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Yes, they are operational. Mast will join several wig shops as well a new Main Street homeless shelter in the Main Street renaissance. I wish Mast well.
I'm sure they know more about picking a spot than you do. The transitional center is shaping up nicely for helping people become productive again. Jesus is happy with it.
Yeah, that center is like four or five blocks away and isn't even visible from Mast. Out of sight, out of mind is what I say. As long as the center will be policed and monitored, that won't be an issue. I'm sure that Mast already knew about that when they planned the store anyway.
I just don't get this sort of animosity. Did someone from Columbia slash someone's tires or something? It's puzzling why people expend this amount of energy demonstrating constant negativity.
Well I think the title of the thread was kinda baiting this type of reaction.
In my opinion Columbia is never going to have a pristine and clean and wholesome downtown area and I do not think that is a bad thing. I love Greenville and its downtown, I have been there working or for fun on a daily basis for the last 15 years and it is a special place with a great vibe. I think downtown Columbia has it own vibe and its a little gritty but I think it has loads of potential.
I see a great opportunity for more live music in downtown Columbia..something along the lines of an Orange Peel in Ashville and maybe just a little bigger. I think it could pull in some great artist and performers for plays with all the young creative energy in Columbia.
The main thing is getting feet on the street on a regular basis. I think Mass General will make that happen so its a good thing and who knows what kind of environment will grow out of that.
Every city has its own feel and I think somewhere along the way Columbia let that go. I really do hope it can find it again as having another vibrant downtown option in a hour and half drive would be great for the state.
Well I think the title of the thread was kinda baiting this type of reaction.
In my opinion Columbia is never going to have a pristine and clean and wholesome downtown area and I do not think that is a bad thing. I love Greenville and its downtown, I have been there working or for fun on a daily basis for the last 15 years and it is a special place with a great vibe. I think downtown Columbia has it own vibe and its a little gritty but I think it has loads of potential.
I see a great opportunity for more live music in downtown Columbia..something along the lines of an Orange Peel in Ashville and maybe just a little bigger. I think it could pull in some great artist and performers for plays with all the young creative energy in Columbia.
The main thing is getting feet on the street on a regular basis. I think Mass General will make that happen so its a good thing and who knows what kind of environment will grow out of that.
Every city has its own feel and I think somewhere along the way Columbia let that go. I really do hope it can find it again as having another vibrant downtown option in a hour and half drive would be great for the state.
True...I think Columbia and Greenville's downtowns are both different and have their pros and cons. I dont know where you live.. but if you are a visitor to Columbia... just curious on what you mean by "gritty"? By that do you mean historic, run down, too many bums etc. I have heard it used before but I am curious to know your context to see if that is a common perception
I mean it in the way that New York will never seem pristine and clean. It will always have some grit involved in it. No matter how nice the stores or how rich the people walking the streets, there will always be a strong urban undercurrent or grit.
I am a Greenville Native, but have been to downtown Columbia loads of times over the years, and honestly have always had mixed experiences but I do see loads of potential for the city of Columbia to be something unique, but it has not developed yet for whatever reason.
Interesting. I guess compared to Greenville's downtown, Columbia's might seem gritty but I wouldn't call it that in an absolute sense. When I think gritty, I think of a city like Memphis which has a pretty nice downtown area actually. I also think about the northern section of downtown Charleston away from the touristy stuff, like when you first come onto the peninsula at the terminus of I-26.
Like almost every other downtown, Columbia's went through a downturn when the stores bolted for the suburbs but in Columbia that seems to have happened a little later than in other cities. I still remember shopping at some of the department stores on Main Street like Macy's when it was still a pretty active area and that was in the early 1990's. And at the time, there were still a lot of derelict buildings in the Vista. When you look at it like that, you realize that Main Street is still in the early stages of a comeback. The Vista has come a very long way from what it used to be. The way things are now isn't the way they have always been. It's all a process and processes take time but progress is definitely being made.
Last edited by Palmetto_Guy; 04-27-2011 at 08:24 PM..
This thread is about Mast General Store, which just happens to be locating on Main Street. Main Street and downtown are not synonymous in Columbia. If the city's leaders had been as on the ball 10 years ago as they are now, they could have lured Mast General with the natural resources Mr. Martin mentioned and the old Hinson's Feed and Seed building on Lady Street in the Vista. It would have been just as perfect for them as the Lourie's building. It worked out fine, though, because the Backpacker is the Vista's specialist in the great outdoors. One street does not a great downtown make.
Actually, This thread is about what Mass Generals Vice president said about Columbia having more than Greenville and the OP using it to chum the waters.
Well, that it was. I stand corrected. I had forgotten: I was just having some fun with a quote. Funny how a post about a store official saying Columbia has more natural amenities than Greenville turned into another debate about the two cities' downtowns. I would have thought the initial defensive response would be something like the Reedy River is superior to the Congaree or Lake Hartwell is much closer to Greenville than people realize. Could it be that the frequent City-data Greenvillain offender(s) perceive that the only thing Greenville has over Columbia is its Main Street and a few chains? After all, Columbia is so much closer to that natural amenity called the ocean. At any rate the thread got off topic immediately. Par for the course.
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