#18... Roswell Provisions

Why We Love It..

The Canton Street section of Historic Roswell has needed a non-restaurant congregation spot for a while and Roswell Provisions has filled the void.  The store itself is charming and well thought out.  You can get a number of different items for your daily needs.  They have a small selection of locally grown organic veggies and fruits.  Their dairy selection is all local (albeit expensive) and they have a fantastic selection of sausage, cheese and wine.  They have cupcakes from Kelly Cakes and fresh artisan breads.  You can sit inside or outside and enjoy the ambiance of the heart of historic Canton Street.  

The owners took an old underused space in the historic district and turned it into one of the most trafficked shops.  It's obviously hit an underserved segment in our neighborhood.

What We Would Change..

Price..  The store is obviously catering to the upscale buyer but man, it's pricey.  You get what you pay for though.  Everything that I've seen there is high quality and tasteful.

#19... Our Wayfinding and Lights

Why We Love It...

Wayfinding systems are a critical element to any town or city that has frequent visitors, for obvious reasons.  The city has really added to the legitimacy of Historic Roswell as a regional destination by adding these signs.  It even adds a little fun to the experience for residents.  We all know where our landmarks are but the signs serve as a constant reminder that we live in a unique place.  

The lighting just adds to the charm.  The fact that the two complement eachother is a critical element to their design.  There are even wayfinding posts that are combined with a light post.  I'm sure you've seen them.  How efficient is that!  

The new information kiosks at that Square and Park on Canton Street are going to further add to the experience.  Six months ago on a trip to Seaside, I commented to my wife that Roswell needed to have kiosks and within weeks, they had magically appeared in Historic Roswell.  That was a truly welcome surprise.  Now, we just need to put something up on them as empty information kiosks don't add much value.

What We Would Change...

Not much.  The design matches the neighborhood well.  However, some of the signs don't have everything they should... as you can probably see in the first picture.  Only three of the four panels are being used.  However, if you continue up the road about 100 yards past the Bricks on the right, Sloan Street Park is on the right.  It might not be historic but it is a nice neighborhood amenity that is worthy of recognition by our wayfinding signs.  As mentioned above, we could also put a rush on getting something on the information kiosks.

#20... The Red Door Playhouse

Why We Love It...

This place is great.  It's locally owned and adds a lot of culture to the heart of our city.  It's also situated on the square which is so much better than being in a strip mall with a parking lot out front.  The experience wouldn't be the same.  The Red Door Playhouse engages kids in and gives them a way to enjoy the heart of our city in a way that most other neighborhoods in Atlanta can't.

We can't wait until our daughter is old enough to enroll in some of the activities.  It is kid focused with art and drama classes as well as a summer camp.  However, there are plenty of events for adults such as improv shows and lessons.  There is an annual poetry slam where poets perform their work.  So, there's no excuse not to check it out.  Here's a more thorough article form the Roswell Patch website that covers more on the programming.

What We Would Change...

This one's difficult but if there were one thing, we'd consider a more visible marquee that would engage the sidewalk and the traffic along Atlanta Street to advertise shows and events.  Other than that, there's not much to like about this place.

image: Red Door Playhouse

#21... The Primrose Cottage

Why We Love It...

The Primrose Cottage is another excellent example of adaptive reuse in our historic district.  We could probably fill up our list of 31 solely with historic homes or buildings that have been put to a different use than their original purpose.  However, that wouldn't be as much fun.

The Primrose Cottage is simply gorgeous.  The building really adds to the charm of the historic district.  Even if it is a private events facility.  The building doesn't come right up to the street but it has a fantastic front lawn that draws you to the building.  And really makes you think that you might be in a different time.  Contrary to the Smith Plantation, Primrose adds to the look and feel of the neighborhood by addressing the street.

What We Would Change...

Since it is almost exclusively an events space, it is rare that an average person who isn't invited to an event gets an opportunity to check it out.  I'd make it more accessible to the public by holding semi-annual or annual pubic events that allow Roswell to enjoy this fantastic piece of Roswell history.  Other than that, it's a great piece of Historic Roswell.

image: OccasionsOnline.com

#22... The Smith Plantation

Why We Love It..

The Smith Plantation is an excellent example of adaptive reuse.  It was built around 1845 and was an actual home until 1994.  The city bought the property in 1985 and allowed the final owner to live there until her death in 1994.  Tours began in 1992.  The conversion to a public asset helps preserve the history of our city for all and reminds everyone of a bygone time in this area.  It's really a beautiful example of a southern plantation house.

What We Don't Love..

There's not much not to like.  If we had to say anything, it would be that it's really difficult to see.  I guess you have to get out of your car or off the sidewalk but there really isn't any good way to get a glimpse of the front of the building without entering from the City Hall parking lot or from the sidewalk on Atlanta Street. 

#23... Oak Street

Why We Love It..  

Well, we didn't like it as much until just recently.  The streetscape improvements have really made a big difference in the appeal of the area.  We can't wait to see the area grow.  The new trimmings will help businesses by creating a more attractive environment for visitors.  We are fans of the unique businesses along the street and love the Oak Street Cafe.  The Teal Art Gallery just opened recently and Street Dance Studio was a good addition a little over a year ago.

The city has plans for this area to eventually be an arts village with arts centric businesses and residential buildings to help give life to the area.  We support this vision and think it would be a great way to bring additional life to the historic district.

What We Would Change..

Well, we'd obviously like to upgrade the entire street but that will come over time.  It would be nice to see something besides a parking lot at the western end of the street but hopefully that will be addressed sometime in the future as well. 

The biggest thing we would do is figure out a way to get the wires out of the air.  Our historic district is overrun with utility lines and poles that were poorly placed and ultimately contribute negatively to the overall quality of the environment.  There were some improvements along Oak Street but the cost kept the city from making the full improvements that were needed.

#24... Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Shop

Why We Love It...

Well, it's not Starbucks.  What it is, is a fantastic use of a historic building along South Atlanta Street that helps make the neighborhood a little cooler.  The Coffee Shop oozes charm and personality.  The staff is always great and there is atmosphere with live music on the weekends.  

Up until the opening of Roswell Provisions, there wasn't really a good, local option for Coffee in the historic district aside from LOATH.  

They also buy their coffee exclusively from growers in Rwanda and pay higher than fair trade prices for it.  You can learn more about those efforts at their website, www.drinkcoffeedogood.com. 

What We Would Change...

There's not much we would change about the coffee house itself or the business.  However, it is a little difficult to get to on foot and it's at the southern end of the historic district.  If I could do anything, I'd move the entire house to somewhere on the square.  But, since that's not possible, we'll keep it just the way it is.

image: DrinkCoffeeDoGoodRoswell.com

#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