How would you make Florence better?

[flotown]

I invite anyone to take a walk down Dargan and Evans Streets. You will see just how badly these properties have been neglected. If many can be gutted and renovated without being razed, great. But some will need to be detroyed. Just because a building is old does not mean that it is attractive; frankly some in DT Florence are eyesores that need to be taken down. Some strongly disagree and think nothing should be torn down as it will erode the history of the area......I used to feel that way until I examined closely the state of disrepair.

I do believe that all new construction should meet strict architectural standards to fit into the downtown. That means it should be close to the street, should be have a brick/concrete/stucco front, and should be at similar heights of the surrounding older structures. The 200 block of Evans has a newer (lawyers) office that looks 100 years old in style but is only 10-15 years old. But it has an upscale Charleston look (if only the rest of the street looked like it, especially the 100 block of Evans). It may itself be a Florence landmark in years to come. If it takes addition by subtraction and the subsequent replacement with something nicer, so be it. Whatever it takes to get downtown cleaned up.

BTW, I heard that Barnes and Noble (w/ Starbucks inside) is going into the Magnolia Mall. Maybe Starbucks will consider opening a second store downtown. That is the type of business downtown needs to develop foot traffic and promote the arrival of more upscale businesses. Currently, Kress isn't cutting it.

[jjoshjl]

The real point to all of this is to get the right people to actually start talking about this in a constructive manner... And doing something about it... If you live in the county of florence, we need to start talking to our respective leaders... you ahve to keep in mind that most council members dont hear much from their constituints... so... if a group of us start sending comments/suggestios/ideas for DT developement, they will hear simply because the percentage of emails/letters they get will be heavily weighted with comments on DT developement. It doesnt need groupof us to organise and form a political group, all it takes is for each of us to begin working the system. send letters, send them often, get your neighbor to send them.. if enough of us (and it wont take many) get talking to them, they will start talking to eachother, and then to the public about developement....

i know i am an idealist... but i've got a littl saying....

If you shoot for the stars... youll end up at the moon... in otherwords, you may not get the results YOU want... but you will get a great deal more results than being laxed.

cheers

[GamecockEngineer]

I invite anyone to take a walk down Dargan and Evans Streets. You will see just how badly these properties have been neglected. If many can be gutted and renovated without being razed, great. But some will need to be detroyed. Just because a building is old does not mean that it is attractive; frankly some in DT Florence are eyesores that need to be taken down. Some strongly disagree and think nothing should be torn down as it will erode the history of the area......I used to feel that way until I examined closely the state of disrepair.

I do believe that all new construction should meet strict architectural standards to fit into the downtown. That means it should be close to the street, should be have a brick/concrete/stucco front, and should be at similar heights of the surrounding older structures. The 200 block of Evans has a newer (lawyers) office that looks 100 years old in style but is only 10-15 years old. But it has an upscale Charleston look (if only the rest of the street looked like it, especially the 100 block of Evans). It may itself be a Florence landmark in years to come. If it takes addition by subtraction and the subsequent replacement with something nicer, so be it. Whatever it takes to get downtown cleaned up.

BTW, I heard that Barnes and Noble (w/ Starbucks inside) is going into the Magnolia Mall. Maybe Starbucks will consider opening a second store downtown. That is the type of business downtown needs to develop foot traffic and promote the arrival of more upscale businesses. Currently, Kress isn't cutting it.

I've heard that Starbuck is building a free standing building where the old Benton's was (the Florence Mall Parking lot). And by the way, try the new Benton's Location for dinner, its prob. one of the best places to eat in Flo.

[scoop]

The real point to all of this is to get the right people to actually start talking about this in a constructive manner... And doing something about it... If you live in the county of florence, we need to start talking to our respective leaders... you ahve to keep in mind that most council members dont hear much from their constituints... so... if a group of us start sending comments/suggestios/ideas for DT developement, they will hear simply because the percentage of emails/letters they get will be heavily weighted with comments on DT developement. It doesnt need groupof us to organise and form a political group, all it takes is for each of us to begin working the system. send letters, send them often, get your neighbor to send them.. if enough of us (and it wont take many) get talking to them, they will start talking to eachother, and then to the public about developement....

i know i am an idealist... but i've got a littl saying....

If you shoot for the stars... youll end up at the moon... in otherwords, you may not get the results YOU want... but you will get a great deal more results than being laxed.

cheers

Perhaps, if the council would change it's meetings to the evening instead of morning hours, participation and interest would increase. I never understood why they would have county council meetings when folks are at work.