Open Thread #68

Happy Open Thread Day!

Ok, I just made that one up...

Retail on a dead-end street?

In his 2008 State of the City address, Grand Forks Mayor Michael Brown stated...

"Of course, our physical boundaries will continue to expand and I think we should support further development behind our existing retail corridor on 32nd Avenue South. This is where we can spur greater commercial investment and development, specifically paralleling the interstate. Then we can go further to encourage and promote mixed-use workforce housing for our new jobs, working in conjunction with other elements like the Park District’s plans for a wellness center and our vision for a long-term living campus for our growing maturing population."

His Power Point presentation included a graphic showing how this new extension of the city's boundaries would be designed. The map showed an extension of 38th Street all the way down to 62nd Avenue South. To put this in perspective, 38th Street is the street that you take if you want to go to Furniture Row. The mayor's map shows a new strip of commercial developments sandwiched between I-29 and 38th Street. The map also shows some commercial developments on Columbia Road with the rest of the space between 38th Street and Columbia Road developed with residential properties including a "long-term living campus" for seniors.

The map looked something like this...
Future land use
At first glance, I think this looks like a fairly good plan. Commercial properties like to be in high-traffic, high-visibility areas and I-29 would fit that bill. Still, there are a few things about the plan that confuse me.

First, 38th Street doesn't currently seem like much of a street and making it the city's next big retail corridor is going to take some work. It's going to be a little odd driving on a fairly narrow street that cuts through the Grand Forks Marketplace in order to reach all the new stores and restaurants the mayor would like to see on 38th Street.

Second, why does the plan only show commercial on the west side of 38th Street? Is it really going to work out to have a major corridor with retail on one side and residential on the other? Wouldn't it just make more sense to place a small strip of commercial land on the eastern side of 38th in addition to the wide strip that is planned for the western side?

Now I come to the thing that really puzzles me. Currently, 38th Street doesn't even exist where this map shows it. I realize that the street can be slowly built out as is demanded. Still, isn't it going to basically be a dead-end street for the time being? There are plans to turn the overpass at I-29 and Merrifield Road into a full interchange, but that probably won't be happening for at least a few years. An interchange at 47th Avenue South or 62nd Avenue South would be even further in the future. That makes the existing 32nd Avenue interchange the only access point for interstate travelers who wish to reach the new commercial properties planned for 38th Street. Are retailers and restaurants really going to be thrilled about building on a dead-end street in a far-flung corner of the city? Sure, the properties may face I-29, but how are people on I-29 supposed to reach these stores and restaurants?

I'm concerned that, although this plan shows plenty of commercial space being added to the city limits in the near future, this space might not prove to be very attractive to potential tenants. If the city really wants to see Grand Forks' retail scene go in this direction, I think an extension of 38th Street down to 47th Avenue (instead of a piecemeal plan) and an I-29 interchange at 47th Avenue are needed ASAP.

I'm very interested in city planning and plans like this really puzzle me. I'm just not sure that the current plan is going to work out as the mayor would like it to. Would you build a store on a dead-end street?

For once, I'm jealous of Minot

Excerpts from a company press release...

Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE: BKS), the world's largest bookseller, will open a new bookstore on March 12 in Dakota Square Mall at 2400 10th Street S.W., Minot, North Dakota. The store will stock close to 200,000 book, music, DVD and magazine titles and include a cafe serving Starbucks coffee. The new Minot Barnes & Noble will be open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 9 p.m. on Sunday, and employ approximately 65 people from the community.

The new store will feature:

-- Large-scale children's departments. Bigger than most typical bookstores and stocking over 15,000 titles in an easy-to-browse environment, "Barnes & Noble Jr." departments are designed to appeal to children, parents, teachers and librarians. Children's story hours will be held twice a week.

-- Advanced technology music-listening and movie-previewing system. The store's music department will feature RedDotNet, the most advanced listening and previewing technology. RedDotNet enables customers to listen to any CD in the store, sampling up to 270,000 music titles by simply passing it under a scanner. Connected to the company's online electronic music catalog, the store's listening stations make "browsing with your ears" a reality. Thanks to the latest technology, RedDotNet stations also allow customers to view a three-minute clip of up to 60,000 DVDs.

-- Giant Newsstand. The store's newsstand stocks over 2,000 titles, including hundreds of hard-to-find specialty magazines and out-of-town newspapers.

-- Wi-Fi Service. AT&T Wi-Fi(SM) service allows customers to use their laptop computers and personal digital assistants anywhere in the store or cafe to communicate online, surf the Internet and connect to corporate networks at speeds 50 to 100 times as fast as a dial-up connection. A single two-hour session costs $3.95, and an annual membership with unlimited access to Barnes & Noble and more than 50,000 AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots is also available.

-- Community Center. The Barnes & Noble store will serve as a local community center, hosting a number of community events throughout the year. They will include author readings and discussions, book clubs, and programs with local literary and cultural organizations. The store will also hold bookfairs, partnering with local schools and other community institutions.

Open Thread #67

I think a fresh open thread is in order!

Plans for the old Target space

It's one of the biggest paradoxes in Grand Forks: what to do with that old Target store space at Columbia Mall? Target Corporation used to own the space, but sold it to the owners of the mall, GK Development, a while back and now GK is entertaining proposals from potential tenants.

The idea put forth by GK no longer looks for just one major store to occupy the space. Instead, a more likely outcome would see the space renovated for a variety of smaller tenants. The possibility remains that a renovation could simply just make the Target space an extension of the existing west wing of the mall. However, I'm guessing that we aren't going to see just an extension of the existing wing here...I'm betting that a small-scale "lifestyle center" will occupy the space. This would mean not just one big tenant, but also not just a bunch of small sized typical mall stores. A lifestyle center concept here would more than likely mean one or two larger tenants and several mid-sized tenants. If the concept stayed true to the lifestyle center model, the tenants would be higher-end retailers and the public spaces would give a very high-end feeling.

I've started thinking about what possibilities might be in store for the space and I even drew up a few ideas. You'll note that all four plans presented here include a Barnes and Noble store anchoring the west end of the Target space. I think a new book store...preferably a B&N... would be a perfect fit for this space and is really something the community wants. I also really think a Panera Bread (or something like it) would be a very good fit for a portion of this space. Just to give you a point of reference, the Barnes and Noble that I've included in the plans is actually a little larger than the size of the Fargo store.

Plan #1This concept includes B&N anchoring the western portion of the space and two slightly smaller retailers and a Panera (or something liek it) taking up the bulk of the space. As far as what might fill the other store spaces here, think something along the lines of Trader Joe's and perhaps a higher-end clothing or home store.


Plan #2In addition to the B&N and a Panera, this concept includes several smaller stores facing smaller hallways than what presently exist at the mall. I'm thinking these hallways would need to be fairly narrow to accommodate the space needed for multiple small stores. I would like to see a whole bunch of skylights in these hallways. I think with skylights and with proper decor, narrow hallways could actually be quite nice. As far as what would go in these stores, I would imagine some of the higher end clothing stores that presently exist in a city like Fargo but that we're lacking in Grand Forks.


Plan #3This concept includes just B&N and a large department store-sized spot. Perhaps a Herberger's? If the space isn't big enough for a department store, I suppose the building could always be built out farther north.


Plan #4This concept includes the prerequisite B&N and many small typically mall-sized retailers. I personally would like to see larger stores go into this space than what I'm showing here. I think several larger sized stores in this space would be a bigger draw than a bunch of smaller stores.

So, what do you think of my ideas? Which one(s) do you prefer? Are they all feasible or are there any pipe dreams among the bunch? What retailers and/or restaurants would you like to see fill some of these spaces? Would you be satisfied seeing a Barnes and Noble take up a good portion of the old Target space? Share you thoughts!

UND at 125

This week marks the official observance of the 125th anniversary of the University of North Dakota.

In its early years, UND was little more than a scattering of buildings two miles west of Grand Forks. Getting back and forth from town to campus involved either taking a train or a horse and buggy. Initially, the only building on campus was Old Main which housed everything from classrooms to dormitories.

What a difference 125 years make...


Today, UND enrolls over 12,000 students in nearly 200 fields of study. In stark contrast to its early days as a muddy patch of converted fields with no sidewalks or grass, the campus now stretches over 549 acres and encompasses 223 buildings (5.33 million square feet of indoor space). UND's economic impact on the state and region has been gauged at roughly $1 billion dollars annually and UND employs nearly 3,000 people making it the largest employer in the state after the Air Force. UND has the only schools of medicine and law in the state and arguably the finest aviation school in the world. Research institutions now dot the UND campus and bring in millions. Today's UND athletes play in giant buildings including the palatial, $100 million dollar Ralph Engelstad Arena. The men's ice hockey team has emerged as one of the finest college hockey programs in the country. A lot happened from 1883 to 2008!

With so many changes recently taking place, UND is now poised to enter a new era. What will UND look like 125 years from now? What would people like Webster Merrifield and George Walsh think of UND if they could see it now?

Happy birthday UND!

New blogs

Although the number of blogs that make up the Grand Forks Blogosphere has dwindled as of late, I should point out that two new blogs recently started up.

Whoops a Daisy! is a new blog by Kristin Garaas-Johnson, editor of the free Red River Valley Women Today publication available in locations around town. Kristin has been blogging about a pretty wide range of topics so far.

On the Town is a new blog put together by the folks at the Greater Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau. This isn't exactly your typical blog...it is essentially an ongoing advertisement for the Greater Grand Forks community. CVB employees blog (and brag) about a local restaurant or event. The thing that ticks me off a little is the fact that comments aren't allowed. I guess they just don't want potential visitors/customers to hear anything remotely negative about local establishments. I'm also a little annoyed by the fact that they don't include any type of local blogroll. Without comments and a blogroll, how is this going to become an effective or popular blog?

Anyways...welcome to these new blogs. They're in my blogroll and my "GF blog posts" box on the left.

Open Thread #66

Go ahead.

He's ba-ack

Terry Bjerke, that lovable goofball who sat on the Grand Forks city council from the late 90s until 2002, wants his old job back. (Herald story) (City Beat post) The libertarian from Ward 1 has long been a critic of local government and, if you'll remember from the past, seems to think that virtually any spending by an entity such as the city of Grand Forks is inherently wasteful.

I'm all for oversight of government spending and obviously budgets at all levels of government are prone to being rather bloated at times, but on the other hand I quickly tire of Bjerke's type of mentality. Sure, we would all like our taxes to be a little lower...sometimes a whole lot lower...but wantonly cutting spending isn't the answer.

There is likely plenty of trimming that could be done on the city budget, but I feel that budget cuts should always be thoroughly scrutinized before being implemented. Bjerke, on the other hand, seems to think that we should simply cut for the sake of cutting. According to the candidate, "I have a four part plan: cut, cut, cut, cut." Cutting spending may sound nice, but as a taxpayer I still eschew cutting without thinking about what those cuts will do to the community.

I will argue until I'm blue in the face that residents of Grand Forks enjoy a very high quality of life. If Bjerke's minority suddenly became the majority, that quality of life would be quickly eroded all for the sake of a smaller tax bill. If people like Terry Bjerke dominated local politics...sure, you would pay less in taxes, but you would likely be missing a whole lot in the process.

Do you enjoy the Greenway? Do you appreciate the city's mosquito control program? How about the renaissance of downtown Grand Forks? Are you happy that the underprivileged and the disabled are able to use public transit to get around town? If people like Terry Bjerke suddenly became the majority at city hall, no doubt funding for things like these would be cripplingly reduced if not eliminated. Indeed, things like the Greenway or the flood control system likely never would have gotten off of the drawing board in the first place.

I'm all for sensible spending and Grand Forks can be a bit loose with the purse strings at times, but a candidate who favors cutting simply for the sake of cutting isn't going to get my vote. I say this as a taxpayer and as a resident of Ward 1.

Open Thread #65

Sorry guys...I've been out of town for the past few days.