Dunning’s Comparison of Davis to San Luis Obispo More than a bit Ironic
NEWS FROM THE SOUTH … “My son is living in San Luis Obispo this year,” began the guided missive from Sue at sbcglobal.net … “This is the town we should strive to be.” … Sue, please, there are children present … San Luis Obispo is a state school … you know, like Sac State …
“They have plenty of parking structures in all corners of their downtown, a trolley-looking bus to move folks around if they so desire and they have turned many of their alley ways into beautiful gardens that give patrons a porch to sit on rather than those we tend to make within parking lots.” …
Yes, Sue, downtown San Luis is lovely, but the attitude in this town has always been that others should be copying us, not the other way around … “San Luis has also attracted many top retail stores to pull people into downtown and these stores are generally all open until 8 p.m. or later.” … plus, there’s the Madonna Inn to pull in all those gawking tourists …
“How cool would it be on a hot summer night to go downtown in the evening, shop and sit in a beautiful garden out the back door of one of our G Street or F Street businesses to enjoy a meal or dessert? I think our local small businesses are missing the point. In San Luis Obispo, the small businesses make it because of the larger chain businesses and their efforts to make beautiful garden walks and patios between buildings and in alleyways. “You don’t have to look far to realize that our nicest (cleanest and best maintained) plaza, the Borders complex, was given to us via a large retailer.” … indeed … instead of opposing Target, our local merchants you should tried to bring it downtown … another opportunity missed …
I somewhat disagree with Dunning and Sue’s takes on the San Luis Obispo Downtown. For one thing, there is no big box store in Downtown San Luis Obispo. The development that would be closest to such a store, would be a complex very similar to Davis’ Borders complex where there is a Barnes and Noble instead of a Borders, a Ben and Jerry’s, a Starbucks and a movie theater. All of which Davis has already in the downtown.
But the big point that jumped out at me in Dunning’s column was his closing remark on Target. “instead of opposing Target, our local merchants you should tried to bring it downtown … another opportunity missed …” As if that somehow followed based on the analogy to San Luis Obispo.
That is certainly not what San Luis Obispo did. San Luis Obispo did not bring big box retail into the downtown. Moreover many of the signature local businesses that were in downtown San Luis Obispo when I was growing up are gone and they have been replaced to some extent by more chain stores that are less likely to be locally owned.
The biggest irony of course is that San Luis Obispo has gone through a fight, centering around Target, that would remind many people of Davis.
There was a property that the San Luis Obispo city council had agreed to annex and approve for development that was just outside of the city limits. They approved a development that would bring in a Target, a Lowe’s, and an Old Navy. Now there was much made about the fact that in Davis, Target had to face an election for the first time, but that was a bit misleading, because in April of 2005, San Luis Obispo had a very similar election, albeit not directly on the issue of Target, but rather whether the city should allow the proposed Marketplace Development on the Dalidio Property.
That was placed on the ballot by activists for vote in April of 2005, and like in Davis last year, it was a very close election and unlike in Davis, the proposal was defeated by a 51-49 margin.
However, the developer was not dissuaded. Unlike the city of Davis, there is no county-city agreement on land-use authority outside of city limits but within the agreed upon sphere of influence. And the county placed on the ballot last fall, a county-wide measure authorizing the development of the property. With the entire county able to vote and the county being considerably more conservative than the city of San Luis Obispo, the measure passed overwhelming.
Of course that is not the end of the story. There has been a lawsuit filed on a number of grounds to prevent the construction of the development and it is now tied up in court with another hearing coming in the near future.
The situation in San Luis Obispo is remarkably similar to the types of things that we have seen in Davis. In fact, it is a bit more extreme, for this would be the equivalent of the voters of Davis voting down the Covell Village development and the Yolo County approving it. Unfortunately, that may not be so far-fetched as the County of Yolo has approved placing the Covell Property in a “joint study area” with the city of Davis. Fortunately, Davis is protected by their hard fought pass-through agreement whereas San Luis Obispo is not.
So I wonder how many people would rather have as Mr. Dunning suggests?
—Doug Paul Davis reporting
Dunning’s attempts at cynical humor are designed to “drain the juice” out of grassroots activism. Most people are on to him now and the subjects that he chooses for derision are worth noting only as a barometer of what is most threatening to the Davis Establishment.
Dunning’s attempts at cynical humor are designed to “drain the juice” out of grassroots activism. Most people are on to him now and the subjects that he chooses for derision are worth noting only as a barometer of what is most threatening to the Davis Establishment.
Dunning’s attempts at cynical humor are designed to “drain the juice” out of grassroots activism. Most people are on to him now and the subjects that he chooses for derision are worth noting only as a barometer of what is most threatening to the Davis Establishment.
Dunning’s attempts at cynical humor are designed to “drain the juice” out of grassroots activism. Most people are on to him now and the subjects that he chooses for derision are worth noting only as a barometer of what is most threatening to the Davis Establishment.
“That is certainly not what San Luis Obispo did. San Luis Obispo did not bring big box retail into the downtown.”
It’s been many years since I’ve been in downtown San Luis Obispo — back when I lived in Santa Barbara they used to have a wine festival every year in downtown SLO — but am I wrong to recall that there is a big box Sears Roebuck store on 13th Street?
One aside on SLO that may surprise you, David…. back when I was playing rugby (#1 Prop) for UCSB, Cal Poly SLO was a rival of ours. So each year we would travel up there for one game (and they of course would come to Santa Barbara annually). At that time, PG&E was attempting to open the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor at Avila Beach. Because of its location on an earthquake fault, Diablo Canyon was very, very controvsial. It seemed (as nuclear power still does to me) too dangerous. So I and most of my rugby mates drove over to Avila for a few hours of peaceful protest.
“That is certainly not what San Luis Obispo did. San Luis Obispo did not bring big box retail into the downtown.”
It’s been many years since I’ve been in downtown San Luis Obispo — back when I lived in Santa Barbara they used to have a wine festival every year in downtown SLO — but am I wrong to recall that there is a big box Sears Roebuck store on 13th Street?
One aside on SLO that may surprise you, David…. back when I was playing rugby (#1 Prop) for UCSB, Cal Poly SLO was a rival of ours. So each year we would travel up there for one game (and they of course would come to Santa Barbara annually). At that time, PG&E was attempting to open the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor at Avila Beach. Because of its location on an earthquake fault, Diablo Canyon was very, very controvsial. It seemed (as nuclear power still does to me) too dangerous. So I and most of my rugby mates drove over to Avila for a few hours of peaceful protest.
“That is certainly not what San Luis Obispo did. San Luis Obispo did not bring big box retail into the downtown.”
It’s been many years since I’ve been in downtown San Luis Obispo — back when I lived in Santa Barbara they used to have a wine festival every year in downtown SLO — but am I wrong to recall that there is a big box Sears Roebuck store on 13th Street?
One aside on SLO that may surprise you, David…. back when I was playing rugby (#1 Prop) for UCSB, Cal Poly SLO was a rival of ours. So each year we would travel up there for one game (and they of course would come to Santa Barbara annually). At that time, PG&E was attempting to open the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor at Avila Beach. Because of its location on an earthquake fault, Diablo Canyon was very, very controvsial. It seemed (as nuclear power still does to me) too dangerous. So I and most of my rugby mates drove over to Avila for a few hours of peaceful protest.
“That is certainly not what San Luis Obispo did. San Luis Obispo did not bring big box retail into the downtown.”
It’s been many years since I’ve been in downtown San Luis Obispo — back when I lived in Santa Barbara they used to have a wine festival every year in downtown SLO — but am I wrong to recall that there is a big box Sears Roebuck store on 13th Street?
One aside on SLO that may surprise you, David…. back when I was playing rugby (#1 Prop) for UCSB, Cal Poly SLO was a rival of ours. So each year we would travel up there for one game (and they of course would come to Santa Barbara annually). At that time, PG&E was attempting to open the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactor at Avila Beach. Because of its location on an earthquake fault, Diablo Canyon was very, very controvsial. It seemed (as nuclear power still does to me) too dangerous. So I and most of my rugby mates drove over to Avila for a few hours of peaceful protest.
Good catch, David.
Of course, this argument is complete bullshit. I lived on SLO’s main street, Higuera, when they had the first of their famous Farmers’ Markets. Originally, the Downtown Association started the event to thwart the weekly teenage cruise night, but the event soon grew to be hugely popular, drawing 10’s of thousands of visitors on busy nights.
It has been through obsessive focus on downtown that SLO is what it is.
For decades, SLO has been a devoted slow-growth town, like Santa Barbara, and San Diego (before SD’s growth slowly crept close enough to county controlled land, and there was an eruption of growth).
And it’s no surprise that those three towns are highly desired tourist destinations. Name a pro-growth town that has had similar performance?
For years, SLO’s business community and elected officials have carefully protected Higuera Street’s atmosphere, and have kept it thriving, rather than fold to early impulses to set up cheap strip malls the way most towns did in the ’70s and ’80s, or get cheap wet kisses from con men from Bentonville, Arkansas.
Good catch, David.
Of course, this argument is complete bullshit. I lived on SLO’s main street, Higuera, when they had the first of their famous Farmers’ Markets. Originally, the Downtown Association started the event to thwart the weekly teenage cruise night, but the event soon grew to be hugely popular, drawing 10’s of thousands of visitors on busy nights.
It has been through obsessive focus on downtown that SLO is what it is.
For decades, SLO has been a devoted slow-growth town, like Santa Barbara, and San Diego (before SD’s growth slowly crept close enough to county controlled land, and there was an eruption of growth).
And it’s no surprise that those three towns are highly desired tourist destinations. Name a pro-growth town that has had similar performance?
For years, SLO’s business community and elected officials have carefully protected Higuera Street’s atmosphere, and have kept it thriving, rather than fold to early impulses to set up cheap strip malls the way most towns did in the ’70s and ’80s, or get cheap wet kisses from con men from Bentonville, Arkansas.
Good catch, David.
Of course, this argument is complete bullshit. I lived on SLO’s main street, Higuera, when they had the first of their famous Farmers’ Markets. Originally, the Downtown Association started the event to thwart the weekly teenage cruise night, but the event soon grew to be hugely popular, drawing 10’s of thousands of visitors on busy nights.
It has been through obsessive focus on downtown that SLO is what it is.
For decades, SLO has been a devoted slow-growth town, like Santa Barbara, and San Diego (before SD’s growth slowly crept close enough to county controlled land, and there was an eruption of growth).
And it’s no surprise that those three towns are highly desired tourist destinations. Name a pro-growth town that has had similar performance?
For years, SLO’s business community and elected officials have carefully protected Higuera Street’s atmosphere, and have kept it thriving, rather than fold to early impulses to set up cheap strip malls the way most towns did in the ’70s and ’80s, or get cheap wet kisses from con men from Bentonville, Arkansas.
Good catch, David.
Of course, this argument is complete bullshit. I lived on SLO’s main street, Higuera, when they had the first of their famous Farmers’ Markets. Originally, the Downtown Association started the event to thwart the weekly teenage cruise night, but the event soon grew to be hugely popular, drawing 10’s of thousands of visitors on busy nights.
It has been through obsessive focus on downtown that SLO is what it is.
For decades, SLO has been a devoted slow-growth town, like Santa Barbara, and San Diego (before SD’s growth slowly crept close enough to county controlled land, and there was an eruption of growth).
And it’s no surprise that those three towns are highly desired tourist destinations. Name a pro-growth town that has had similar performance?
For years, SLO’s business community and elected officials have carefully protected Higuera Street’s atmosphere, and have kept it thriving, rather than fold to early impulses to set up cheap strip malls the way most towns did in the ’70s and ’80s, or get cheap wet kisses from con men from Bentonville, Arkansas.
“Big Box” usually refers to 60,000 sq. ft. or more.
“Big Box” usually refers to 60,000 sq. ft. or more.
“Big Box” usually refers to 60,000 sq. ft. or more.
“Big Box” usually refers to 60,000 sq. ft. or more.
Rich:
There used to be a Sears in downtown San Luis Obispo, maybe 30 years ago in the mid 70s but that has long since moved to Madonna Road. The one in downtown SLO was very small. I would have to look up its current size. I would say only two stores would quality as big boxes Home Depot and Costco, both on the outskirts of SLO. Neither one anywhere near downtown.
BTW, San Luis Obispo does not have numbered streets.
Rich:
There used to be a Sears in downtown San Luis Obispo, maybe 30 years ago in the mid 70s but that has long since moved to Madonna Road. The one in downtown SLO was very small. I would have to look up its current size. I would say only two stores would quality as big boxes Home Depot and Costco, both on the outskirts of SLO. Neither one anywhere near downtown.
BTW, San Luis Obispo does not have numbered streets.
Rich:
There used to be a Sears in downtown San Luis Obispo, maybe 30 years ago in the mid 70s but that has long since moved to Madonna Road. The one in downtown SLO was very small. I would have to look up its current size. I would say only two stores would quality as big boxes Home Depot and Costco, both on the outskirts of SLO. Neither one anywhere near downtown.
BTW, San Luis Obispo does not have numbered streets.
Rich:
There used to be a Sears in downtown San Luis Obispo, maybe 30 years ago in the mid 70s but that has long since moved to Madonna Road. The one in downtown SLO was very small. I would have to look up its current size. I would say only two stores would quality as big boxes Home Depot and Costco, both on the outskirts of SLO. Neither one anywhere near downtown.
BTW, San Luis Obispo does not have numbered streets.
David,
It’s been so long that I must be remembering a downtown Sears in some other city where we played rugby. (I don’t know why 13th Street stuck in my memory.)
David,
It’s been so long that I must be remembering a downtown Sears in some other city where we played rugby. (I don’t know why 13th Street stuck in my memory.)
David,
It’s been so long that I must be remembering a downtown Sears in some other city where we played rugby. (I don’t know why 13th Street stuck in my memory.)
David,
It’s been so long that I must be remembering a downtown Sears in some other city where we played rugby. (I don’t know why 13th Street stuck in my memory.)
I was very young when Sears moved to its present location but the previous store was extremely small and relied mostly I think on the old sears catalog orders.
I was very young when Sears moved to its present location but the previous store was extremely small and relied mostly I think on the old sears catalog orders.
I was very young when Sears moved to its present location but the previous store was extremely small and relied mostly I think on the old sears catalog orders.
I was very young when Sears moved to its present location but the previous store was extremely small and relied mostly I think on the old sears catalog orders.
Downtown Davis used to have a Sears catalog store at the corner of 4th & G (in the original Davis Lumber building) and a Montgomery Ward on 2nd Street, on the west side of the Brinley Building, between H&C Shoes and Quessenberry Drugs… The department store in Davis in those days was Winger’s, which took up the whole building at 4th & F where Wheelworks is.
Downtown Davis used to have a Sears catalog store at the corner of 4th & G (in the original Davis Lumber building) and a Montgomery Ward on 2nd Street, on the west side of the Brinley Building, between H&C Shoes and Quessenberry Drugs… The department store in Davis in those days was Winger’s, which took up the whole building at 4th & F where Wheelworks is.
Downtown Davis used to have a Sears catalog store at the corner of 4th & G (in the original Davis Lumber building) and a Montgomery Ward on 2nd Street, on the west side of the Brinley Building, between H&C Shoes and Quessenberry Drugs… The department store in Davis in those days was Winger’s, which took up the whole building at 4th & F where Wheelworks is.
Downtown Davis used to have a Sears catalog store at the corner of 4th & G (in the original Davis Lumber building) and a Montgomery Ward on 2nd Street, on the west side of the Brinley Building, between H&C Shoes and Quessenberry Drugs… The department store in Davis in those days was Winger’s, which took up the whole building at 4th & F where Wheelworks is.
well, i have a hard time believing that davis will ever have a shot at becoming a tourist destination, except perhaps by deception (ie. renaming ourselves “napa east” and then hoping people take the wrong exit off 80), but making the downtown a nicer place to loiter would be great.
the most recent downtown inanity story i have is when i mistakenly parked in a 2 hour zone to see the interminably long “pirates of the caribean 2” (a mistake in more ways than one), and got ticketed because i did not exit the movie 2/3 through to repark my car.
i’m still amazed that the pump house property next to varsity theatre doesn’t have an outdoor cafe up and running. it was such a lovely place, for the brief stint in the early 90s before it closed down. more outdoor cafes, especially during our delta breeze-cooled summer nights, would be a huge improvement. as would running UNITRANS buses to the farmer’s market and downtown on weekends, or a free downtown shuttle connecting to parking at the edges of downtown.
agreed that dunning is missing the point (par for the course), and that target is no friend of local businesses, tho. department stores of medium size, OTOH, would be a nice thing to have downtown, if it were possible to lure a couple in the wake of approving the big box target, that is.
well, i have a hard time believing that davis will ever have a shot at becoming a tourist destination, except perhaps by deception (ie. renaming ourselves “napa east” and then hoping people take the wrong exit off 80), but making the downtown a nicer place to loiter would be great.
the most recent downtown inanity story i have is when i mistakenly parked in a 2 hour zone to see the interminably long “pirates of the caribean 2” (a mistake in more ways than one), and got ticketed because i did not exit the movie 2/3 through to repark my car.
i’m still amazed that the pump house property next to varsity theatre doesn’t have an outdoor cafe up and running. it was such a lovely place, for the brief stint in the early 90s before it closed down. more outdoor cafes, especially during our delta breeze-cooled summer nights, would be a huge improvement. as would running UNITRANS buses to the farmer’s market and downtown on weekends, or a free downtown shuttle connecting to parking at the edges of downtown.
agreed that dunning is missing the point (par for the course), and that target is no friend of local businesses, tho. department stores of medium size, OTOH, would be a nice thing to have downtown, if it were possible to lure a couple in the wake of approving the big box target, that is.
well, i have a hard time believing that davis will ever have a shot at becoming a tourist destination, except perhaps by deception (ie. renaming ourselves “napa east” and then hoping people take the wrong exit off 80), but making the downtown a nicer place to loiter would be great.
the most recent downtown inanity story i have is when i mistakenly parked in a 2 hour zone to see the interminably long “pirates of the caribean 2” (a mistake in more ways than one), and got ticketed because i did not exit the movie 2/3 through to repark my car.
i’m still amazed that the pump house property next to varsity theatre doesn’t have an outdoor cafe up and running. it was such a lovely place, for the brief stint in the early 90s before it closed down. more outdoor cafes, especially during our delta breeze-cooled summer nights, would be a huge improvement. as would running UNITRANS buses to the farmer’s market and downtown on weekends, or a free downtown shuttle connecting to parking at the edges of downtown.
agreed that dunning is missing the point (par for the course), and that target is no friend of local businesses, tho. department stores of medium size, OTOH, would be a nice thing to have downtown, if it were possible to lure a couple in the wake of approving the big box target, that is.
well, i have a hard time believing that davis will ever have a shot at becoming a tourist destination, except perhaps by deception (ie. renaming ourselves “napa east” and then hoping people take the wrong exit off 80), but making the downtown a nicer place to loiter would be great.
the most recent downtown inanity story i have is when i mistakenly parked in a 2 hour zone to see the interminably long “pirates of the caribean 2” (a mistake in more ways than one), and got ticketed because i did not exit the movie 2/3 through to repark my car.
i’m still amazed that the pump house property next to varsity theatre doesn’t have an outdoor cafe up and running. it was such a lovely place, for the brief stint in the early 90s before it closed down. more outdoor cafes, especially during our delta breeze-cooled summer nights, would be a huge improvement. as would running UNITRANS buses to the farmer’s market and downtown on weekends, or a free downtown shuttle connecting to parking at the edges of downtown.
agreed that dunning is missing the point (par for the course), and that target is no friend of local businesses, tho. department stores of medium size, OTOH, would be a nice thing to have downtown, if it were possible to lure a couple in the wake of approving the big box target, that is.
“well, i have a hard time believing that davis will ever have a shot at becoming a tourist destination”
Wu,
Davis will never be a vacation destination. However, this town does attract a lot of out of town visitors — a lot — and their consumption plays a major role in our downtown’s economy. Not only do people come to Davis for various special events throughout the year or to visit residents and students, but people from all of the neighboring communities come here to dine in our restaurants. On any given night, at most of downtown’s better places, a substantial percentage — about half? — of the people eating out are not Davis residents…. Further, you joke about Napa-east. However, given that the UC Davis School of Viticulture is the premier wine-making school in the world, it seems odd to me that we don’t have some wine tourism industry.
Maybe 7-8 years ago I wrote a piece in The Enterprise suggesting that the Covell Village property ought to be the new home for the School of Viticulture — they have since found space on the main campus — and it should be surrounded by 10-15 small wineries with tasting rooms and so on. My thought was that the CV land would be developed, but siting it for a small wine industry, where grapes could also be grown, would keep it semi-agricultural, yet an attractive part of our town.
“well, i have a hard time believing that davis will ever have a shot at becoming a tourist destination”
Wu,
Davis will never be a vacation destination. However, this town does attract a lot of out of town visitors — a lot — and their consumption plays a major role in our downtown’s economy. Not only do people come to Davis for various special events throughout the year or to visit residents and students, but people from all of the neighboring communities come here to dine in our restaurants. On any given night, at most of downtown’s better places, a substantial percentage — about half? — of the people eating out are not Davis residents…. Further, you joke about Napa-east. However, given that the UC Davis School of Viticulture is the premier wine-making school in the world, it seems odd to me that we don’t have some wine tourism industry.
Maybe 7-8 years ago I wrote a piece in The Enterprise suggesting that the Covell Village property ought to be the new home for the School of Viticulture — they have since found space on the main campus — and it should be surrounded by 10-15 small wineries with tasting rooms and so on. My thought was that the CV land would be developed, but siting it for a small wine industry, where grapes could also be grown, would keep it semi-agricultural, yet an attractive part of our town.
“well, i have a hard time believing that davis will ever have a shot at becoming a tourist destination”
Wu,
Davis will never be a vacation destination. However, this town does attract a lot of out of town visitors — a lot — and their consumption plays a major role in our downtown’s economy. Not only do people come to Davis for various special events throughout the year or to visit residents and students, but people from all of the neighboring communities come here to dine in our restaurants. On any given night, at most of downtown’s better places, a substantial percentage — about half? — of the people eating out are not Davis residents…. Further, you joke about Napa-east. However, given that the UC Davis School of Viticulture is the premier wine-making school in the world, it seems odd to me that we don’t have some wine tourism industry.
Maybe 7-8 years ago I wrote a piece in The Enterprise suggesting that the Covell Village property ought to be the new home for the School of Viticulture — they have since found space on the main campus — and it should be surrounded by 10-15 small wineries with tasting rooms and so on. My thought was that the CV land would be developed, but siting it for a small wine industry, where grapes could also be grown, would keep it semi-agricultural, yet an attractive part of our town.
“well, i have a hard time believing that davis will ever have a shot at becoming a tourist destination”
Wu,
Davis will never be a vacation destination. However, this town does attract a lot of out of town visitors — a lot — and their consumption plays a major role in our downtown’s economy. Not only do people come to Davis for various special events throughout the year or to visit residents and students, but people from all of the neighboring communities come here to dine in our restaurants. On any given night, at most of downtown’s better places, a substantial percentage — about half? — of the people eating out are not Davis residents…. Further, you joke about Napa-east. However, given that the UC Davis School of Viticulture is the premier wine-making school in the world, it seems odd to me that we don’t have some wine tourism industry.
Maybe 7-8 years ago I wrote a piece in The Enterprise suggesting that the Covell Village property ought to be the new home for the School of Viticulture — they have since found space on the main campus — and it should be surrounded by 10-15 small wineries with tasting rooms and so on. My thought was that the CV land would be developed, but siting it for a small wine industry, where grapes could also be grown, would keep it semi-agricultural, yet an attractive part of our town.
The interesting thing I think about the things pointed out by Dunning’s column is that Davis could do a lot of that with its existing infrastructure and businesses. It would require a small restructuring of downtown. One of the big advantages is that the San Luis Obispo farmer’s market is right on the main street and its on Thursday nights, so it combines the produce, with the street fair, with the businesses being open extra late to accommodate the customers, and it coincides with the Thursday night bar scene to create a huge boon each night. That is totally doable by Davis. Small changes could accomplish that. It is not clear to me that downtown in San Luis Obispo has much that Davis’ downtown does not have.
The interesting thing I think about the things pointed out by Dunning’s column is that Davis could do a lot of that with its existing infrastructure and businesses. It would require a small restructuring of downtown. One of the big advantages is that the San Luis Obispo farmer’s market is right on the main street and its on Thursday nights, so it combines the produce, with the street fair, with the businesses being open extra late to accommodate the customers, and it coincides with the Thursday night bar scene to create a huge boon each night. That is totally doable by Davis. Small changes could accomplish that. It is not clear to me that downtown in San Luis Obispo has much that Davis’ downtown does not have.
The interesting thing I think about the things pointed out by Dunning’s column is that Davis could do a lot of that with its existing infrastructure and businesses. It would require a small restructuring of downtown. One of the big advantages is that the San Luis Obispo farmer’s market is right on the main street and its on Thursday nights, so it combines the produce, with the street fair, with the businesses being open extra late to accommodate the customers, and it coincides with the Thursday night bar scene to create a huge boon each night. That is totally doable by Davis. Small changes could accomplish that. It is not clear to me that downtown in San Luis Obispo has much that Davis’ downtown does not have.
The interesting thing I think about the things pointed out by Dunning’s column is that Davis could do a lot of that with its existing infrastructure and businesses. It would require a small restructuring of downtown. One of the big advantages is that the San Luis Obispo farmer’s market is right on the main street and its on Thursday nights, so it combines the produce, with the street fair, with the businesses being open extra late to accommodate the customers, and it coincides with the Thursday night bar scene to create a huge boon each night. That is totally doable by Davis. Small changes could accomplish that. It is not clear to me that downtown in San Luis Obispo has much that Davis’ downtown does not have.
This is very interesting in its own right, the San Luis Obispo Downtown Association is being sued because of their opposition to the Target development–this relates to the DDBA story I ran earlier this week:
Developer Sues Downtown Association
This is very interesting in its own right, the San Luis Obispo Downtown Association is being sued because of their opposition to the Target development–this relates to the DDBA story I ran earlier this week:
Developer Sues Downtown Association
This is very interesting in its own right, the San Luis Obispo Downtown Association is being sued because of their opposition to the Target development–this relates to the DDBA story I ran earlier this week:
Developer Sues Downtown Association
This is very interesting in its own right, the San Luis Obispo Downtown Association is being sued because of their opposition to the Target development–this relates to the DDBA story I ran earlier this week:
Developer Sues Downtown Association
Rich said …”It’s been so long that I must be remembering a downtown Sears in some other city where we played rugby. (I don’t know why 13th Street stuck in my memory.)
Must be all that rugby playing that has jarred your memory for things 😉
Rich said …”It’s been so long that I must be remembering a downtown Sears in some other city where we played rugby. (I don’t know why 13th Street stuck in my memory.)
Must be all that rugby playing that has jarred your memory for things 😉
Rich said …”It’s been so long that I must be remembering a downtown Sears in some other city where we played rugby. (I don’t know why 13th Street stuck in my memory.)
Must be all that rugby playing that has jarred your memory for things 😉
Rich said …”It’s been so long that I must be remembering a downtown Sears in some other city where we played rugby. (I don’t know why 13th Street stuck in my memory.)
Must be all that rugby playing that has jarred your memory for things 😉
“Must be all that rugby playing that has jarred your memory for things ;-)”
If you know a little about rugby culture, it was not the playing, it was… the beer that did the damage. (Though I should add, that I did play #1 Prop; and as such, when we came into a scrum, I bonked heads dozens of times with the oppposing team’s #3.)
“Must be all that rugby playing that has jarred your memory for things ;-)”
If you know a little about rugby culture, it was not the playing, it was… the beer that did the damage. (Though I should add, that I did play #1 Prop; and as such, when we came into a scrum, I bonked heads dozens of times with the oppposing team’s #3.)
“Must be all that rugby playing that has jarred your memory for things ;-)”
If you know a little about rugby culture, it was not the playing, it was… the beer that did the damage. (Though I should add, that I did play #1 Prop; and as such, when we came into a scrum, I bonked heads dozens of times with the oppposing team’s #3.)
“Must be all that rugby playing that has jarred your memory for things ;-)”
If you know a little about rugby culture, it was not the playing, it was… the beer that did the damage. (Though I should add, that I did play #1 Prop; and as such, when we came into a scrum, I bonked heads dozens of times with the oppposing team’s #3.)