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

#5... The Covered Bridge

Why We Love It..

Yes, we know The Chattahoochee National Recreation Area and Vickery Creek Park just came in at #6 and the Covered Bridge is part of that park.  However, the Covered Bridge is iconic.  It is arguably the most recognizable single symbol of Roswell.  We love it because it was a transformative project that took thought and political will to make happen.  It was expensive and will never 'pay for itself' but that's not the point when you're placemaking.

Just show someone a picture of the bridge who has never seen it and watch their reaction.. 

What We Would Change..

Nothing... We'd build another signature bridge.  Actually two.  One is already in the planning stages to link Sandy Springs and Roswell for pedestrians and cyclists.  If we had our way, it would be a replica of the original bridge over the Chattahoochee that was burned during the Civil War.  The other bridge would connect the Chattahoochee National Rec Area to South Atlanta Street about 3/4 of a mile downstream from the Covered Bridge.  I hear some dreamers want to put a suspension bridge around that spot.  Not a bad idea.

#6... The Chattahoochee National Recreation Area & Vickery Creek Park

Why We Love It..

First, It's my backyard and I don't have to mow it.  Second, it might just be the most picturesque park area in the entire metro area.  The park allows our entire city and region to get out and enjoy the outdoors while not having to leave the metro area.  Here's a quick list of what we like:

• The 10+ Miles of Trails. Hiking and running on them
• Vickery Creek
• The Waterfall
• The Sound of Water Rushing

What We Would Change...

Kudzu and Poison Ivy.. We'd get rid of 'em.  They stink.  Photographers...  There are too many of them.  The covered bridge is a huge draw for engagement photos, wedding photos, christmas photos, etc.  It can be difficult to just go hang out and enjoy the scenery for fear that you'll have to move to get out of a picture or that some photographer will lay claim to a certain spot that generally is the most picturesque spot.  These aren't just casual point an clicks.. these are set-ups with the whole shabang of photo equipment which take 5-10 minutes at a time.  But, I'm guilty of it too.  It's just too darn picturesque.  

Figure out a way to get the wastewater pipes somewhere else.  That's a toughie though.

#7... Alive After Five

Why We Love It..

It's an amazing community building festival that actually has staying power.  It just finished it's 6th year and is going as strong as ever.  I've been to a lot of things like it but they usually seem cheesy and contrived.  Alive After Five just seems natural.  Maybe it's because of the location.  Canton Street is so organic that it's hard to feel like anything there is manufactured or shallow.  Small business retail and restaurants need this type of exposure and critical mass of customers in order to succeed.  The businesses along Canton Street have hit a home run with Alive After Five.

Event's like this bring attention to the importance of a good public realm, especially in the area of sidewalks.  It helps to remind us that our city is for people and not cars.  Keep it up and we'll have a sustainable, walkable, livable town center where people actually want to live.  That's already happening and Alive After Five continues to remind us every month between April and October.  

What We Would Change...

I get the need for traffic flow but it's just a pain. With the sheer volume of people at the southern tip of Canton Street, it might be a good idea to close the street down to car traffic from 5-7pm from the Norcross St intersection down to the Atlanta St intersection. This would hand over the entire public realm (sidewalk, street and corner park) to the people which is what Alive After Five is really all about.