2009.05.24
Discuss Trejbal's column on the Blacksburg Farmers Market
Blacksburg renovates its farmers market
The yummy season has returned in the New River Valley. Fresh, locally grown produce will soon be available throughout the region. Already lettuce, spinach and even a smattering of peas are showing up.
Cooks looking for the best can visit the Blacksburg Farmers Market, which convenes on Wednesdays and Saturdays this time of year on the north corner of the Draper Road-Roanoke Street intersection. It might be a little crowded, but this will be the last year for that.
Vendors and customers now must squeeze between a parking lot and the sidewalk. The market is nice enough, but it lacks the coherence and attractiveness of farmers markets in other communities.
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"There is plenty of parking nearby on the streets, in surface lots and at the Kent Square Parking garage, which is all of two blocks away. Shoppers surely can walk that far."
Maybe they can, but the fact is that most don't, and that's what the business owners have to deal with. Business owners will lose money because shoppers will choose to go somewhere else where they can park "nearby."
Ironically, they may actually be falling for an illusion if they go someplace with a big parking lot. They may end up parking farther from their destination than if they had gone to the downtown location, but they feel like it's closer because it's all one parking lot instead of a downtown street. Unfortunately, that doesn't help the downtown business owners.
Frankly, there is not enough parking in downtown Blacksburg, because it doesn't meet the demand for most of the year. This may be a separate issue, but it's one the town does need to address if they want downtown to continue to improve.
Comment by Jake — May 24, 2009 @ 2:56 pm
Do you have any traffic/parking counts to substantiate the claim that there is not enough parking in downtown Blacksburg, Jake? I've often heard that allegation, but I've never seen any numbers to back it up. Personally, I've never had a problem parking downtown. Sure, sometimes I might have to walk, *gasp*, a whole block or two, but there's ample parking in Blacksburg, especially now that Kent Square is open.
Comment by C. Trejbal — May 24, 2009 @ 4:16 pm
No numbers, just personal experience. Working in a business downtown, I frequently hear complaints about the lack of nearby parking. I agree with you that people should be willing to park a block or two away from their destination, but large numbers aren't. That's the demand I'm referring to. It matters, because it drives business.
I'll turn your question back on you. Do you have any traffic/parking counts to substantiate the claim that there is "ample" parking in downtown Blacksburg? (During the school year. I will concede that it's probably not an issue during the summer.)
I am willing to stand corrected if the numbers support it.
Comment by Jake — May 24, 2009 @ 5:56 pm
Nope, no numbers. That's why I said I was only speaking from personal experience. I'll make some calls on Tuesday and see what I find out.
Comment by C. Trejbal — May 24, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
Parking is especially problematic for those like me who are handicapped. One reserved space on Draper Road has recently been removed. I hope the new Farmers' Market will reserve plenty of those few spaces for us! 15 minutes, as currently designated, seems better than 10, judging from my own experience.
Aren't they also planning to use the VT lot across the street?
Margaret
Comment by Margaret Hasselman — May 24, 2009 @ 10:22 pm
I've done some work downtown on looking at both parking and traffic issues there. The biggest problem is 'convenient' parking, that is parking within a 1-block radius of a desired destination. As CT pointed out, there is definitely enough overall parking...it may just not be as close to where you need to go as you might like. One of the biggest issues is that people will circle several times looking for a parking spot along Draper or College, rather than just grab a spot in the Kent Square deck or other surface lot nearby. That adds a lot of additional traffic congestion during the peak times. Downtown needs to have another parking deck or 2 if they hope to fill the business fronts that are currently vacant. Parking pretty much maxes out as it is today, and that's with something like 25% of storefronts empty.
Comment by Other John — May 24, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
With the Kent Square deck, there does seem to be plenty of parking within an easy walk of downtown (for those who are not handicapped), but the perception does matter. Maybe some more could be done to make the walk a little more pleasant from Kent Square to College Ave. Draper Rd. (at least on its eastern side) is almost treated like an alley when it could be an avenue for a pleasant stroll.
Comment by Allen — May 25, 2009 @ 6:04 pm
The VT parking lot across the street is open to anyone on Saturdays. Parking has never been a problem for downtown. I park at the Methodist church and walk one block to downtown. The real problem is too much traffic downtown.
Roanoke's downtown on the other hand. If you can park within one block of your destination, you have reached nirvana.
Comment by Henry — May 26, 2009 @ 8:26 am
Does it cost money to park in Kent Square?
Comment by HCS — May 26, 2009 @ 8:53 am
It does, but I believe after hours, it's free. The cost is actually not bad compared to what it costs in Roanoke or Charlottesville, for example, in some of their decks. But, comapred to $1 for 2 hours of metered parking on the streets in Blacksburg, paying $3 or $4 is a bit steeper. I don't mind the walk though from there to the rest of downtown, but for some folks, I could definitely see where the longer walks would be a definite discouragement. There just simply is not enough handicap-accessible parking in the immediate downtown core, only a handful of spots are available.
Comment by Other John — May 26, 2009 @ 9:09 am
I actually think the cost is more of a deterrent than the walk even if it is relatively cheap. People just don't want to pay to park.
Comment by HCS — May 26, 2009 @ 9:22 am
HCS, you're most likely correct. I know when we go downtown, we look for a street spot first both because of convenience and because of price. If we can;t find one, sometimes we go elsewhere, mostly if the weather is bad or it's cold. But, if the weather is good, we'll go a little further away and park on campus or in the deck, depending on where we're going.
Comment by Other John — May 26, 2009 @ 9:33 am
Yesterday Bill McKibben, the author of the book, Deep Economy, spoke to the Community Foundation of the New River Valley. In his talk on sustainability, he brought up the fact that in the last 10 years, farmers markets are one of the fastest growing segments in the national economy. Towns with thriving farmers markets are seeing their local economies turn around in a big way. In Madison, Wisconsin, for example, roughly 20,000 people come from all over the region every Saturday morning to the farmers market, and this is having a tremendous impact on the local economy there. Parking is an issue in downtown Blacksburg, and I do not mean to diminish the importance of convenient parking to downtown merchants, but I agree with Mr. Trejbal: the town should be forward-thinking, and use the entire space there on the corner of Draper and Roanoke for the new renovated farmers market and park. In the long run, this will pay off for all the merchants and residents of the town.
Comment by Betty Hahn — May 27, 2009 @ 8:09 am