When I was on the bus ride to the Snake River in Jackson, Wyoming to go river rafting a couple days ago, I was sitting and thinking about that dilapidated intersection of Main Avenue and 4th Street (I think it's 4th??). The one with the Mobil Station and almost abandoned strip mall on one side and the shitty, partially abandoned buildings and cellular tower on the other side. There's also a parking lot and small old building across from Wells Fargo on that same intersection. I don't want to sound like a Winnipegger here, but that place is the BIGGEST embarrassment in the entire city. Imagine you're driving along Main/Hwy. 10 in Moorhead for the first time, and you are about to enter Fargo for the first time, and you see that piece of shit area, and you have just recieved about the worst possible first impression of the city you can get. That whole place (save for Wells Fargo) needs to be completely torn down and rebuilt, and I came up with an idea for a new type of development for that area:
I call it "The Front". The reason is that the street used to be called "Front Street" back in the early days of the city, and the street used to be an access point for people to go over the riverfront. It would be a multi-million dollar entertainment, living and shopping complex covering approximately 2 1/2 blocks. Every part of the complex would be 4-5 stories tall and/or 50-60 feet tall. Here's what I envision the complex consisting of:
On the northeast corner (south of the soon-to-be quieted railroad tracks) would be a new music club/slash/restaurant and bar similar to First Avenue in Minneapolis, kind of like a more urban version of Playmaker's. It would have an angled corner at Main/4th with LCD marquee signs facing the southwest with a HUGE sign and ads for future shows and a couple advertisements, like a tiny Times Square. To the immediate east of that (next door) would be a downtown multiplex cinema, called something like "Century Downtown Theatres". It would be an 8-screen multiplex. To the east of that by the intersection of the next street and Main would be a small Hard Rock Cafe. It's neon/LCD guitar lights would welcome anyone coming in from Moorhead. Maybe a flashing sign that also says, 'WELCOME TO FARGO."
On the northwest corner (on the current parking lot) would be a compact shopping and dining area anchored by a Border's Books and a P.F. Chang's. It would be like a scaled-down version of BoDo in downtown Boise or Block E in downtown Minneapolis. There would also be a few upscale stores there like Williams-Sonoma and the Men's Wearhouse. There would also be a couple of fast-food places in there like Arby's, etc. You could walk inside there, but it's a compact and upscale place that would not be designed to compete with West Acres. The current Broadway Square (which is owned by the city and is woefully underused), a parking lot and an old 3-story office building would be encompassed by that.
On the south flank, the Mobil station and Fry'n Pan would be demolished to create a middle-income apartment/condo building 5 stories tall similar to what exists at Excelsior and Grand in St. Louis Park, MN. To the east of that, on the site of the end of that old mall, would be a 6-level parking ramp. These structures would act like a buffer between the Front's entertainment and the senior citizens living in the high rise on the other side of the block. Green space and an alley between the condo/apartments/ramp and the high rise would lessen the intrusion of the complex on the senior citizens. Also, on the other side of the tracks from the music club, cinema and Hard Rock Cafe would be another ramp, but only 2-3 levels.
Main Ave. and 4th Street along that area would be resurfaced, and landscaping and pedestrian-friendly access points similar to Broadway would be installed, and manners all along the light posts saying "Welcome to The Front" would be put up.
The reason I think is because if we are going to attract people to downtown, we need to GIVE THEM A REASON to go to Downtown. We need to give them something that they want that is not offered in the suburbs. I also have a couple of other ideas that I came up with in my car that I'll talk about.