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I'm a lurker on this board and Concord is on my short list for a possible future move. I must say that when I first looked at Concord online, the only thing I couldn't understand was that the "main street" through town was four lanes across. Not pedestrian- and shopper-friendly by any stretch of the imagination. So I think this will be a good thing in terms of making Concord's "downtown" even more walkable than it may already be, and may more easily attract folks like me who aren't necessarily looking for totally urban, but don't want totally rural either.
I'm a lurker on this board and Concord is on my short list for a possible future move. I must say that when I first looked at Concord online, the only thing I couldn't understand was that the "main street" through town was four lanes across. Not pedestrian- and shopper-friendly by any stretch of the imagination. So I think this will be a good thing in terms of making Concord's "downtown" even more walkable than it may already be, and may more easily attract folks like me who aren't necessarily looking for totally urban, but don't want totally rural either.
Concords downtown was already quite walakable, all this does is further tie up traffic and add congestion
I'm a lurker on this board and Concord is on my short list for a possible future move. I must say that when I first looked at Concord online, the only thing I couldn't understand was that the "main street" through town was four lanes across. Not pedestrian- and shopper-friendly by any stretch of the imagination. So I think this will be a good thing in terms of making Concord's "downtown" even more walkable than it may already be, and may more easily attract folks like me who aren't necessarily looking for totally urban, but don't want totally rural either.
On paper, trying to walk across 4 lanes of moving traffic sounds impossible. In reality though, there were sidewalks at every corner, and I've never had an experience where people don't stop for those in the crosswalk. And I used to spend A LOT of time in downtown Concord-there are some great shops to visit. In my opinion, this will make the downtown more congested, something that I never felt was an issue. Main Street was never a race track, and again, have never had an issue with drivers blowing past pedestrians on the sidewalk....
I've also never had a problem with backing out of a parking place. I don't care that somebody in the 2nd lane is still moving--I only back into the far right lane. In my opinion, bicyclists are the bigger issue. You can easily see cars coming toward you. Bicycles, not so much...
I have mixed feelings on this. Before they started it, I would have agreed with a lot of the posters here, saying it wasn't really necessary, main street already was very walk able and the parking wasn't really that big of an issue to justify spending that kind of money.
As far as driving a car down main street, it sucked before the renovation because the 4 lanes were not really wide enough (cars sticking out into the lanes) and the excessive amount of crosswalks and time it took for people to slowly walk across four lanes was painful. With that said, I avoided main street before unless I was looking to park on main street and I will avoid it now, unless I am looking to park on it.
Now that its complete, my mind has changed. I really like how it looks and I think it will have a positive affect on town and will hopefully pull in some more businesses. There is more spaces on the sidewalk for outdoor dining and main street in general looks a LOT more appealing.
I have mixed feelings on this. Before they started it, I would have agreed with a lot of the posters here, saying it wasn't really necessary, main street already was very walk able and the parking wasn't really that big of an issue to justify spending that kind of money.
As far as driving a car down main street, it sucked before the renovation because the 4 lanes were not really wide enough (cars sticking out into the lanes) and the excessive amount of crosswalks and time it took for people to slowly walk across four lanes was painful. With that said, I avoided main street before unless I was looking to park on main street and I will avoid it now, unless I am looking to park on it.
Now that its complete, my mind has changed. I really like how it looks and I think it will have a positive affect on town and will hopefully pull in some more businesses. There is more spaces on the sidewalk for outdoor dining and main street in general looks a LOT more appealing.
Although I disagree with you, I enjoyed the wording of your post, one thing though the street itself is still about the same width, just with a useless middle section.
I haven't driven down there since the construction finished. Someone had told me this was happening on Loudon Rd. I am just glad they confused the 2 areas! That would have been a nightmare.
I always found it was hard to turn onto Main St. With all of the cars parks outward, it was difficult to see oncoming traffic. And although it was fairly pedestrian friendly before, I have a feeling this will improve the foot traffic (which will be good for the local businesses). I'm not so sure this is a bad thing but I will have to check it out for myself soon.
Update, went into Concords downtown proper yesterday on my journey to find the surgical center I will be going to in December.. the time was 1:30.. pedestrians running a muck in the streets ignoring those pedestrian friendly side walks.. no less then four vehicles double parked in the travel lanes, cars making illegal u turns on those nice new center sections and in general near stand still situation. Yep a "real" improvement all right
Update, went into Concords downtown proper yesterday on my journey to find the surgical center I will be going to in December.. the time was 1:30.. pedestrians running a muck in the streets ignoring those pedestrian friendly side walks.. no less then four vehicles double parked in the travel lanes, cars making illegal u turns on those nice new center sections and in general near stand still situation. Yep a "real" improvement all right
Interesting, I am visiting family in a few days and I will have to see for myself as well as I anticipate going to downtown Concord. I do have to wonder why the city is not trying to position itself as being more open to some additional economic development on the job front as tax rates there continue to increase. I have a feeling that with all of the tax exempt properties within the city limits that cuts into this as well.
I was there during construction last Summer. I'll have to go back and see what the results are. Usually the nearest I get to Concord is on I-93 getting to the road to Laconia. That I-93 to I-393 Exit ramp is a gem if there is nobody in front of me.
I drove down main street and parked there in September. It didn't look terrible but backing out was still a hassle. What really disappointed me was that I parked so I could visit the history museum. It was closed and moved. When I found the new building a lady said it won't be ready for the public until November. I presume it's open now, curious to see what they added. Maybe next summer I'll check it out.
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