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Main Street/CBD Developments


mainstreeter

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Couple things:

I have to add Jammin' Java to the list in the basement at 1530 Main Street -- right next to the City Center Partnership offices. Don't be afraid to go down there and check it out. It's a sweet place. Most of the time (but not this week), you'll find me down there working during the day. It's my office away from my home office. :) It's a great cafe with some good coffee, good food, good people, free WiFi and great acoustic music on the weekends. There's about to be some major construction there, but don't let that stop ya. Capitol Places is putting those new condos directly above and adjacent to them. They'll be sweet. Anyway, JJ is your friend.

Also, I think Colbalt may have closed. I saw a quote from the guy in the paper, I think, that said something about having pulled the trigger a little too early on the place. Harsh. But it was kind of in a weird place for the demographic that they were targeting. If you're not familiar, it was all Urban Outfitters kinda stuff -- 15-35 high-end fashion. I know we're trying to boost Main Street cred, but 5 Points just would have made more sense. Main Street needs stuff that's a little more "common." :)

I'll ask this again -- saw that Ellen asked it earlier... Has anyone been to The Whig yet? I hear it's pretty dope. We should all gather there before we go to check out the Arcade underground. Hehe.

Edited by emerging.me
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Hey. A friend and I tried out The Whig at lunch yesterday. Pretty good. Mid-scale southern-ish food. I had bacon-bleu-cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. Very pleasant. In the $6 - 7 range. Friend did not care for her cheese grits, as they were a coarse grain variety. Still, the burger was not as good as the Blue Dog's. And no raw fries. :(

Becomes more bar than restaurant at night. Happy hour 4-7 and most nights live music. There seemes to be a crowd there last night when I passed by at 8:00.

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I was at the library yesterday and there was this book from the early 80s about Columbia. Had ALOT of cool pictures of Main St. and downtown....But in the early 80s I didn't know there were 150 FT. flood lights on Main St. That was the ugliest picture I had ever seen. What were those for?

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Everyone should go up to the local history room on the top floor at the top of the escalators. A Fascinating place. Cool old maps, pictures, etc :)

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Hey. A friend and I tried out The Whig at lunch yesterday. Pretty good. Mid-scale southern-ish food. I had bacon-bleu-cheeseburger and sweet potato fries. Very pleasant. In the $6 - 7 range. Friend did not care for her cheese grits, as they were a coarse grain variety. Still, the burger was not as good as the Blue Dog's. And no raw fries.  :(

Becomes more bar than restaurant at night. Happy hour 4-7 and most nights live music. There seemes to be a crowd there last night when I passed by at 8:00.

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Matt83USC and I went to check it out Friday night at about midnight and there were a lot of people in there. Promising sign... lets just see what happens when the "newness" wears off.

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Nice! What's the vibe like??

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Pretty laid back, chill place. Mostly tables of people laughing and having a good time. Doesn't seem like a place to "mingle" because of all the tables. It'd be pretty cramped feeling if they got many more people. Seemed to be doing well, I'll definately go back, especially if they manage to get a couple more bars in that area.

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I would see more events on Main St. It is the core of the city and very pedestrian friendly. Sporting events like you talked about or maybe a festival of some sorts will be kind of cool.

The BID does several things I know of and probably a lot more.

They have the clean and safe team which you will see wearing yellow shirts around the downtown area.  They will help people with directions, keep homeless from sleeping in common area, escort people to places if the people feel threatened, and keep downtown clean.

They help the recruitment of companies coming to downtown.  I know they played a critical role in bringing the insurance co  Trumbell Services to Main St.

Promotional events like the Magnolia Market, Movies on Main, and I know they are helping out with the car show on Main St the weekend of Aug 20th.

I am sure if you contact them they could provide you with a list of what they do.  The website for the BID is www.citycentercolumbia.sc

Now here is a few more ideas:

How about a sporting event or tournament downtown with proceeds going to a charity.  Ideas such as a wiffle ball tournament, street soccer, go-cart races in the street (Bloomington, Indiana has a killer race), or maybe a beach volleyball tournament if you could get the sand out pretty easy.  This would attract families and people from other areas of the state.  Half the battle with Columbia is it still percieved as it was in the early 1990's.  It is far from being great but it is getting better.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

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They seem like pretty cool events mainstreeter. I will make it to the car show but not sure about the movies due to some conflicts.

On another note, I was walking down Hampton Street and noticed Capitol Places had an office in the Kress building across from the Marriott. I stopped by to see what is going on at the Barringer building. They were real nice in there and said that they finally received a commitment on construction loan last week and will close on it in 4 weeks. Then it will take about 11 months before they are finished. The guy in there explained multiple projects I did not know about and they will all start construction in the next 2 months.

*They will also start on the condo project at the same time on Main St with half the units already sold.

*Expanding the Berry's Building to add 8 more apartments.

*Placing a Chinese Restaurant on the first floor of Berry's next to the barber shop.

*Converting the retail in the previous condo project (I believe Slivers?) and converting to live/ work units and already have one sold.

*They also said they are actively working on 2 other projects they hope to announce by end of the year.

They seem very optimistic about the potential of Columbia and I can only hope they are right.

Support Main Street

Upcoming Events

Moonlight Movies on Main: September 16 and October 14

Mark your calendars now for City Center Partnership

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's a mess down there. One of my buddies who owns a place there was telling me today that his business is down -- it usually really pops around the time that the students get back and for whatever reason it isn't this year.

Hey Sparty... Would you want to pin this thread??? And maybe the Olympia one? And also maybe the Sandhills one?? Just a suggestion.

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I pinned all 3, but I may change my mind about the Sandhills thread. That is not necessarily something I want to see in a prominent position as it is basicly a suburban mall of sorts.

I had intented to pin this thread some time ago, but it slipped my mind. Suggestions are always welcome :)

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I'd like to know why people think it is necessary to have a Main St like Greenville's? The key difference here is that Columbia is not reliant on Main St. It is important for business to be sure, but I think recreating Greenville's Main St is unnecessary when Columbia has so many other options. Of course I want to see Columbia grow its Main St into something better than what it is, but it won't ever be the city's lifeline. There is no point in copy-catting Greenville when the city laready has a unique setup.

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I'm not advocating Columbia trying to uproot Greenville's Main Street and placing it in Columbia. But it is obvious that folks see Columbia's Main Street as less than ideal. If that wasn't the case, this thread would not exist. There would be no talk of trying to connect the Vista and Main Street. We wouldn't be complaining about streetscaping and how dark it is at night there. It doesn't have to be the city's main spot as far as nightlife is concerned, but it can be something more than what it is now. Personally, I think it is somewhat of an embarassment for a city's Main Street (especially a city the size of Columbia) to primarily serve as a hangout for the homeless and "cruisers" after dark. Make it more walkable, more enjoyable, more presentable, and for the love of God, turn up the lights!

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I guess it yet remains to be seen whether or not it will be a successful venture. But that renovation doesn't address the drawn blinds and shades in the street-level windows of a lot of the towers on Main--SO uninviting; the lack of street-level retail is disheartening to say the least. I also wish the BID would do something with a lot of the less-than-stellar signage on Main. Much of it makes me cringe. But then again, stores selling fabrics, wigs, and army supplies don't exactly have the capacity to retain people downtown past 5pm, so....

Edited by krazeeboi
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This discussion is very interesting. :) I have read every post and feel it necessary to add a few things from another well-educated perspective.

  1. Downtown Greenville has far more than Main Street, though Main Street certainly is its crown jewel.
  2. Main Street has become a stick of dynamite -- 25 years after its initial rebirth, it is now exploding out to many other parts of the CBD and beyond, as should be expected.
  3. Downtown has once again become THE place to be all-day-everyday, even as other areas in the city are becoming more focused on atracting more pedestrian traffic.
  4. The success of Main Street (which has been given the Great American Main Street Award) has led to an unprecidented surge in residential development all over downtown, which in turn has led to the anouncement of as many as three additional supermarkets to be located in or very near the CBD. These are being developed with every kind of shop and restaurant you'd expect along with more people living here.
  5. A renewed interest in Greenville as a destination has led to the addition and announcement of more hotels located in the CBD. There are currently three, with a fourth one under construction and another to be included in a new highrise.
  6. The incredible success of reviving a once dead downtown Greenville into the very vibrant, urban place it is today, has been well documented. The results include a long list of other cities around the U.S. sending delegations to learn how to "duplicate" that success. This past week we hosted a large group from the City of Fort Wayne, Indiana. B)
As for my thoughts on Columbia's Main Street revitalization, Most of you have pointed out the main reasons it is not pedestrian friendly. Greenville's success really started with the landscaping. It has been amazing to see the level of interest in downtown grow with the trees. Of course, other signs of life might include fountains, sculpture and other outdoor art, and stricter standards on the way all new buildings are designed. I really like the idea of a master plan. :thumbsup: Edited by Skyliner
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