Adventures In The Local Economy

Roberson Square site for sale

From today's Carrboro Citizen comes news that the Robeson Square project is for sale. The credit crunch has caught up with the developers. My prediction: this is the first of many hiccups coming for all the downtown development planned in our fair city.

Acme provides private parking for Halloween

This little gem was tucked into Acme's Gas Price Tuesday email just now:

On Halloween (Friday), Acme is leasing a parking lot behind the restaurant that will only be for Acme customers. There are 24 spaces. We will provide pass codes for people who make reservations so that each reservation will be guaranteed a space. But only one car per reservation. And because of the limited number of spaces, only the first 24 who choose to use the parking lot will be allotted spaces. It will certainly make dining out on Friday night a lot more enjoyable as parking will be at a premium with all the out-of-towners headed this way. It's good to be local, don't you think? Call 929-2263 to reserve now.

Can’t wait till Friday? Stop by for an adult beverage of your choice for the same price as a gallon of gas (this week, that’s $2.79). Great promotional idea from our pals at Acme!

Chapel Hill named up-and-coming food capital (sort of)

New feature in Forbes this week named Chapel Hill one of the up-and-coming food capitals. Of course, like the Bon Appetite article earlier this year, it falls short. First, even though it refers only to our neighbor to the east in the main article, the blurb on the town refers to Durham-Chapel Hill and features two Bull City eateries. The only Chapel Hill location is Azure Grille over in Meadowmont, which is a good place, but hardly the most exemplary Orange County restaurant working closely with local farmers.

Who are the people who write these things and why the heck don't the just come to Carrboro and see that we do it better than almost anyone?

Eating local can help you get lucky, and other fun facts

Hilarious and informative article in this week's email from Grist, the Seattle-based environmental group with a sense of humor. Did you know that eating local can:

• Improve our sense of taste.
• Increase our stamina.
• Give us fresher breath.
• Save money.
• Put us in sync with natural, seasonal rhythms (wink wink, nudge nudge).

So go to the Farmer's Market tomorrow morning and get lucky tomorrow night!

 

EVENT: Local bankers ready to lend a hand

Sorry, but I couldn't resist that.

Anyhow, local business bankers will discuss lending options with local business owners from 8:30-10A on October 30. The event will be in room 109 of Town Hall. Topics will include short-term cash flow issues and how bankers can assist with operations and costs in these difficult economic times. For more information, contact James Harris, our economic development officer, at 919-918-7319 or email him at JHarris@ci.carrboro.nc.us.

EVENT: Expert advice for local entrepreneurs

A Million Dreams Across America

A National Movement to Reignite American Entrepreneurism

Local investor/entrepreneurs Robbie Hardy and Teresa Spangler will offer an intensive, day-long event on November 15^th with a workshop at the Kenan-Flagler Business School from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The seminar will provide hands-on advice and instruction from Hardy and Spangler, and a team of executive coaches and experts in finance, technology, human resources, sales and marketing. The fee is $99. To register for the event, call 919-806-4680 or visit www.dreamsacrosssamerica.com.

EVENT: How to Make Money and Save the World

Gary Hirshberg, CE-Yo of Stonyfield Farm

“Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World”

 

November 11, 2008 7:30 pm

Gerrard Hall on the UNC Campus

 

Free and open to the public. General admission seating. Book signing following lecture.

Award-winning social entrepreneur Gary Hirshberg proposes ways companies can help save the planet while achieving greater profits and consumers can use the power of conscious consumption to encourage green corporate behavior. Honored for corporate and environmental leadership, Hirshberg draws on his own experience building the world’s leading organic yogurt business while incorporating environmental principles and practices.

 

Gary Hirshberg’s lecture is presented as part of the 2008-2009 Hillard Gold ’39 Lecture series and is sponsored by the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, the Carolina Entrepreneurial Initiative and the Center for Sustainable Enterprise.

Cool photo gallery now in Carrtopia

If you haven't popped into the Jesse Kalisher Gallery yet, what are you waiting for? Next time you're shopping at the Weave or chowing down at Acme, walk just across the tracks on the north side and soak in this beautiful photography gallery.

You can read more about it in this Carrboro Commons article: First art walk stop: Jesse Kalisher Gallery.

All politics is local

And with that in mind, I encourage you to read the latest blog post from former-Carrboro resident and current County Commissioner Mike Nelson urging us to get out the vote:

The Red State Mandate Obama Needs

Early voting begins today in NC. This is the most important election of our lifetimes; I think we all know that the stakes are high and whoever wins will have a mess on his hands. To strengthen his hand in straightening this country out, Barack Obama needs a big mandate from the American people.

Continue reading here.

What a great idea: Jack London Market

Oakland, Cali., gets a lot of knocks, but it's one of my favorite American cities. I've seen so many good shows at Yoshi's and had so many good meals in O-Town that I just can't not dig it. I'm having a blast this week revisiting (though not in person) this great town for an article I'm writing on transit-oriented development for Architect magazine. Oakland, it turns out, is a hot-bed of this kind of development. Who knew?

But there's another kind of development going on in Oakland that resonates with me and the local economy: Jack London Market. Here's an excerpt from a larger article in the New York Times:

In Jack London Market, named for the writer and Oakland native, the principals of Ellis Partners have set out to combine the waterfront location with the Bay Area’s love of California cuisine.

According to the company’s plans, the project will feature two levels and have 70,000 square feet reserved for sellers of locally grown and specialty foods. The upper floors will house offices and nine restaurants, featuring menu items made from foods that have been organically grown and locally produced.

James F. Ellis manages the development company, one of Northern California’s largest, in partnership with his father, Harold A. Ellis Jr., and his sister, Melinda Ellis Evers. He said that Jack London Market is intended to provide the same kind of economic focal point for Oakland and the East Bay region as Pike Place Market in Seattle, the market at Fanueil Hall in Boston, and the Ferry Building market on the other side of San Francisco Bay.

Jack London Market is meant to become the next chapter in a distinctive narrative of fresh, organic and healthy food that this region of California has been writing for decades.

“Focusing on local food just fits the demographic here in Oakland and the Bay Area,” Mr. Ellis said. “These are young professionals, single or married without children, who are staying in the city and have the kind of disposable income that gets them out to eat good, fresh food.”

After the market opens, perhaps as early as the fall of 2009, Ellis Partners is planning to start a 250-room hotel and two 140,000-square-foot office buildings.

What a totally cool idea. While I love the open-air of our local market, the idea of a Pike Place-like facility does have some appeal to me. And it would really establish Carrboro's commitment to being a foodie haven. Would local farmers dig it? And what about consumers? What do you think?