The residential portion and commercial portions should be used as a kind of cultural center.

Make the retail portion gallery space, or discounted retail space for local entrepreneurs/restauranteurs.

Maybe make some of it performance space.

Make the residential portion geared towards artists. Have artists who’d like to live in the entertainment district apply for the units based on their work, projects, and artististic ambitions. Give them reduced rent on the property based on their impact on the local arts community. Perhaps part of their “rent” being that they staff a city owned gallery located in the retail portion, or volunteer, or collaborate on public art.

I’m going full hippie on y’all, but I think a city-owned, city-administered, pseudo-public arts collective could be done, and it would reall inject new life into Dickson and all of Fayetteville. Afterall, aren’t most aspiring artists the “starving” type?

Just like the Genesis center provides an incubator for industry and commerce in south Fayetteville, a parking structure/mixed use building could provide a city-administered incubator for the arts in Fayetteville.

Yea and verily.

Abandon these aimless nickle-and-dime proposals no one wants. It’s time to think outside the box. Literally, too. The parking solution doesn’t need to be another Walton Arts Center, which is a giant brick Happy Meal carton.

Make the new parking structure an opportunity to fix the parking problem, encourage new activity/commerce/revenue, and showcase Fayetteville’s aesthetic side with some architectural flair. Plan for the solution, not the fee schemes.

So, build the new parking amenities, whether that be a garage, high-density facility, whathaveyou. (For example: http://www.spacesaverparking.com/). Charge the fees, pay off the bond. No vague, badly planned ambiguous mumbo-jumbo. A real design, a real plan. Build it and pay for it like any other infrastructure project. Oh, and while you’re at it, eliminate the parallel parking on the street completely. It is nothing but a traffic hazard, and it’s too hard to manage. (see above comments regarding “drunk” cars)

Personally, I would be very leery of any plan that starts charging fees with no established, legally defined structure. Where do the “earmarked” part of the fees go? Into some kind of trust account that can’t be touched? I hope so.

Mr. Petty, the high-density parking design I think would be particularly attractive since it has a smaller impact in both development and operation. Keep it from becomming a commercial monstrosity like the ones on the University campus.

http://www.bigmommascoffee.com/bptheatre/bptheatrehome.html

http://www.bigmommascoffee.com/

Actually, I’m pretty excited about both coming to town, especially Orange Tree. Its big in Hawaii and California. Not many locations nearby as far as I can tell.

We’re also getting Spiedini Italian Restaurant. All are going into Underwood Plaza building’s bottom floors.

Now, will South Fayetteville and the Mill District be reserved for Hippies, or will Hipsters be allowed, too? What about Republicans?

I think the gays should move in down there first. I’ve always been a little disappointed that we don’t have our own gay district. Makes ghettoization easier once President Huckabee gets into office.

A while back Gary Dumas had the idea to make all City lots $2-3 per hour to establish a “parking history” for bond application. I never understood what that meant, but he was shuffled right out the door when Jordan took office. I always figured you could quantify use with meter strips. Anyway, Dumas was out of the scene, and people were happy to hear the issue leave.

Then Jordan recently proposed giving the West Street lot – the largest public parking option on Dickson – to the Walton Arts Center to establish their own fee structure for their own profits. Of course, that was bunk favoritism, and would have left the WAC under no obligation to build more parking. I’m guessing the steam left this one?

So now we’re at the point where FayGov wants to charge for access to facilities with no upgrades or plans, discourage commerce, and *then* address infrastructure?

What are we circling here, plans to just make money or actually creating more parking spaces? To date, it has been *nothing* but talk of taking and not giving back. Show us the plan for the parking deck. If you’re going to grab the people’s money, give them something concrete. C’mon, FayGov.

Before I dive in with replies, I want to point out that the entire area surrounding the square has been paid parking for years. It’s still doing fine, and I would argue is finally entering a period of revitalization. First Thursday, Damgoode, Bliss Cupcakes, Opal Fly’s new place (yet to open). I know paid parking scares everyone, but this isn’t a crowded movie theatre and there is no fire.

@DicksonBizOwner – We really should sit down and talk about ways to make a good plan. Right now, we don’t have a plan, and we don’t have any policies either. All we’re doing now is trying to get input on how to make it work the best. We know doing nothing is not a smart choice (sorry to those who disagree), and we also know we can’t just steamroll bad legislation through. Let’s sit down and talk about how to do it right.

As far as the general activity level on Dickson goes, I’m going to hold up one of my favorite bars as an example of market forces. You may even be the owner of this bar, the Smoke and Barrel. S&B is consistently standing room only at least three nights each week. Why? Because they’re doing novel things that our community loves, like Connect Four tournaments and showing hyperlocal bands with no cover. If you compare S&B, a bar committed to our local culture, to a place like Stir, a bar committed only to helping people get stupid-drunk, it’s easy to see why many think Dickson has lost its character.

@Mullva – The next time I see #1, I’ll make sure to point it out to City Hall.

I’m as concerned about #2 as you are, and I’m trying to figure a way to mitigate it. What I’m thinking now is that there should be a night fee, not an hourly fee, and a grace period in the morning until 10am or something to give people time to get their cars before getting a ticket.

RE: #3 – We are, plus credit cards. For all of our paid parking, not just Dickson.

@Andrew – I haven’t read anything here that I would read as “hate” for students. All we’ve said is that students are consumers of parking spaces and they should have to pay along with everyone else. Can you agree that’s fair?

To be clear, I still like Dickson St. I’d just prefer to keep it a little more on the skanky side. Maybe I need to start a group, “The Skanky Side of Dickson Street.”

You make good points, David. I’m just giving one citizen’s perspective…but what the hell do I know?

The clarity you ask for is vital. Too many TIFs and similar mechanisms remain a complete mystery to the public, and are none too clear to the principals. Simply alleging that things will be improved is not enough, particularly as the Dickson Street area is such a complex blend of interests and uses.

If I can figure out which business you own, I’ll pop in– no beer required.

Like it or not, the University provides parking on campus; there is also a rather good University transit system. The parking on Dickson is for the benefit of patrons of Dickson Street businesses, not for the convenience of overly-entitled students taking classes. The business owners– even the jewelers– pay taxes whether you shop with them or not. Look at it the other way: where would the University be without Dickson Street?

A good way to solve the problem would be for U of A students to raise hell with the administration about the way it rolls over for the legislature and increases student fees without improving the product or service. As for student input on the future of Dickson Street parking, I’ll trust Dickson Street business owners to take student needs into consideration. Their thoughts on the matter are sure to be more realistic.