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I know some vendors at the downtown market who attended a meeting last night. They were told that the funds being used for the downtown "revitalization" were from State Funds from the transportation! OMG!
I cannot believe this! So, we have to forgo safer roads for a downtown that is just fine the way it is! Apparently it's over a million buckaroos!
Then, they want to "move" the market south two blocks (where there is NO shade to speak of) making an "L" shaped area utilizing Las Cruces Ave. as the third block of the market, temporarily, until they REMOVE the shade structures currently in existence. AND, they will not replace them!
With that area as a wind tunnel, it's seems so ridiculous. Heck, if those temporary canopies they'll will have to use are lifted, someone is gonna get hurt and it ain't gonna be pretty!
So tell me, HOW will people be able to walk thru the market....it's already HOT under the shade in the summertime! They already hug the shade as it is. People with strollers, pets, older folks in wheelchairs etc. What are they thinking???
What do you all think about this? They heard there has not been much public input. I think there should be since the PUBLIC is the entity that makes the market successful!
Downtown Las Cruces is hardly fine the way it is. Urban renewal was a disaster, and the heart of the town was ripped out. Much can and should be done to improve Main Street.
Ok, so the revitalization is necessary, granted. I take my statement back. But 1. to take transportation monies? 2. No shade structures?
What are your thoughts on these two items?
The downtown revitalization is more than necessary.
One of the main features of the "new" downtown is reopening Main St and creating a Streetscape....this is a perfectly correct use of transportation money.
Merchants in Mesilla Plaza bring their own shade structures. My understanding is that there will be shade, probably temporary, available to vendors downtown, but they can also take care of themselves. There was talk of pergolas covered with vining plants, but I don't know if that made it into the final plan.
How much money do vendors put into this renovation? My guess is zero.
I like the market and I'm sure it will continue, but temporary vendors needs come in a distant second to those of property owners and business operators downtown. It's called payin the cost to be the boss.
There has been a ton of public meetings, design charettes, etc that vendors could attend. See the files on the LC website below. Even though I live in Mesilla I went to two charettes because I'm interested in downtown LC and want to see it reborn. It's on the way.
Did you vendor friends ever go to any of these meetings? If ya don't take the time to participate ya got no reason to whine.
There's a ton..a ton of information available on all this. A little computer time and some searching is all thats needed.
Subject Index for Press Releases and Statements | Senator Pete V. Domenici (http://domenici.senate.gov/news/topicrecord.cfm?id=281231&code=JobsEcoDev - broken link)
I think it's important to keep the market downtown, in whatever form it may take during the reconstruction. Moving it elsewhere would be counterproductive to an event that is only marginally successful in the first place.
It's a testament to how far downtown has sunk that this little morning mercado thing is the best thing happening downtown. I mean, here is a town that is growing by leaps and bounds and downtown is a ghost town. except for a few galleries, the theaters and COAS. I give all those folks a lot of credit for staying there.
I"m happy that something is going on down there, though, and hope that the newly renovated downtown will attract more merchants and more customers.
As I read the SunNews piece it seemed as though the suggestion of a move to the park was the result of trying to please vendors complaining about a lack of shade being provided for them.
As far as I'm concerned they can bring their own popup tent or sit in the sun like vendors in the Mesilla Plaza do.
Well, the funds might come from an Obama infrastructure plan instead.
Main Street Stimulus: Stimulus in the News - usmayors.org (http://www.usmayors.org/mainstreeteconomicrecovery/stimulussurveyparticipantsdata.asp?City=Las+Cruces &State=NM - broken link)
As I read the SunNews piece it seemed as though the suggestion of a move to the park was the result of trying to please vendors complaining about a lack of shade being provided for them.
As far as I'm concerned they can bring their own popup tent or sit in the sun like vendors in the Mesilla Plaza do.
Heck, as a shopper, I'd like the shade for ME, too!
Even though I am not elderly, what about the elderly walking?? Or even moreso, those in wheelchairs? I know that in the summer, we are scorching in the shade. Not sure the direct sun will be my favorite place to be on a Saturday morning!
Then, I worry about those portable tents blowing away and plopping onto people's head!
Note: I also think that, in the wintertime, the should shift the hours from, say, 10-2 instead of 8-12:30. Some of my friends miss it cuz they sleep in!
Thanks for that US mayor site, also. It'd be GREAT if they DID get more money! (not holding my breath!!)
Heck, as a shopper, I'd like the shade for ME, too!
Even though I am not elderly, what about the elderly walking?? Or even moreso, those in wheelchairs? I know that in the summer, we are scorching in the shade. Not sure the direct sun will be my favorite place to be on a Saturday morning!
Then, I worry about those portable tents blowing away and plopping onto people's head!
Note: I also think that, in the wintertime, the should shift the hours from, say, 10-2 instead of 8-12:30. Some of my friends miss it cuz they sleep in!
Thanks for that US mayor site, also. It'd be GREAT if they DID get more money! (not holding my breath!!)
I'm sure the vendors and their customers would absolutely LOVE a nice big airconditioned building too, but I doubt they want to pay for it.
With the market being open as early as it is anyone who cares to visit can do so in relative comfort, temperature-wise. This is the desert, after all, and if it's too hot to set up to sell or to shop, too bad.
Nobody in my home state of Michigan is doing outdoor craft and produce markets in January, for the same reason.
Thousands of art and craft fairs, etc. use only popup canopies instead of permanent shade structures. I think if blowing over and conking someone on the noggin was an issue there would be lawyers lined up on windy days.
Yer kinda reaching for something not to like about the Main St. project, aren't you
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