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Ah, Franklin Street. It's a bit of a mishmash, I must say. Because UNC is right on it (as well as a couple frat houses) there are plenty of places that cater to the college students. But if you know where to look, there are also some great restaurants: Lantern comes to mind, as well as Talulla's & Top of the Hill (Does Caffe Driade count? It's not in the high-walking-traffic area on Franklin, but it's my favorite place in CH).
I must say that I find it strange that you found the place to be so awful. I'm guessing that the problem is that it just doesn't live up to the hype(?). Maybe you were expecting Franklin Street to embody everything that makes Chapel Hill so attractive. I honestly think you'll have to wander further around town to find that.
I feel that Franklin Street is struggling to find its identity. Most of the events that happen there seem aimed at the college crowd (like the massive party that shuts down the whole street on Halloween). There used to be a family-oriented festival called Apple Chill on Franklin Street in the Spring, but after some gang activity and a shooting at last year's event, it has been shelved. The city officials seems positively heartbroken about that decision. Makes me wonder what they may be doing to overcome these problems.
I must say that I find it strange that you found the place to be so awful. I'm guessing that the problem is that it just doesn't live up to the hype(?). Maybe you were expecting Franklin Street to embody everything that makes Chapel Hill so attractive. I honestly think you'll have to wander further around town to find that.
There used to be a family-oriented festival called Apple Chill on Franklin Street in the Spring, but after some gang activity and a shooting at last year's event, it has been shelved.
I guess I expected it to be quaint and erm lets see..safe. I did not expect homeless people, gangster types and empty stores. To be fair, I should add that there were also plently of student types and famiies getting dinner wandering around. I don't mean to make it seem so terrible I was scared out of my mind, I just thought it would be a "nicer" area. Your comment on gang activity and and a shooting have not helped my view of downtown. Anyway we have not given up on the area, we will be exploring today (if the family ever finally gets ready to leave - how long can it take to shower?) and hope to find out what makes Chapel Hill great.
Just so you know, the problems at Apple Chill seemed to be caused by gangs based out of Durham. Also note that most of the problems occured during "After Chill" - the nighttime after-party. Still, it's very unusual activity & definitely does not represent your average weekend along Franklin Street. Why on earth these gangs chose to come to a family-friendly street fair in CH is beyond me, though. It's a shame because I hear that Apple Chill used to be great fun, with lots of local arts and foods. Guess we'll never know.
Here's a story about the offical cancellation of Apple Chill.
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/432485.html (broken link)
But like I said, there are still wonderful things about the area. There is much much more to Chapel Hill than a cancelled street fair. There are gorgeous homes, a repertory theater company (based out of the university), good schools, etc. Just like in any town, you usually have to do a bit of research to find the truly exceptional places, but they are there. And maybe Franklin Street isn't as quaint as some might have imagined, but I have always felt perfectly safe walking around there even at night.
ehh, Gainesville's the same way... The college kids ruin most of the homes in the downtown area, and since most of them are willing to work for 8 bucks an hour, they really drive incomes down.
We have TONS of homeless here, i think its mainly because of the weather, and because college kids are very willing to give their money to the "homeless" On our main road here (university ave) its not uncommon to see 4 or 5 homeless hanging up signs at the red lights by I-75 (of course they all say something like, "veteran" or "God bless", and they'll ducktape some medical tubing to their stomach for some added effect. Downtown by the university youll be likely to see 5-10 more homeless at the redlights.. it gets very annoying to have some guy gawking thru your car window at you at every redlight. But all our county does is cater to them.. they dont help them, they just do everything for them so they stay homeless. At taxpayers expense of course.
Funny - I was totally expecting Princeton too! The college buildings and surrounding houses are similar. Leafy streets with old, well kept houses. The rest of downtown, eh, not so much. I will go to Carrboro downtown to get lunch today will and see if that is better. I'll report back.
If you visited Chapel Hill 10 years ago you would have found a much different place. The 100 block of Franklin St. (downtown) is in a down cycle but it will be back.
Try visiting Meadowmont or Southern Village. Also with A Southern Season moving to University Mall I think that has drawn some more shopping back to there. Downtown Franklin Street has never really been all that exciting b/c of the fact that the things that are going to do best there are bars. When I was growing up in the area, when school was not in session, Franklin St was always a ghost town. You've also got Southpointe now, and most people do all their shopping there.
As for the homeless people, the shelter is right at the corner of Rosemary and MLK. The best thing to do with them is to ask them for change first. Otherwise you might get some crazy story about needing $5 for gas to get back to Greensboro.
As for the homeless people, the shelter is right at the corner of Rosemary and MLK. The best thing to do with them is to ask them for change first. Otherwise you might get some crazy story about needing $5 for gas to get back to Greensboro.
The BEST thing to do is to completely ignore them. If people didn't give them money then they wouldn't hang around ruining an otherwise nice town.
I am also disappointed in the downtown of Chapel Hill. There isn't that much to it and I find myself uncomfortable around the panhandlers and the loiterers. The residential parts of Chapel are pretty nice for the most part, fortunately. In contrast, State College, PA, where we live now has a great downtown full of shops, sidewalks, activities, and is very safe. Oh, well...
Downtown Chapel Hill really is not all that. The UNC campus is amazing though!
I think the problem with downtown is this:
1. the Hospital
2. the school
2. the sporting events
Of course those three things are a good thing. But what they have brought to Chapel hill is one thing.....large parking decks all over the place. With no retail at the ground level. This will kill any downtown.
There are a couple really nice streets in Chapel Hill, but Carborro it much nicer. I strongly believe the city will do things in the future to better downtown chapel hill.....and make it more people friendly.
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Gainesville's the same way... The college kids ruin most of the homes in the downtown area, and since most of them are willing to work for 8 bucks an hour, they really drive incomes down. 
