Davis, CA – Walked out of my building yesterday and the fencing had been removed from G St., showing the work that had been done. It’s clearly still a work in progress, but already, despite pretty cool temperatures, there were people sitting at the seating.
Last week, the city put out a release that the official Grand Opening will be this Monday (January 27) at noon at the corner of G and 3rd.
“We are very excited that the platforms are completed and the space will soon reopen to the community,” said City of Davis Mayor Bapu Vaitla. “There is much more to come from the City to revitalize this area, including offering space to be rented for events, larger group seating and pavement improvements. We’re confident that G Street will be a hub of community life, a place where people can come and enjoy being together in the open-air environment while supporting the small businesses that make our downtown great.”
I know businesses have been struggling throughout the downtown and especially on G St., first with the pandemic, then the street closure, and now several months of construction work, but this project has the potential to create another community space—especially if they ever build some of the housing proposed along G St., specifically at the former Davis Ace building that abuts the parking lot.
I was pleased to see the Artery a few months ago had a community activity on G St., and they could expand their reach and audience taking advantage of the new space.
With that said, this is definitely still a work in progress.
Pretty much everyone has noted the lack of seating out there—but the city has said there is a phase two which will have additional seating.
In addition, the city noted last week, “Businesses that front G Street will be able to annually rent space on the platforms to have exclusive outdoor dining as an extension of their businesses through the Downtown Outdoor Dining Program. Businesses that rent platform space will be able to utilize their own furnishings, including group seating, heaters, planters, umbrellas, swamp coolers and more, pursuant to the City’s furnishing requirements and design standards.”
So that is still coming.
It’s also obvious that the city will need to upgrade the old street to some form of concrete—I suspect they will do something like they did on Third Street by the university. And the sidewalks need to be updated.
A few people on Facebook also noted that the space looks sparse. Keep in mind there will probably be more art and vegetation added in phase 2, but also remember it’s January, so the trees that line the street are bare.
As the weather warms, I am definitely hoping that the some of the restaurants will have outdoor seating, that we will see the large crowds from Temple Coffee and Woodstock’s that we had previously.
And, as having a business that resides on G St. as well, I am hopeful that there will be opportunities for the Vanguard to have outdoor events that can draw folks and give back to the community.
All and all, it was a good start, I look forward to the Grand Opening—and then we will see how this can be integrated into the upgrade of the Davis Downtown.
This is an embarrassment. Those futuristic space modules may be better than air, but WTF? You know what isn’t an embarrassment: Winters! Also no so-called homeless around there. Ask yourself – why?
Yes, I know, it’s our “compassion”.
With “compassion” we get the luxury of scary people downtown scaring patrons away from downtown businesses.
Shish Boom Bah Humbug! Go Davis!
Right down the G Street storm sewer drain . . . 😐
With so many shuttered storefronts, un-retouched street surface and a perpetual homeless hangout in the old Ace Homeware parking lot, there certainly is lots of work yet to be done. It would be nice if the roadbed could be raised to the same level as the sidewalk. The high curbs are dangerous in the dark.
“IT’S A START”
No, it is an embarrassment. The space looks like it was designed by someone who had no sense. No design sense, not artistic sense, no sense of personal safety, in short, simply no sense. The fact that the City spent money on this boondoggle is a travesty. We would have been better off had we given the businesses the freedom to design their own spaces within some broad guidelines (at no cost to the City). From what I can see, this was the result of some City functionary carrying out an assignment with no actual understanding (or effective outreach) for what either the businesses or the community needed.
How much sales tax revenue has the City lost from this multi-year debacle.
It looks very unremarkable…