“The Spoofer” maybe meant it tongue-in-cheek, but it’s a great idea:
One of the comments on the “Recreating Rome” posting, (scroll down to after 11 PM July 6) about how to enliven the Fourth Street-Graham Street-West Trade Street vicinity uptown, came from someone calling herself/himself “The Spoofer,” who said:
“The solution is rather simple: Get city council to declare that area a 24/7 flea market and yard sale mecca. Citizens should be told that the space around those streets would be available for free on a first-come, first-served basis. Residents would be allowed to bring their own card tables any time they wish, and sell all that junk that Charlotteans spend most Saturdays driving from neighborhood to neighborhood to buy. Voila! Instant retail in center city without spending millions of taxpayer monies to alter infrastructure or to subsidize businesses.
It could turn into another Anderson Jockey Lot, only bigger. And talk about activity! There’s nothing more active than a gigantic city yard sale district. Tourists would flock there for bargains.
“Those pocketing cash at the end of the day from their efforts would no doubt spend part of it on uptown attractions or dining, further boosting center cityism. The only drawback would be the futility of trying to impose a system of sales or use tax on the vendors so that government could grow bigger from the proceeds. Gee, maybe that’s not a drawback after all.”
I think it’s a fabulous idea. Michael Smith (CEO of Charlotte Center City Partners) , I hope you’re reading. It’s akin to architect Murray Whisnant’s idea a few years back (in the pre-EpiCentre era) to take the old civic center building, knock out its side walls and turn it into “the agora” – a farmers and flea market for anyone who wanted to sell there.
Seriously, small-scale retail begets larger-scale retail. And I’d love it if I didn’t have to drive all the way up to the Metrolina Expo for a good flea-market experience.
Kudos to The Spoofer. (But your idea to flood uptown – see comment at 8:36 PM – for a lake is somewhat less workable, dontcha think?)