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October 1, 2004
Is this a bar, cafe or restaurant?
All of the above. This is 'Clocks' in Athens, GA.
We're become a lot more acclimated to diversity and choice - we're seeing mixed housing, retail and office in our communities, and even in the same building. This trend is continuing down to single venues within buildings, and people like it. Why only recently? We now have more access to knowledge, and that means it's no longer considered crazy to run both a bookstore and a restaurant in the same venue.
Or a bar and a restaurant. Or a coffeehouse by day and a bar lounge by night... a bookstore cafe, a bar & grill, a cafe with live music, or even a theater with films, live bands and local performances.
This adds up to more revenue for the business owner and closer to a 24-hour environment for the patrons. In safety terms, it means fewer abandoned streets during the day or night, which is a good reason why Athens has such a safe downtown, a rather entertaining one at that.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
September 30, 2004
In Athens, indie restaurants thrive over McDonald's and Subway downtown
It's true. There are over a hundred retail venues in downtown Athens, but no fast food chains. No Gap or Banana Republic. No TGIF or Ruby Tuesday's or Baskin Robbins. The Subway that was here was torn down. The building owner who leased to the Gap didn't renew their agreement.
What's going on? The most common answer among Athenians was "sense of community". It'd be more accurate to say, "extremely strong sense of community". But how does this translate quantitatively to no chains?
How about 90%? That's the estimated number of locally-run building owners as opposed to absentee owners. It's actually more common to see it the other way around. Local building owners are not only more apt to want to contribute more to the local economy, but they also have their friends and family to answer to if they're guilty of replacing a favorite local coffeehouse with a Starbucks.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
September 29, 2004
The secret to Athens' vibe?
The people. Period. The built environment, music, sense of community and progressiveness are the results.
While in Athens we were extremely fortunate to meet with some of Athens' creative implementors, the ones a truly cool town can't do without. They included:
- Mayor Heidi Davison, as progressive, open-minded and down-to-earth as a mayor can be;
- Art Jackson, Director Athens Downtown Development Authority, helped us understand what makes the downtown merchants so unique;
- Tony Eubanks, co-founder of Athens Weekly News and bar owner, friends with REM (who are from Athens);
- Jared Bailey, former owner of the famous 40 Watt club and manager of AthFest;
- Chuck Galis, a New Urbanist developer;
- Jeff Montgomery, runs www.athensmusic.net;
- Nelson Wells, music promoter at Team Clermont;
- Bailey White, director of marketing for The Cloud, free wireless internet and promotions for downtown;
- Sarah van Ophuijsen - Big City Bread Marketing Director and founder of Athens Small Business Target Group;
- Sandi Turner, PR extraordinaire for Athens Clarke County and art gallery co-owner that brought many of these people together;
- Lucy Rowland, our Athens agent, tour guide and den mother of a 500-member professional urban planning online community
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
September 28, 2004
What makes Athens, Georgia so darn unique?
So of course, tonight we asked the University of Georgia students, especially the ones closest in association to the creative class...
The downtown is centralized, it has a sense of place, it's different, it's walkable, it has arty music scenes, a great country scene, bikes everywhere, it has a dense feel, it has people everywhere, the aesthetics are beautiful, it has diversity, a transient population, there's a wide variety of live music throughout, it's a liberal island, the streets and buildings are human-scale, there's a real mix of retail, and it has a sense of being built over time, organic and doesn't feel like a real estate development.
Some of the downtown criticisms were that 60% of it feels like a tourist trap, the retail is not for the people who live there, many of the shops sell overpriced merchandise and there's no grocery store.
Thanks to (left to right) Julia Reed, Jeff Owen, Ross Wallace, Marth Reynolds, Matt Livermore, Hugo Collantes, Denny Aldridge, Ryan Wilson, Addison Godel and Ben Liverman.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
September 27, 2004
Every retail-entertainment district needs a great venue developer
The biggest criticism to the idea of revitalizing and building neighborhoods and town centers is that they end up looking too new and sterile. Authenticity comes with an organic nature to development. Which is why the venue developer is as crucial to an area's success as a building developer or community developer. In fact, if the venue developer is good enough, the latter two become followers - and that may be the case in Madison, Wisconsin.
Local entrepreneur brothers Chris and Finn Berge opened a few restaurants, bars and markets in a rather ignored part of downtown Madison, but not before they traveled through over 40 countries, becoming intimately familiar with their culture and cuisine. The result is a multi-million enterprise of seven entirely unique, independent restaurants, bars, cafes and clubs, all of which are doing very well. The long-term result? Revitalization worth at least fifty times that in the immediate surrounding area - and immediately following the success of the new venues in formerly all-but-abandoned areas.
One of the reasons for success? Imagine an eclectic atmosphere like above, ordering a chicken dish that one would normally pay anywhere from $14-$18 for, and getting the bill for $7. Check out Natt Spil next time you're in Downtown Madison and Blue Marlin, Restaurant Magnus, Weary Traveler Free House, Barrique's Wine Cave, Barrique's Wine and Coffee Trader, Barrique's Market and Flatiron Tavern as well. Much of the excitement directy surrounding these venues came after they opened.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
