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I second Sumter Street.. If it can be improved along with infill from Laurel St to Gervais it would be a huge boost.. In fact having apartment buildings (like what is happening on Lady Street) along it would give more population/life to Main Street.. Assembly should develop more for office/commercial. If that occurs all the East West Streets from Assembly to Sumter would likely continue to see substantial improvements as well.
I agree with all of this. I don't think Assembly is ever going to become a pedestrian friendly street like Sumter and Main street can be. It is a main artery of our Capitol that is designed for heavy traffic. Main and Sumter are streets can have retail and residential on both sides without the worry of 40 cars coming at you driving 50mph like Assembly, Elmwood, Gervais, and Bull.
I agree with all of this. I don't think Assembly is ever going to become a pedestrian friendly street like Sumter and Main street can be. It is a main artery of our Capitol that is designed for heavy traffic. Main and Sumter are streets can have retail and residential on both sides without the worry of 40 cars coming at you driving 50mph like Assembly, Elmwood, Gervais, and Bull.
Unfortunately, I think you’re right about Assembly. I wish we could invest in a true overhaul of Assembly and bring it back to its namesake state of a place to gather for pedestrians and other activity. Huger St is less than mile away and is an arterial road with equal connectivity to surface streets and the interstate. We don’t need two of them. What we need is another human-scaled street. The likelihood of this happening in my lifetime is essentially zero.
Unfortunately, I think you’re right about Assembly. I wish we could invest in a true overhaul of Assembly and bring it back to its namesake state of a place to gather for pedestrians and other activity. Huger St is less than mile away and is an arterial road with equal connectivity to surface streets and the interstate. We don’t need two of them. What we need is another human-scaled street. The likelihood of this happening in my lifetime is essentially zero.
I believe it is controlled by SCDOT who view it Huger, Bull and Elmwood as major thoroughfares to move traffic around the CBD.. I think the City of Columbia would have to take it over if it wanted to implement those changes... If others have different information.. I stand to be corrected but I believe that was one of the major impediments.
.There are so many things that could be done with Assembly starting with taking out the center parking aisle and replacing it with a wide tree lined median with a walkway and bump outs at the intersections that make it easier to cross. I would do this from Taylor to Gervais or maybe even Pendleton Street. I view it like the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philly. It is a super wide street but with medians, monuments, trees and greenspace seems more human even recreational though its a wide street (THis is where Rocky ran through the City and up the steps for all you Philly Fans
I know its not the same scale but having a usable greenspace refuge in the middle of the street that can be used for walking, biking or just sitting quietly could be huge for the CBD. Additionally, you could put public art at various locations and maybe even a pole flag to each of SC 46 counties (23 or each side of the median) along with more human scale lighting the same way Philly uses flags from various countries...
In the link I just wanted to highlight how the median with the walkway breaks up such a large street and creates to opportunity for more public space
I believe it is controlled by SCDOT who view it Huger, Bull and Elmwood as major thoroughfares to move traffic around the CBD.. I think the City of Columbia would have to take it over if it wanted to implement those changes... If others have different information.. I stand to be corrected but I believe that was one of the major impediments.
.There are so many things that could be done with Assembly starting with taking out the center parking aisle and replacing it with a wide tree lined median with a walkway and bump outs at the intersections that make it easier to cross. I would do this from Taylor to Gervais or maybe even Pendleton Street. I view it like the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philly. It is a super wide street but with medians, monuments, trees and greenspace seems more human even recreational though its a wide street (THis is where Rocky ran through the City and up the steps for all you Philly Fans
I know its not the same scale but having a usable greenspace refuge in the middle of the street that can be used for walking, biking or just sitting quietly could be huge for the CBD. Additionally, you could put public art at various locations and maybe even a pole flag to each of SC 46 counties (23 or each side of the median) along with more human scale lighting the same way Philly uses flags from various countries...
In the link I just wanted to highlight how the median with the walkway breaks up such a large street and creates to opportunity for more public space
You beat me to the punch I was gonna bring up and show the Benjamin PKWY in philly. a Road that can be human scale and still move cars at the same time.
That second photo with the building in the median would be a interesting place for some type of museum or visitors center and serve as an anchor for the entire strip if it was on Assembly.
Its funny how most "Broad" Streets are "Main" Streets in Cities that have them.. I am surprised Columbia doesnt have a "Broad" Street because we have a Broad River... I guess we have to settle for Broad River Rd....SMH ..
Fun fact the term "Broad" in reference to a female... I have heard different references to how this term came about from references to anatomy to the fact that Broad St is the main st in many towns/cities in the North and sailors in the 1940s used to go downtown to cruise and pick up women who used to hang out and walk up an down the Main St to shops/restaurants to socialize.. thus the women that did this were called "Broads" ...The best example being Broadway in NYC... I dont know how true that is.. but there you go
Last edited by Woodlands; 10-29-2021 at 06:38 AM..
That second photo with the building in the median would be a interesting place for some type of museum or visitors center and serve as an anchor for the entire strip if it was on Assembly.
I always consider main/prominent streets like Augusta's Broad Street to be a distinctive feature of Georgia's second-tier cities.
I was in Columbia today. Killian Road had surveyors scoping out future construction, I guess.
Gotta say: Driving into downtown on Bull, the REI pushed back and a couple of parking garages under construction as the prominent structures from that angle are a big disappointment, a huge missed opportunity to set a defined, urban tone for the introduction to downtown, and not aesthetically pleasing at that.
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