David Holt

Instead of scattering fledgeling stores about downtown, concentrate them into well mixed mini-shopping streets in Garage street frontages

The only way to make Downtown Huntsville into a viable walkable community is to pass an ordinance that requires the spaces facing the street to be limited to retail and restaurants. The attorneys, insurance companies, storage space, etc. should be only on upper floors and rear offices. Lets make a really exciting Downtown Huntsville!

The court house should be torn down. It is a gosh awful looking building that says Huntsville looks dated and out of touch with its southern heritage. Either create a park or at least build a historical looking facility. You have one of the best historical homes district, and then you have the courthouse. Who wants to meander around the square when you have to look at that?

Downtown has no retail and limited restaurant options available to the public. The higher end restaurants seem to do ok down here, but there is a limited variety. Suggest recruiting (and subsidizing for a limited time) more restaurant options for the public to choose from downtown such as a bakery, sandwich shop, and even fast food. Suggest recruiting more retail for downtown. Suggest addressing parking issues downtown (perhaps complementary parking when you've down retail business downtown). Suggest more "events" downtown (for suggestions look at Forrest Park in St. Louis where they have concerts, drama, festivals, etc. nearly every week, and many times more than one night per week). The baseball stadium is a good idea. As it is, downtown isn't a destination. People go downtown with a specific destination in mind.

The City desperately needs more downtown development.

Not too long ago, I was walking in Big Spring Park, and a young male that was in town for a convention literally asked me if there was any place in walking distance where he could "shop around and spend some money". I paused a minute, and, sadly, had to inform him that he was hopeless without a car.

The existing upscale restaurants are a good start, but more moderately priced housing catered to young professionals, local boutiques, and more bars/entertainment options are sorely needed.

This town is embarrassingly lacking when it comes to entertainment options that aren't oriented towards families with young children - even when compared to similar cities.

As a former resident of Asheville, NC I see a lot of potential in downtown Huntsville. Asheville did not always have a vibrant downtown. 20 years ago Asheville’s downtown was boarded up with dilapidated buildings. Now it is a vibrant place to live, work, and play. The job market in Asheville can’t compare to that of Huntsville, yet people still move to Asheville for its quality of life and college educated individuals work multiple part time jobs in the service industry just to pay the bills to live in that city. I moved to Huntsville because it was time to start focusing on a career and not a day goes by where I miss something about Asheville, like a locally owned specialty shop or restaurant. Instead of letting the buildings in downtown continue to fall into disrepair and be an eye sore to the community, Huntsville needs to invest in downtown to renovate buildings to create retail and restaurant spaces, affordable housing, and office spaces—a mixed use city center that attracts the creative class and young professionals. Provide incentives (such as discounted/affordable rent) to individuals that are willing to start a locally owned, small business in one of these vacant spaces.

There are no brew pubs anywhere. This is different than a bar.The laws have just been changed making establishing a brew pub easier. Downtown or 5 Points really needs one. We need a place that makes their own craft beer on the premise & also has an awesome lunch & dinner menu. Moderately priced & casual. No smoking allowed inside. Nashville & Chatt have some great brewpubs & we're tired of having to go all the way up there when we'd like to spend our money here in Huntsville.

Move Sci Quest downtown so it is within walking distance to EarlyWorks and Big Spring Park. Then you don't have to load your kids into the car if you want to visit both museums in one day. Need to have kid friendly dining so families can grab lunch when out visiting the parks and museums.

Huntsville leadership and community have long debated how to attract a young, educated workforce to key areas of the city. Namely downtown, research park, south Huntsville, and the Bridge Street Complex. As a former Arlington, VA native I would suggest you look into how that city developed with a key focus on accessibility, transportation, housing, and leisure/entertainment venues. Namely, Arlington has conducted a phased approach to urban development that started in the 60’s and has now grown into vibrant communities across the city. Arlington calls these hubs Urban Villages. Each urban village is a distinctive and multifaceted community with jobs, housing, and recreation all within a few blocks of each other. These booming business centers are Crystal City, Rosslyn and Ballston, the local government center in Court House, the quirky liveliness of Clarendon, Pentagon City's world-class shopping, the Lee Highway and Columbia Pike commercial corridors, and the quaint neighborhoods of Virginia Square, Westover, and Shirlington. Each of these "urban villages" is well-served by public transportation and amenities for bicyclists and walkers, connecting the neighborhoods to each other and to the rest of the metropolitan area. Teeming with shopping centers and lively nightlife, Arlington has a little bit of everything for everyone, exactly what Huntsville should aspire to be; albeit maybe a little less crowded. Arlington’s planned development centered around one of the best public transportation systems in the country, something Huntsville will have to consider. But the Urban Village communities are places where one can live, work, and play... no car required! I would suggest you research examples like Arlington http://www.commuterpage.com/ART/villages/index.htm

HEY Huntsville ... !!!! Build UP.. !!!! Not OUT ... !!!! Too much sprawl already. Poor infastructure.

As it is, people have absolutly no reason to visit downtown Huntsville unless they need a lawyer. It would be nice to have some family entertainment like Dave & Busters. The park is very close by and people could just walk up there. Also it would be nice to have cafes and retail there, similar to european city centers.

Downtown Huntsville is not a fun place to be. Cities like Vancouver and Portland have night fairs during the spring and summer with music, pick up and eat food from vendors, and lots of small booths lining the sidewalks selling almost anything you can imagine. As the evening goes on, the food stays and the booths close but the music goes on. Goal is to make city more attractive to young professionals.