a collection of subdivisions.  People get out into our mixed-use historic district and enjoy themselves, meet others and learn about our city and cultural heritage.  

What We Would Change..

Honestly, I don't think we should change much at all...

Some of our Festivals and Annual Events...

• Roswell Arts Festival
• Colors Festival of Arts
• Alive After Five
• Annual Christmas Tree Lighting
• Memorial Day Parade
• Children's Parade
• Sundays on the Square
• Riverside Sound Series
• Roswell Roots
• Roswell Criterium
• Southern Trilogy Trolley Tour
• Historic Roswell 5k
• Taste of Roswell
• Roswell Restaurant Week
• Roswell Summer Puppet Series