#25... The Farmer's Market

Why We Love It..

We are huge proponents of healthy eating and shopping at the Farmer's Market is definitely something we love to do.  Unfortunately, we don't make it out nearly enough.  Competing demands on Saturday mornings.  

The music is a nice touch and there are always friendly vendors with good, tasty food.

What We Would Change..

The Location.  Sure it's cheap for the city to have it at City Hall and yes there is plenty of Parking.  However, it just doesn't get the visibility.  If you want to attract the casual shopper, it has to be visible.  The move from Riverside Park was a step in the right direction but it's still not quite where it needs to be.  If it were me, I'd figure out a way to have it right at the intersection of Canton St and Hwy 9.  That's where the life is and there's not a better place to catch the eye of a driver passing by.  If that's not doable, the square would probably do nicely as well.

Compare our Farmer's Market to the Alpharetta Farmer's Market and you quickly see that we have been one-upped by our neighbor to the north.  Although they do have it in a parking lot, it is in a highly visible location and they now have a fantastic sign there to advertise to all passers by that the Farmer's Market is there.  It gives it a feel of permanence that ours doesn't have.  

Also, I could be a little behind on this but I think ours is still called the Riverside Farmer's Market.  We should probably change that.  Maybe the Roswell Farmer's Market.

#26... The Midtown Streetscape Project

Why We Love It...

The project extended/improved sidewalks, historic lighting and a textured brick median almost all the way up to Holcomb Bridge.  This really helped create more of a historic feel on one of the main gateways into the historic district.  The city had the right intentions when they approved this project.  Not only does it immediately improve the functionality, safety and aesthetics of the corridor but it also will, over time, encourage better development.  

The current mish-mash of strip centers, muffler shops and closed fast food joints is unsightly at best and blight at worst.  The good thing is that we are heading in the right direction.  Some good new businesses have opened up in the last couple of years and the streetscape will gradually improve.

What We Would Change...

In a perfect world, there are several things we would do differently on this one.  First and foremost, the power lines and 1960's style highway lighting should have come down.  It's hideous and the improvements are almost overwhelmed by the power lines and lights.  Unfortunately, the budget just wasn't there to do it.

We would have done the median differently by putting in brick pavers in the median rather than the stamped asphalt and there would have been more median islands to both act as pedestrian refuge areas and to create friction with the auto flow to naturally slow the traffic down.  

There are no bike lanes and that's a shame but it makes sense because the traffic is still too fast along the corridor.  The aforementioned median modifications would have helped slow down the traffic a bit and 5-10mph is really all that's needed to make bike lanes a logical and usable option.  

Right now, we are still left with what our friends at Strong Towns call a STROAD.  A street/road hybrid that moves traffic too slow to be efficient and too fast to provide a platform for value.  If you want to create a great street for people, the speeds need to come down to the 30-35 mph range.  If you want to create an efficient road for traffic flow, they need to go up to the 55 mph range and eliminate a lot of the curb-cuts that are there now.

So, all in all, we've made huge progress but there's still a lot of work to be done in many areas along Alpharetta Hwy.

image: City of Roswell

#28... Our Churches

What We Love...

Churches and religious institutions help bind the social fabric of most communities.  Historic Roswell is no different.  There are no less than seven churches in the historic district and one synagogue  Most of which are historic themselves with several of the ones along Mimosa Street dating back to the 1830's.  The older buildings have given way to much larger chapels to house the congregations that have grown over the past ~170 years.  

For the most part, the churches are picturesque (especially the First Baptist and Presbyterian churches on Mimosa) and contribute well to the historic district making it an interesting place to be.

What We Don't Love...

The parking lots..  Especially the Presbyterian church with its parking lot along Atlanta Street.  That's a huge missing tooth in the historic district that contributes to the gap between the square and Canton Street.

The sheer size.  These days, churches have gotten on the economies of scale bandwagon and really have found the need to get bigger to stay relevant.  This isn't a problem with our Historic Roswell churches per se... as it is happening everywhere and there are some pretty small churches here as well.  We feel that large churches really take away from the small town feel and end up contributing to worship becoming more like an entertainment experience.  I'm not ranting on that form of worship (to each his own) but it doesn't contribute to a small town feel as much as smaller less regional churches do. At least there's nothing as large as the North Point Community Church in our little neighborhood.

image: BM Masonry 

Quote of the Week: Donovan on Ghost Towns

The ghost towns of the housing bust are places that lack transportation options, that aren't walkable. The average family spends 52 cents of every dollar they earn on housing and transportation combined, so the biggest opportunity in development is around transportation.  - Shawn Donovan, US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

This is a telling quote taken from this recent Business Week article.  Just from an informal survey of my peers, people are looking for places where they can walk, bike or take transit but unfortunately not as many of those exist as the demand would like.  That makes the real estate in these locations a bit more expensive than others.   

#27... Historic Roswell Fire Station

Why We Love It..

You might not pay too much attention to this fire station but we sure do.  There are three primary reasons that we love our fire station.  First, the location is fantastic.  It is situated right next to a number of our city's most important cultural assets which ensures that they are as safe as they can be from a response time perspective.  It is also positioned along the main artery of the historic district ensuring that most people who drive by get a glimpse of it.  Which leads us to our next reason.  

The design of this station is great.  It blends in well with the historic district and does not scream "HEY I'M A FIRE STATION" at you as you walk, ride or drive by. There is a reason for that.. It was originally a Chevrolet dealership.  Which brings us to the last reason we love it...

The adaptive reuse of an older building is not only inherently environmentally friendly but it enabled a mix of uses for the building.  The old showroom for the Chevy dealership now serves as a small fire museum.  

What We Would Change...

There's not much to change.  The FD is great and the building works well with the surrounding built environment.  We might make it a little more well known that there is a small Fire Museum in the building.

image: Google StreetView

Quote of the Week: Leinberger on the Exurbs

Many drivable-fringe house prices are now below replacement value, meaning the land under the house has no value and the sticks and bricks are worth less than they would cost to replace. This means there is no financial incentive to maintain the house; the next dollar invested will not be recouped upon resale. Many of these houses will be converted to rentals, which are rarely as well maintained as owner-occupied housing. Add the fact that the houses were built with cheap materials and methods to begin with, and you see why many fringe suburbs are turning into slums, with abandoned housing and rising crime. - Chris Leinberger

Anyone want to buy in a subdivision in Cherokee or Forsyth?

Read on... 

#29... Soda Salon

Why We Love It...

This one's for the ladies..  Soda Salon is one of the truly great salons in Roswell. The atmosphere inside and out is excellent.  The staff seems to be rock solid.  Sure there are other great salons in Roswell but none really help contribute to the overall built environment as well.  Located in the original commercial center of Roswell across the street from the historic town square, the building is a great example of what we need more of in Roswell and the rest of the burbs.

The picture says a lot.  The interior is top notch combining the salon atmosphere with a quality art gallery as well.  Then looking out, you see the square across the street.  This pic just happened to be during Christmas so the square had all the lights up.  

What We Don't Love It...

Wow it's expensive! But, I'm a guy and don't understand these things and I do believe that you get what you pay for. Beyond that, there isn't much not to like.

image: Atlanta.CitySearch.com

#30... Roswell Ghost Tours

What We Love..

Up front, we have to disclose that this might not be a fair spot in our list as we have not yet taken the Roswell Ghost Tour.  However, I do feel that I have been on the tour as they are often going on as I'm taking my dogs for their nighttime walk.  They are often crowded and they seem to get good reviews.  

The fact that the tour engages our historic district and brings a number of people to our neighborhood for a different reason than the norm is definitely in line with what we try to do at NUR which is give a different perspective.  It allows visitors to experience a walkable environment in a real neighborhood, not a subdivision, in the burbs of Atlanta.  There are only a few other areas in the northern suburbs that are comparable and most of them don't have the history that allows for a creative tour like this one.

What We Would Do Next..

Actually take the tour.. I can't believe we haven't done it yet... well except that the Mrs. is scared of ghosts and she doesn't want to know about the ones that live right down the street.  Spooky!

image: AJC

#31... Our Brick Sidewalks

Why we love them...

The red bricks that you see in many parts of the historic area enhance the visual appeal of the city, make for an interesting pedestrian experience and help create a a sense of place.  The brick sidewalks are most notable on Canton Street which is one of the truly great streets in Georgia.  Without them, our historic district would definitely lose some of it's charm.

What we would do next...

First, any new sidewalks should be required to be the same brick anywhere in the district regardless of whether they are paid for by a private developer or by the city.  Why did we not put them in on the Midtown Streetscape project???

Second, Mimosa Street should get them ASAP.

Third, a real focus should be put on completing our sidewalk network.  It's very fragmented in areas and creates an environment that isn't conducive to walking everywhere.

NUR Christmas List... part 2

Last year we posted our Christmas Wish List for Roswell with 25 wishes (big and small) for Roswell.  Some were just plain crazy ideas and others were actually pretty practical and may eventually happen.  This year, we're going to go in a different direction in December.  Each day in December, we will post one of our 31 favorite things about Historic Roswell along with our thoughts on how to make it even better.  We hope you enjoy our list and have a safe, happy holiday season.  Thanks for reading!