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It's amazing the transformation that has happened to Mercer's main campus since 2008. With the success of College Hill, moving to the Southern Conference and the growth of student enrollment; I could see Mercer at 15,000 students by 2030.
Quote:
The new four-story residence hall will house 300 freshmen and include eight community bathrooms. The front entrance of the building will be on Elm Street between Mary Erin Porter Hall and Plunkett Hall. A new road to the building will be created through Ash Street. The university plans to tear down Physical Plant and East Hall to create space for the residence hall and an additional 200 parking spaces.
MidGeorgiaman, do you see Mercer expanding across I-75 anytime in the future?
I really don't. Mercer has been the catalyst for much of the improvement through the College Hill Corridor including Tattnall Square and Beals Hill. There is still a good bit of work to do in those areas, but since so much redevelopment has already occurred there...it is far easier and impactful to stay the course. While Mercer abuts 75, the interstate provides a fairly good western boundary and insulation from the very high crime areas on that side of the highway. The college hill and beals hill areas made sense because they joined the university AND connected it to downtown and the intown neighborhoods which were redeveloping on their own through arts and such. It was fixing a rough patch between two nicer areas. On the other side of 75, there is block after block and neighborhood after neighborhood of little but blight and destitution. There arent the historical bones to build from over there, there isnt the job base such as downtown and the medical center, etc. Frankly, the amount of money needed to make progress over there would be astronomical and IMO, it would be easier to buy it up and bulldoze it and start over, but why bother when there is still plenty to get done east of the interstate.
I see your point, the eastside areas still need some work, especially south of Mercer University Drive. That's why I'm hoping the new mixed-use project that Mercer is developing along Mercer University Drive will be that catalyst to drive gentrification further south and east of the University. I truly believe that with the progress that has already been made in College Hill and with the plans for the Second Avenue connector; Macon might one day be mention in the same conversation as cities like Chattanooga, when it comes to successful urban development in the South.
I don't live in Macon and haven't been there since the 70's, but from what I'm sensing, every single step that is taken south of Mercer University Drive, will be two steps away from the progress needed to push Macon forward. The more attention and funding directed away from the city proper, then the harder it will be to recover. The future of this city has to be tied to its immediate downtown area because that is the direction that will most secure it's survival. Mercer has been a huge saving force in some urban neighborhoods, but its primary mission is and will remain education - not social/economic reform...ultimately those are the responsibilities of civic and elected officials.
And as bad as western Macon might be (i.e., beyond I-75), it's surely better than the area between Emery Hwy and Shurling Drive. There are pockets of poverty and waste there that defy logic.
I hesitate to say it, but I just don't see the current political leadership having the savvy or wherewithal to make informed decisions. As a case in point, I'll use the waterpark that was recently announced and ballyhooed for Sandy Beach Park: Here is a facility that is being built 10 miles from downtown, with no means other than cars for people living downtown or east of the river to get to, and no apparent attempt by the city to work a bus route into the mixture. And for the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the city/county are providing for infrastructure costs, there will be a payback of $1 per year for three years and only then will a profit-sharing system kick in. For all I know, this park could turn out to be a real money maker, but my personal feeling is that it won't. I say this because I've got money but a waterpark 10 miles away simply doesn't motivate me! If it was downtown along the river (a more logical location), then I would visit occasionally, and I'm sure such a location would better fit most Maconites as well. Whether or not the city fathers attempted to interest the park owners into setting up downtown, I don't know, but this scenario wasn't mentioned in the internet article linked on this forum. A park, or any other popular distraction, that is 10 miles away does the city no good and is a poor investment in my opinion.
It also makes me wonder why the city/county doesn't make similarly generous concessions to attract businesses such as Sears, Penny's, etc, downtown. That area doesn't need superstores, it needs smaller footprints to attract and support a growing downtown population. Hardware, clothing, furniture, entertainment, and groceries - these are the necessary staples. If a business such as Trader Joe's can succeed with offering many fewer items than the average super-mega-market, then there's no reason why a Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, etc can't do likewise in cities the size of Macon. If I was the mayor, that would be my pitch to these companies: We'll charge you $1/year for five years to set up in one of our empty downtown spaces/stores so that you can provide goods/services to the downtown area. If I was the CEO of one of these companies, I'd be looking at ways of building/stocking smaller stores that could shoehorn into small downtown areas like Macon's.
Almost as problematic as being able to get things we do need, is getting things we don't need. Airforceguy recently linked to an article about a furniture store setting up downtown. As I read the article I could see this store would have no impact on me because the business model is to advise and sell furniture to companies or small businesses. I want someone selling me a bed, or a sofa, or a wardrobe, not office furniture! At some point, downtown Macon will need a mixture of businesses that cater to both the individual as well as the corporate, but I wonder if that time has come yet. Maybe...I confess I don't know, but I feel it would have been better to have opened a home furniture store first.
I've said this before and I'll say it again, if Macon wants to stop its decline and head into the black, it should not try to focus on the tourist dollar to do so. Concentrate on what makes Macon unique: its history, its ethnicities, its geography, and its promise. Naming a museum after a woman who probably never even set foot in the state is a cheap way to gain attention, but will not work in the long run because there's simply no viable connection. First make your citizens happy: provide entertainment opportunities, quality education, recreational venues, museums, culturally diverse programs, and the like. Once these things are met, then people outside the area will notice and will want to join in the fun.
I don't live in Macon and haven't been there since the 70's, but from what I'm sensing, every single step that is taken south of Mercer University Drive, will be two steps away from the progress needed to push Macon forward. The more attention and funding directed away from the city proper, then the harder it will be to recover. The future of this city has to be tied to its immediate downtown area because that is the direction that will most secure it's survival. Mercer has been a huge saving force in some urban neighborhoods, but its primary mission is and will remain education - not social/economic reform...ultimately those are the responsibilities of civic and elected officials.
And as bad as western Macon might be (i.e., beyond I-75), it's surely better than the area between Emery Hwy and Shurling Drive. There are pockets of poverty and waste there that defy logic.
I hesitate to say it, but I just don't see the current political leadership having the savvy or wherewithal to make informed decisions. As a case in point, I'll use the waterpark that was recently announced and ballyhooed for Sandy Beach Park: Here is a facility that is being built 10 miles from downtown, with no means other than cars for people living downtown or east of the river to get to, and no apparent attempt by the city to work a bus route into the mixture. And for the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the city/county are providing for infrastructure costs, there will be a payback of $1 per year for three years and only then will a profit-sharing system kick in. For all I know, this park could turn out to be a real money maker, but my personal feeling is that it won't. I say this because I've got money but a waterpark 10 miles away simply doesn't motivate me! If it was downtown along the river (a more logical location), then I would visit occasionally, and I'm sure such a location would better fit most Maconites as well. Whether or not the city fathers attempted to interest the park owners into setting up downtown, I don't know, but this scenario wasn't mentioned in the internet article linked on this forum. A park, or any other popular distraction, that is 10 miles away does the city no good and is a poor investment in my opinion.
It also makes me wonder why the city/county doesn't make similarly generous concessions to attract businesses such as Sears, Penny's, etc, downtown. That area doesn't need superstores, it needs smaller footprints to attract and support a growing downtown population. Hardware, clothing, furniture, entertainment, and groceries - these are the necessary staples. If a business such as Trader Joe's can succeed with offering many fewer items than the average super-mega-market, then there's no reason why a Walmart, Home Depot, Costco, etc can't do likewise in cities the size of Macon. If I was the mayor, that would be my pitch to these companies: We'll charge you $1/year for five years to set up in one of our empty downtown spaces/stores so that you can provide goods/services to the downtown area. If I was the CEO of one of these companies, I'd be looking at ways of building/stocking smaller stores that could shoehorn into small downtown areas like Macon's.
Almost as problematic as being able to get things we do need, is getting things we don't need. Airforceguy recently linked to an article about a furniture store setting up downtown. As I read the article I could see this store would have no impact on me because the business model is to advise and sell furniture to companies or small businesses. I want someone selling me a bed, or a sofa, or a wardrobe, not office furniture! At some point, downtown Macon will need a mixture of businesses that cater to both the individual as well as the corporate, but I wonder if that time has come yet. Maybe...I confess I don't know, but I feel it would have been better to have opened a home furniture store first.
I've said this before and I'll say it again, if Macon wants to stop its decline and head into the black, it should not try to focus on the tourist dollar to do so. Concentrate on what makes Macon unique: its history, its ethnicities, its geography, and its promise. Naming a museum after a woman who probably never even set foot in the state is a cheap way to gain attention, but will not work in the long run because there's simply no viable connection. First make your citizens happy: provide entertainment opportunities, quality education, recreational venues, museums, culturally diverse programs, and the like. Once these things are met, then people outside the area will notice and will want to join in the fun.
I say this with the utmost respect, as you are a good poster, but without you being here all the time, its obvious you dont understand whats going on in Macon. Almost ALL of the development has taken place downtown recently. As far as having a Sears, etc. downtown, you have to have people and while it is getting there it is hard to reverse 40 years of decline. We have made great strides, but there is still a long ways to go. Your comment about furniture stores is off base as well. There are three furniture stores in a two block radius that I can think of in downtown (Blairs, Blairs Too, Union Furniture).
I can say with almost 100% certainty,the water park being downtown wouldn't make it more successful. There are A LOT of people who wont even come downtown because of how it USED to be. Is it in the best spot, nope. It needs to be right by the interstate. As far as your comment about the city bus needs to run routes there, I can tell you there would be no faster way for that place to close up shop. There are good people who ride the bus, but there is a ton of riff raff as well and you need to make the suburban people from Bibb and Houston Counties feel safe or they will not come.
Well, it's nice to know that I can shop downtown for my furniture. This sort of info is easily available via Google, and I can't explain why I didn't check beforehand. At any rate, thanks for setting me straight.
If you can argue that the water park being located downtown would not make it more successful, then I'll argue that it would not make it less successful either, and indeed the increased traffic and visitors would benefit the downtown and city to a much greater degree than otherwise. If you give city/county people healthy and safe reasons to come downtown, then they'll come, and my guess is that it would be a positive experience. As it is, the park in its current location will likely be mildly successful for the first couple of years but then the novelty will wear off, attendance will drop, and the park will ultimately close. It's slated to have the pool open year round, but who is going to drive 10 miles (or more) just to swim in January? Would you do it? I wouldn't!
I'm confused as to why you think park visitors arriving by city bus would make others arriving by car feel less safe. I envision downtowners & inner-city children using the bus, and I can't imagine why that necessarily would be a bad thing. As long as there are rules, and people know what the rules are and the rules are enforced, then the park should welcome guests regardless of how they enter. My intentions are to have a vacation home in the downtown Macon area, and to walk, bike, or use city transit for the bulk of my travel there. I'm not inclined to own another vehicle just for Georgia (we have two in California), and I'm not inclined to rent a car just to visit a water theme park. I would be willing to use city transit, however. I'll be retiring in another year, and I consider myself the sort of individual the city would want to have: law abiding, responsible, educated, community involved, money in the bank, and active. As has oft been said, Macon shows a great deal of potential, but I'm not at all sure that this potential is properly exploited. Time, as they say, will tell.
Location: Metro Atlanta (Sandy Springs), by way of Macon, GA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CuriouserGeorge
as bad as western Macon might be (i.e., beyond I-75), it's surely better than the area between Emery Hwy and Shurling Drive. There are pockets of poverty and waste there that defy logic.
The area you're talking about in East Macon is Fort Hill, and it's a poor neighborhood but the poor areas in West Macon look much worse visually, have more crime, and cover a much larger area.
It doesn't even look bad compared to South and West Macon. Public Housing Units like Tindall Heights, Alphabet City (Murphey Homes), Pendleton Homes, Bowden Homes, Bird City, Montpelier Avenue, Broadway, 2nd Street South of downtown, Houston Ave, Duncan Avenue, etc. All of these look much worse than Fort Hill.
West Macon is Macon's "claim to fame" in the "street" world and even is somewhat known even outside of Macon as being home to the Crips gang in Macon.
TH is one of the ugliest spots in Macon and it's right by Mercer
Last edited by Southern Soul Bro; 02-17-2015 at 12:02 AM..
Since I haven't visited Macon in a very long while, and because I'm limited to GoogleMaps in what I can see, I'm obliged to respect your knowledge of the area. That said, I will point out that Fort Hill housing bordered by Cochran Avenue-Bowman Street-Sulphur Springs Road is some of the most depressing housing I've ever seen. By comparison, and based solely what I can see on GoogleMaps, Tindall Heights is the much the nicer of the two.
Another distinction I'll note is that almost all the nicer homes in the Fort Hill district seem to be 50's era brick ranch-style designs, but there are plenty of older and nicer bungalow types in the Tindall Heights neighborhood. If I had to choose one neighborhood over the over, it would definitely be Tindall Heights.
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