Market Square, Market Street between Union Avenue and Wall Avenue
From CollabLandWiki
Market Street between Union Avenue and Wall Avenue Knoxville, TN
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What's on Market Square? Market Square has become the place to gather for events, shopping and dining downtown. From rock concerts to Shakespearean plays, local produce to exotic crafts art shows to high fashion......a mix ofcultural events!
The Market's Uses:
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The space is primarily filled with bars and restaurants, but retail and residential tenants are starting to move in. The Square is used for various events throughout the year, most notable the Sundown in the City concert series (every Thursday night, April-October); the Second Saturday Market (second Saturday of every month); the Dogwood Arts Festival; and various holiday festivals. The space is utilized by people of all sorts for all kinds of reasons (a place to read, meet, eat, people watch, celebrate, etc.). The buildings are currently the least-used space but that is rapidly changing; the Square is fairly busy on weekdays, and is getting busier on nights and weekends. [[Image:Markets.jpg]]
SPRING Sundown in the City Farmers' Market
SUMMER Shakespeare on the Square Farmers' Market
FALL 2007 August Calender of Events Farmers' Market University of Tennessee Football Games
WINTER Holidays on Ice- Ice Skating on Market Square Christmas in the City
City Context The Square connects well with the rest of downtown Knoxville. The space is not only accessible by public transportation (the trolley line is one block to the west and south, and the suburban bus line one block to the west and east), but also easily reached by automobile or on foot. Although the Square is located one block off of the main drag, it is known well enough locally to make up for that seclusion.
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Some issues with Market Square:
The Square makes a decent first impression, although they hope that is about to improve. The seating scenario is still undecided: Some of us are pushing for seating and tables in the central part of the square for use by local restaurants, thus moving pedestrian traffic closer to the storefronts, which will, with hope, generate more business for the retail establishments. (Currently, restaurants are offering seating directly outside of their spaces, which pushes pedestrian traffic away from the storefronts.) The Square is cleaned and maintained nightly except for Sunday. Area
The re-design
Market Square would become a more open and accessible space under a rough-draft plan that emerged Friday after an intensive two-day planning session.A twin colonnade of oaks or maples would run the length of the plaza, terminating near Wall Avenue with a raised, open stage anchored by four columns. Restaurants on either side would feature expanded outdoor seating and signs beckoning customers.
The plan calls for the existing pavilion, watercourse and landscaping to be scrapped. Lighting and signs for businesses in the square would mark the boundaries for outdoor cafe' seating. People standing on Clinch Avenue at Market Street would be able to see all the way through to the stage at the north end of the square. The stage itself would be raised off the ground, with steps descending to the floor of the plaza on all sides.
Architect Buzz Goss, a member of the design team, said he envisioned the columns at each corner of the stage to be more like pieces of sculpture than architectural elements.
Satictics and numbers
County: Square Miles - 525.78 Land: 508.46 sq. miles Water area: 17.32 sq. mi
Average Elevation: 936 ft. City: Square Miles - 98.09 Land: 92.66 sq. miles Water area: 5.43 sq. miles MSA - 526
Located in the South Central region of the U.S., Knoxville sits at the head of the Tennessee River navigation channel. Interstates 40, 75 and 81 converge in Knoxville allowing 53% of the nation's marketplace to be within a 650-mile radius of Knoxville. We are located near three national parks: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Big South Fork National Park, and Cherokee National Forest.
Population of Knoxville
City: 173,890 (2003) County: 400,061 (2004; including City) MSA: 704,431 (U.S. Census) Housing Units: 327,688 (2003) Median Age - (Knoxville MSA) 37.3 Median Age - (City of Knoxville) 33.4 Median Age - (Knox County) 36.0
Source: US Census Bureau
Knoxville Climate Annual Avg Temp: 60o Monthly Average: Jan. 36o July 77o Annual Average Precipitation: 47.14 inches Annual Average Snowfall: 11.40 inches
Clubs & Organizations Over 150 Civic, Business and Professional Clubs, Lodges, and Fraternal Orders are active in Knoxville and Knox County. There are over 200 neighborhood associations. [organizations]
Cost of Living
National Average: 100.0
Knoxville 93.3 Los Angeles 147.7 Chattanooga 97.0 Nashville 93.9 Washington DC 114.7
History of Knoxville
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In 1794, our central city became home to Blount College , which would later become the University of Tennessee.
The region's geographic assets - like the French Broad , Holston and Tennessee rivers - and the placement of rail lines boosted commercial opportunities and gave it a strategic position during the Civil War. After the conflict in 1863, business boomed and the region flourished for shipping, agriculture, iron and cloth mills, furniture and finishing plants.
Natural assets like lumber, coal and marble furthered Knoxville 's growth and made it an important "New Deal" city in the early 20th century. It was chosen as the headquarters for the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1933 and in 1934 it became a gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The government's selection of the obscure mountain valleys to hide the secret Manhattan Project in nearby Oak Ridge in 1943 laid the groundwork for what would become a major U.S. Department of Energy complex and one of the nation's most respected national research facilities - Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The successful development of the atomic bomb helped end World War II and built a scientific community and entrepreneurial atmosphere that drives our economy today.
The building of interstates 40, 75 and 81 helped solidify Knoxville 's place as a prime area for distribution and manufacturing. The hosting of the 1982 World's Fair set Knoxville at center stage, drawing 11 million visitors and a new international reputation as a charming, growing leader of the New South.
Just a day's drive from more than two-thirds of America 's largest cities, Knoxville has made great strides in establishing infrastructure and recruiting new corporate investment.
Recent years have brought a shift from many of our traditional manufacturing roots. There is a new focus on technology-based business as seen in the building of Downtown's Digital Crossing, the new partnership between the University of Tennessee and UT Battelle in managing Oak Ridge National Laboratories and the building of the Spallation Neutron Source in Oak Ridge.
Knoxville 's growing commercial sectors also include the film production and entertainment industries. Knoxville is home to Scripps Networks' headquarters and its Home & Garden Television, as well as Regal Entertainment Group, Bandit Lites, RIVR Media, Jupiter Entertainment and Atmosphere Pictures. A friendly, dedicated workforce has also given rise to the establishment of many customer service and financial centers like Talbots, AdvancePCS, Cendant, Marriott International and Nova Information Systems.
The 2002 opening of the $165 million Convention Center and World's Fair Park now provides the first-class, high-tech meeting space that allows our market to compete for a wider range of tourism. With unmatched Southern hospitality, the nation's most visited national park and wonderful cultural offerings, the number of convention and leisure travel visitors will only continue to climb.
Downtown Knoxville is at a critical mid-point in its redevelopment. Through the completion of Sterchi Lofts and Promontory Point waterfront development, Downtown Knoxville has already welcomed more than 200 new residents this past year. Brunswick Boat Group, the world's largest pleasure boating company, established its new headquarters in the Plaza Tower building in 2002 - bringing 100 new professionals. ImagePoint brought 300 more employees to the Miller's Building in 2003. Altogether, more than 1600 businesses, both large and small, operate within the Central Business Improvement District.
After years of planning, Knoxville 's business community and elected officials are achieving their vision for restoring Downtown Knoxville to the beautiful, historic and bustling center of commerce that it once was.
In contrast
Market square is like broadway in downtown Fargo, ND
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Reading Study - Laura Lawson, Parks as Mirrors of Community: Design Discourse and Community Hopes for Parks in East St. Louis
While imprinted by past social values and design ideals, parks evolve according to changing expectations and socioeconomic and racial change in the surrounding community. Design discourse and community processes both call on park design to reflect community history, expand recreational and social resources, and serve as a catalyst for community revitalization. However, community concerns to develop implementable designs in light of alternative funding strategies, volunteerism, and phased development remains largely unaddressed by the design community. Focusing primarily on urban African-American contexts in East St. Louis, Illinois, this paper outlines three non-exclusive perspectives that shape discourse on race in park planning and design: recreational use and preferences according to ethnicity and race; community development, through both grass-roots activism and professional participation; and form-seeking design approaches inspired by community history and everyday practices of marginalized groups. These three perspectives of contemporary discourse are then counterbalanced with an applied perspective based on current park revitalization efforts that are being undertaken by community groups in East St. Louis, Illinois.
