Roof Comes off Downtown Redding!
Redding Hot Topics
August 21st, 2008
I’ve been out of town and came back and I heard the roof had come off of downtown! I had to check this out!
When we arrived in Redding, CA back in 1982, the downtown mall was a group of buildings that had been covered. Like so many other towns, the downtown was dying. The powers that be thought it a great idea to block some streets and cover the buildings. Roll it forward 30 or so years to 2008 and the roof is coming off! Downtown Redding is getting a facelift!
The photo here is of the old Dickers’ Department Store which is where you can now go to race karts indoors at Need 2 Speed. There use to be a roof over the steps here! What happened? Check out the blue sky that now appears instead!
What do you think of the current rehab projects?
Please feel free to comment here and get some fun dialogue going…
As always, I am here for your Relocation Needs anywhere around the United States.
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Well you know that the only constant is change! At least they haven’t put the streets through again…
Many years ago, Boulder decided to tear down the old Crossroads Mall and put something else in its place. Well the something else took a good 15+ years to develop and decide on. Mainly because people couldn’t come to an agreement of what ’should’ be done. The end result is a very lovely and useable open air mall. Yes streets go through but are designed with slower speeds.
One of the main anchor stores is having a tug of war match with the owners which still isn’t decided and hurting some stores. Hopefully they won’t wait another 10-15 years to get that resolved.
It’s interesting to watch the evolution of downtown Redding. We’re seeing some great changes in our downtown including the renovation of the 1930’s Cascade Theater used now for all kinds of wonderful events. There are several reasons to now go downtown. It’s coming alive and how fun is that?
My college city in Lincoln, NE actually did the exact opposite with their mall, originally starting as outdoor storefronts, then as marketing and weather influenced it turned into an atrium style indoor mall with some additional expanse. I suppose it depends on the location and climate as I prefer the indoor setting with skylights and real trees growing inside.
Hi Mary,
We live in Montana, a tiny little town tucked up under the border of Canada. We have a lot of wealthy Canadians coming into our area all the time, especially when the exchange rate is in their favor… Anyway, there’s lots of high end subdivision development going on here. And in the downtown area, our 2 grocery stores are both building new stores.
The western look to our little town, Eureka, MT, is always being refurbished too. We are proud to be Montanans, westerners! Come and visit.
By the way, Mary, my husband and I will be in Redding, CA, in a few weeks, visiting children there. Can we meet?
Warmly,
Dianne
I live in the sleepy little enclave of privilege called Greenwich, CT. The downtown has changed from a place where family merchants could make a good living and provide for the community to a walking strip mall full of national chain stores.
However, we still have the parks, and a host of other services and beautiful things here, but the character of this small town seems to be sliding away being replaced with McMansions, condo’s and national store chains.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Mary-
In BODO [Boise downtown]… they have been building a huge [almost] skyscraper apartment building for the past ‘forever’. So, our downtown has been in a state of endless construction it seems, since I can remember.
As for the changes from our economy; there have been a lot of businesses moving to more rural areas, and too many great restaurants going out of business because they simply can’t survive right now.
It’s strange to drive downtown and see all the changes that have taken place.
~Cher Wada
Hi Mary,
There was an old song, which I cannot find about Toronto that was played by the CITY TV network. “Find yourself in people city…” is about all I can remember. If anyone can take the pulse of downtown Toronto, hopefully it will be diagnosed as in “good health.” Toronto is sometimes described as the city of communities which my community, Markland Wood is just one of thousands.
The people make the city. Some cities decay because the people, events within and support networks are neglected or forgotten. When the people care, organize events and support the infrastructure, the whole city will be healthy, not just the downtown, no matter how the economy is doing. So people, get up and get involved.
As for construction, we have lots and lots of cranes scattered all over with new developments constantly under construction.
Cheers,
Tom
Hi Mary,
As you know I am in Anchorage, Alaska. Our downtown area is a mix of regular business and a lot of tourist attractions. As a rule not a lot changes down there in any drastic manner. There is always some sort of road work happening which is usually an inconvenience to many due to all the one way streets, but we manage. The town square goes through seasonal changes, the prettiest are summer with the flowers and winter with all the beautiful ice sculptures and lights.
In the summer we have a lot of tourists who enjoy the horse drawn buggy rides through downtown as well as many who prefer to rent bikes and bike through town. Both are great since parking is often hard to find and also because many of the tourist come off the cruise ships that dock downtown.
On occasion you will see a moose meandering through the streets or possibly a black bear. As a rule that is more common in residential areas than it is downtown, but on occasion they do hit the downtown area.
Recently, we had a 700 pound Grizzly bear that graced the downtown area with its presence. Unfortunately, it in its quest for food it darted into traffic and was hit by a truck. APD had to kill it due to its injuries. Terribly sad. We have had many more bear problems this year than in years past and as a result far more bear/human encounters and few that ended quite badly. But again, it is still a rarity in downtown Anchorage.
Sheilah
Where I reside in Massachusetts, downtown seems to be a haven for illegal immigrants who literally arrive at night by the truckload. They sleep in “hotbeds.” I’d never heard that term before. It means a small apartment with wall to wall mattresses and they sleep in 8 hour shifts. Also, the criminal element from Boston’s worst neighborhoods seem to have found their way to “Downtown.” Thankfully, I live on the other side of town, closer to the next town. I drive through “Downtown” only when forced to do so.
Here in the Austin, Texas area there are several high-rise luxury apartment projects in the center of the Business district, large up-scale housing development South of town and Immense ($1M + homes sprouting in the hill country to the West (Where there used to be beautiful, scenic drives. ;-(
In general, homes in middle-income areas stay on the market such a short time that you have to catch them quickly if you want one. It seems that a sign stays up less than a month, on average, before you see ‘contract pending on it. Great for the RE marketers and sellers.
I believe that much of this is out-of town money and some out-of-country money in play.
Our Real Estate folks expect the ’slow-down’ to hit after the First of the year. Then we’ll probably catch up with the rest of the country.
Vaughn
From the picture, it definitely looks like the building needed a facelift. I’m here in Denver, and it went through some major changes for the DNC. Unfortunately, one of those changes involved tearing down some pretty nice buildings from the late 1800s. I sometimes wish that they would just refurbish the historic buildings, instead of tearing them down.
Thanks for the post,
Misty
http://viscap.com
I went down-town today, the rain fell like if the toilets of the gods had been flushed, a woman ran from door to door as if she was hiding from some one, then a dog sneezed and lowered his head as if he was ashamed. Some-one call my name,,, James,,,
I look around to see a car stop just in time,
The driver was saying something but I was unable to read his lips as the rain covered his windscreen with flowing water.
Then a cold wind ran up the street letting me know it was only a matter of time and it would be here for months,
I pulled my jacket close to my chest as I watched the rain fall, and wondered why we call this time of the year summer…
All this happened in my town,,, Athlone Westmeath Ireland, (Eire)
James Hayes
See my books at
http://www.jameshayes.ie
here on miami beach downtown is lively and full of interesting places to shop and eat and enjoy yourself
in miami however downtown is almost a bad neighborhood there’s nothing to see other than bayside and the american airlines arena (where the heat and big concerts are)
however this may change as we have a new super performing arts center in miami and the nearby brickell and riverside areas are very popular
there is a lot of building going on in both cities
mostly upscale condos
Hi Mary,
Here in Bellevue, Washington (across Lake Washington from Seattle), there are many new high-rises going in. Last summer, there were 21 active construction cranes in downtown Bellevue which I’m told was the highest number anywhere in the U.S. So of course everyone was telling the joke about the “State Bird of Bellevue” being “the crane.”
Laurie Lamoureux
Http://www.linkedin.com/in/laurielamoureux
Hi Mary,
I see that Aurora already told you about downtown Miami. We also had cranes everywhere — and this made everyone very nervous when we saw a slowdown in housing.
I want to comment on uncovering the mall. Where I live in Pembroke Pines, Florida, we have had a regular mall for at least 10 years. It is quite a hike from one end to the other.
Late last year a new outdoor mall was opened in the vicinity with 15 planned restaurants and a number of specialty stores — both chains and local. Everyone is flocking to that mall in the evenings and weekends. We are wondering where all of these people were going in the past. We love the idea of the little streets and sidewalks, fountains, cafes etc. It think this is a great concept, especially where the climate is favorable. Might not be as popular in those locations where there is a lot of snow.
That is a great mode of reuse for Redding’s downtown! I’m always curious to see new ways to reuse older projects in burgeoning regions. San Diego, for example, has been incorporating some of the earlier buildings into their larger redevelopment projects. “Electra”, for example, is a new condo building in the Marina district of downtown. The site was one of the original Gas & Electric building with some very interesting architectural detailing. Luckily, the built the condo tower out of the middle of this gas and electric building, making the original building their common spaces. Anyway, a really great reuse of a landmark building.
Thanks, Folks, for popping in and talking about what is going on where you live. It’s interesting to know what is going on around the country. Downtowns definitely have their “phases”. Keep the comments coming please! I’m enjoying this.
Being a 99.5% Reddingite (moved here in 1956 when I was 10 mos old) I remember pre-downtown mall days. The Christmas tree was in the middle of the street, we’d cruise down Market Street and listen to Jerry’s Jumpin’ Jukebox on am 1230 KRDG broadcasting above the Cascade Theater. The addition of the roof creating the downtown Mall was actually a cool change. Cool in that you could shop in air conditioning during Redding’s frequent > 100 degree summer days. You could also shop in the winter and stay dry and warm.
It was the place to be..until the Mt Shasta Mall was created on the East side of town. Big box stores moved there and the downtown mall slowly reclined.
The roof coming off shoiuld infuse life once again to our historical “downtown”. It’s exciting to see the old buildings there once again highlighted with fresh air and sunshine.
I’m so glad you commented, Ross. Having lived here in Redding all of your life - you’d have seen the changes. It is rather exciting to see things come alive again in our Downtown Redding. I know you and I believe it’s a great place to call home!