Fifth Street Pedscape / Ivey's Building Retail Improvements

[jednc]

Please, no Ginkos.  They take decades to get any height to them and they're incredibly messy (their fruit smells of vomit).  Have you ever taken a walk or run down MLK Blvd in the fall?  Bleecchhhh!

I'm going to be intentionally vague, but after the Panthers' Game I walked back down MLK to get to where we had parked. That fruit was all over the ground (stinking) and there were two people under one tree gathering the fruit in a small grocery bag. I have no idea why and don't want to speculate, mostly because it makes me sick to think about it.

[Miesian Corners]

I'm going to be intentionally vague, but after the Panthers' Game I walked back down MLK to get to where we had parked. That fruit was all over the ground (stinking) and there were two people under one tree gathering the fruit in a small grocery bag. I have no idea why and don't want to speculate, mostly because it makes me sick to think about it.

Maybe it was some folks taking advantage of street tree harvest.  http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/10/the-nasty-bits-gingko-nuts.html  

 

Regardless, I want nothing to do with it.  

[Spartan]

Anyone know what kind they're planting? Gingko and willow oak are nice, but I wouldn't mind cherries/elms, unless disease/environment forbids.

 

 

It's the same kind of tree that's across the street. Not sure what kind specifically, but it's not a willow oak or gingko. 

 

If you notice within uptown they plant the same trees on both sides of specific street blocks, and each block is generally, though not always, different. Trade St and all of Tryon St are the only ones that seem to break this rule.

[dubone]

The city arborist has a master plan for the tree species for each street block uptown. I had a copy of it once, but I can't seem to find it at the moment.  Regardless, the trees look so good on it, and really reduces the concrete jungle effect.   I can't wait to see the bricks laid down, they seem to be delivered on site now waiting.

[CLTProductions]

The city arborist has a master plan for the tree species for each street block uptown. I had a copy of it once, but I can't seem to find it at the moment.  Regardless, the trees look so good on it, and really reduces the concrete jungle effect.   I can't wait to see the bricks laid down, they seem to be delivered on site now waiting.

They do look fantastic! Really helps the feel of 5th street. Does anyone know if theyre going to do anything with the other side or would traffic be too bad if that was reduced to a 1 lane street? Also, where they are making the steps up to the Ivey building, what else is going to be there? Is it just a few tables and an entrance to the building?

[dubone]

If it's one lane now, that is only during construction.  It will be the same travel lanes as always, just without street parking.   The street parking benefit only really helped a dozen or two drivers a day, whereas the more functional pedestrian environment and new access to the retail spots in the middle of Ivey's will easily benefit hundreds of people a day, so it is a no brainer. 

[CLTProductions]

If it's one lane now, that is only during construction.  It will be the same travel lanes as always, just without street parking.   The street parking benefit only really helped a dozen or two drivers a day, whereas the more functional pedestrian environment and new access to the retail spots in the middle of Ivey's will easily benefit hundreds of people a day, so it is a no brainer. 

Yeah, I knew it was going to be the two lanes once it all opens back up. I was just curious if they did plan on redoing the Dandelion Market (etc) side. The sidewalk there sucks, but I guess this just more of wishful thinking than practical

[dubone]

Yeah, at one point they had the same owner (Latorre), but I don't think that is true anymore.  If it were the same owner, I could see them doing some sort of curve to add a little space to the Dandelion sidewalk, but clearly that did not happen.    

 

I think it is really important to widen the sidewalk in front of Phil's and Connolly's next.   It at least has the shoulder painted out to reduce the risks, but it is very dangerous in that area because you often must step out into the street when passing through.    It is ashame they couldn't do some serious traffic calming on 5th through both those blocks and have cobblestones or a different street texture to give the sense to drivers that they are going through a pedestrian-heavy zone. 

[CLTProductions]

I think it is really important to widen the sidewalk in front of Phil's and Connolly's next.   It at least has the shoulder painted out to reduce the risks, but it is very dangerous in that area because you often must step out into the street when passing through.    It is ashame they couldn't do some serious traffic calming on 5th through both those blocks and have cobblestones or a different street texture to give the sense to drivers that they are going through a pedestrian-heavy zone. 

I could not agree with you more. Being a frequent walker in that area during all hours of the day and night, it is incredibly dangerous. At 2am when the bars close, there are a ton of people standing on the sidewalks and edges of the streets and cars and cabs are flying by. It's awful and this definitely needs to be addressed soon. Plus, it will look a lot better.

[orulz]

Really given that Avenue and Hearst are both set back further from the traffic lanes, they should deconstruct the facades of those older buildings, chop off 8 or 10 feet at the front, and then rebuild the facade.

 

Expensive, to be sure, but in this case anything less would seem incomplete. This kind of stuff was relatively common years ago.

[Miesian Corners]

The block between College and Tryon needs to be done now.  Someone's going to get killed by traffic leaving one of the bars one night.

[teeg]

Really given that Avenue and Hearst are both set back further from the traffic lanes, they should deconstruct the facades of those older buildings, chop off 8 or 10 feet at the front, and then rebuild the facade.

 

Expensive, to be sure, but in this case anything less would seem incomplete. This kind of stuff was relatively common years ago.

 

I do not think that Connolly's is even 40' deep to begin with.  Probably better to cut out the parking lane across the street and move the sidewalk out 10 feet.   

[Miesian Corners]

I do not think that Connolly's is even 40' deep to begin with.  Probably better to cut out the parking lane across the street and move the sidewalk out 10 feet.   

That's my point.  The parking along the Blumenthal side needs to go so that the sidewalk in front of Connely's can be expanded.  It's dangerous.

[CLTProductions]

That's my point.  The parking along the Blumenthal side needs to go so that the sidewalk in front of Connely's can be expanded.  It's dangerous.

Yeah, thats exactly what they should do. Eliminate that parking and shift the lanes over and expand the sidewalk in front of connelly's. Does anyone know if something like this is even in the works? How many spots are even in front of Blumenthal? No way will it be a major loss.

[teeg]

Yeah, thats exactly what they should do. Eliminate that parking and shift the lanes over and expand the sidewalk in front of connelly's. Does anyone know if something like this is even in the works? How many spots are even in front of Blumenthal? No way will it be a major loss.

I just looked at Google Maps street view and counted 10.  

[teeg]

I just looked at Google Maps street view and counted 10.  

And they were easy to count too, because the meters were covered by those red hoods that the city always seems to put out just before I drive uptown looking for street parking.  But that's a rant for another day.

 

I see that they had (or had) something in the works for 5th between College and the light rain line, but cannot find anything for the College to Tryon block.  Might be worth emailing CDOT to make the suggestion.  I have always found them to be responsive.

[Spartan]

They do look fantastic! Really helps the feel of 5th street. Does anyone know if theyre going to do anything with the other side or would traffic be too bad if that was reduced to a 1 lane street? Also, where they are making the steps up to the Ivey building, what else is going to be there? Is it just a few tables and an entrance to the building?

 

There is no way to do anything about the other side of 5th unless the Latorre's redevelop those buildings. If that ever happens, you can expect the sidewalk to look like it does on either end of that block - wide, brick, street trees, and ped-scale lighting.

 

 

And they were easy to count too, because the meters were covered by those red hoods that the city always seems to put out just before I drive uptown looking for street parking.  But that's a rant for another day.

 

I see that they had (or had) something in the works for 5th between College and the light rain line, but cannot find anything for the College to Tryon block.  Might be worth emailing CDOT to make the suggestion.  I have always found them to be responsive.

 

The Center City Transportation Plan calls for the parking on 5th between Tryon and College to go away. If that happens, you can correctly assume that it would be in favor of widening the sidewalk along both sides of the street. This would likely need to be a stand-alone capital project since it would require a substantial amount of work. However, because City Council decided not to fund any projects in Center City for the next 8 years or so in the new CIP package, I wouldn't get too excited about any of that work actually happening.

 

The sidewalk widening project on 5th between College and the light rail tracks was completed prior to the DNC.

[dubone]

I'd far rather retain the old storefronts than have a wider sidewalk by Dandelion, etc. Purely based on where the lanes and shoulders are now, they could easily expand the sidewalk without changing the lanes or street parking at all by Connolly's. Obviously if they took out street parking, it would be nice for them to put a normal sidewalk on the Blumenthal side, and just bump out the first floor to be the same footprint as their second floor to add space.

[ah59396]

The trees are UP on 5th street and they look great.  I wish they had planted trees this size in Romare Bearden.

[Spartan]

This was taken on 10/14. Still not sure how the outdoor seating would work for a restaurant but the stairs are nice.

The streetscape is looking good otherwise.

[CLTProductions]

I meant to get a picture yesterday but I forgot. They are making great progress and have a good amount of all the bricks down. It looks great!!

[tozmervo]

Big difference!

 

The newly created space in Iveys is signed as "Available"

[ssh214]

Big difference!

 

The newly created space in Iveys is signed as "Available"

Wow this looks so much nicer! A little change like this has made a huge difference in my opinion

[dubone]

I went by last night and was so happy to see the progress on the sidewalk.

 

It will be interesting to see how the wider Ivey-side sidewalk impacts the Dandelion side sidewalk which is not being widened.   I personally will heavily favor walking on the Ivey-side from now on.

[CLT_Gal]

Did anyone notice how they cut down 3 of the new trees?  I walked by yesterday and the first 3 trees closest to Tryon have literally been chopped off so that only the trunk is left.  What the heck happened there??