My personal vision for the Watt & Shand site was a beautiful upscale condo complex with the basement housing the Y or some health complex that so many younger and older city residents would use and the first floor of the Watt & Shand building would have small businesses to service the FOOT TRAFFIC as well as the condo owners.
All of the above would have generated a wonderful tax base but, even more so, foot traffic. Without foot traffic, downtown will die or only generate day time business from the people working there. We will not see little boutiques and small business open just for the CC because businesses already in place may not make it to the opening.
Parking is and will always be a problem and big spenders will not book here. The Mayor got the PA Mayors to come once; let us see if they return… The bookings that are public do not have spending power. Let us see if LCAR who is a supporter can get PAR to hold some events here or better yet move the Convention from Atlantic City to here.
The disturbing fact is that organizations that I belong to will pull their events that have been housed at the Eden and the Host and book them at the CC. I will not attend one of them as I am lazy and will not walk the streets at night now.
Even after the CC meetings, I am fearful to walk further than the front of Southern Market. One of the reasons I do not attend on a regular basis the meetings is that the last one I attended I was stopped and asked for money. I am a large woman but was scared as no one can defend themselves today without some training.
I do not show homes at night in the city for the same reason, even if it is in a GOOD section. Recently was on South Duke with a NJ client showing a 275 home on a Sat. at 11:00. The situation that occurred was not pleasant and the client decided that Old Town was not the place to buy.
We were 1/2 block from the CC and I must say that I feel sorry for the homeowners in that area now and in the future. Police are going to have to cover down to Church on a regular basis to stop what is going on as we speak. The city is looking very good if you stay within a given district and area, all at the expense of the other part of the city. As economic conditions worsen, so will crime and all that goes with it.
Sen. Gib Armstrong has made plenty of money and repaid plenty of favors. The jobs that will be created with in the CC and hotel will not exceed 100, if that, and the pay will be minimum other than management. 2009 will be here soon enough; I hope that the bookings will not all be cheerleading contests, home builder shows, card shows, etc.
