Would love to know when we'll get more establishments with the same caliber as Roswell's Canton Street. Think farm-to-table, organic, locally sourced foods. Think locally owned. Think places that will foster an "Alive After Five" atmosphere... Think about what will attract the "Creative Class", including art galleries and live music. Here's a sampling: http://www.atlantamagazine.com/guides/dining/Browse.aspx?city=96
Admittedly Peter's and Alison's are more traditional fare, but wow, that stings. You gotta admit Peter's is big step up from Pizza Hut (though PH did serve wine), Sals vs Mellow Mushroom is a bit closer, I liked Lagniappe over Roasted Garlic or the current Mexican fare and it is debatable as to whether Marlow's is better than Beef and Burgundy or just newer--they don't have a salad bar, so I'll go with "better". Fins was far better than C'om Vietnamese Grill, if only based on service and one has to wonder why Fins failed and why Mudcatz wasn't replaced. There are a few more places past and present but I could walk to different eatery every night of the week.
But Dunwoody isn't Marietta--I'd prefer it to be Athens anyway. Dunwoody hasn't been around that long, there was no organic creation of a "downtown" village square and in spite of restaurant turnover there has been no decline and revitalization. It's just a shopping center surrounded by some office condo's (I know they're not really condos). And we're not having growing pains, we're having birthing pains. The father thinks she'll be a lawyer, the mother see's a doctor and the crotchety ole uncle and aunt just hopes the kid survives middle school intact. We need to figure out what we will be and a big part of that is what we will not be. That takes time.
As for the "Creative Class" it sounds cool and I certainly like that about Athens, but this "class" comes with incompatibilities with the current Dunwoody norm. There just aren't many places for starving artist's to live in Dunwoody--not even my neighbor's basement, because that would be against the law. Yet, it would be really cool to stop in at a sidewalk bar for a Pims, drop by next door to check out the LP's while my wife shops at the funky handmade jewelry store and then hike past the tattoo parlor on the way to Farm 255. Oops. Tattoo parlor? In Dunwoody? And to paraphrase the Bard of the Keys, the days when "only Jazz musicians were smokin' marijuana" are far back in the rearview mirror.
I like Dunwoody and I like it for what it is and I've seen it change over the years, mostly for the better and quite frankly don't really see a dramatic, positive quantum leap forward with cityhood. Regardless, I fully expect if we take it slowly, organically, we will grow into an even better place.
Joe-- Businesses are attracted by consumer demographics. The people who will go out of their way to find the features you mentioned are in the very small minority in this city at this time.
You ask when you're going to "get" those establishments. I ask why should they come? Can you convince these establishments that their bottom line will be met?
You want "locally owned". I presume that means owned by Dunwoody homeowners or residents. The overwhelming majority of businesses in this town are already "locally owned" by that definition.
You want "Alive After Five" and live music. Yet the majority of residents willing to voice their opinion want "quiet". Good luck reconciling that one. We had an establishment like that once - Mudcatz. They were driven out of town.
Ditto everything S. E. said - especially about the fact that Dunwoody as its own entity has only been around for four years. Roswell has been there for 150. The kind of character that makes a city unique takes time to grow and we just haven't had it yet.
Would love to know when we'll get more establishments with the same caliber as Roswell's Canton Street. Think farm-to-table, organic, locally sourced foods. Think locally owned. Think places that will foster an "Alive After Five" atmosphere... Think about what will attract the "Creative Class", including art galleries and live music. Here's a sampling: http://www.atlantamagazine.com/guides/dining/Browse.aspx?city=96
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOuch.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly Peter's and Alison's are more traditional fare, but wow, that stings. You gotta admit Peter's is big step up from Pizza Hut (though PH did serve wine), Sals vs Mellow Mushroom is a bit closer, I liked Lagniappe over Roasted Garlic or the current Mexican fare and it is debatable as to whether Marlow's is better than Beef and Burgundy or just newer--they don't have a salad bar, so I'll go with "better". Fins was far better than C'om Vietnamese Grill, if only based on service and one has to wonder why Fins failed and why Mudcatz wasn't replaced. There are a few more places past and present but I could walk to different eatery every night of the week.
But Dunwoody isn't Marietta--I'd prefer it to be Athens anyway. Dunwoody hasn't been around that long, there was no organic creation of a "downtown" village square and in spite of restaurant turnover there has been no decline and revitalization. It's just a shopping center surrounded by some office condo's (I know they're not really condos). And we're not having growing pains, we're having birthing pains. The father thinks she'll be a lawyer, the mother see's a doctor and the crotchety ole uncle and aunt just hopes the kid survives middle school intact. We need to figure out what we will be and a big part of that is what we will not be. That takes time.
As for the "Creative Class" it sounds cool and I certainly like that about Athens, but this "class" comes with incompatibilities with the current Dunwoody norm. There just aren't many places for starving artist's to live in Dunwoody--not even my neighbor's basement, because that would be against the law. Yet, it would be really cool to stop in at a sidewalk bar for a Pims, drop by next door to check out the LP's while my wife shops at the funky handmade jewelry store and then hike past the tattoo parlor on the way to Farm 255. Oops. Tattoo parlor? In Dunwoody? And to paraphrase the Bard of the Keys, the days when "only Jazz musicians were smokin' marijuana" are far back in the rearview mirror.
I like Dunwoody and I like it for what it is and I've seen it change over the years, mostly for the better and quite frankly don't really see a dramatic, positive quantum leap forward with cityhood. Regardless, I fully expect if we take it slowly, organically, we will grow into an even better place.
Just me.
Joe--
ReplyDeleteBusinesses are attracted by consumer demographics. The people who will go out of their way to find the features you mentioned are in the very small minority in this city at this time.
You ask when you're going to "get" those establishments. I ask why should they come? Can you convince these establishments that their bottom line will be met?
You want "locally owned". I presume that means owned by Dunwoody homeowners or residents. The overwhelming majority of businesses in this town are already "locally owned" by that definition.
You want "Alive After Five" and live music. Yet the majority of residents willing to voice their opinion want "quiet". Good luck reconciling that one. We had an establishment like that once - Mudcatz. They were driven out of town.
Ditto everything S. E. said - especially about the fact that Dunwoody as its own entity has only been around for four years. Roswell has been there for 150. The kind of character that makes a city unique takes time to grow and we just haven't had it yet.