Atomictumor

There’ve been lots of muttering for years now that Oak Ridge really needs something for the young adult crowd to do; nightlife, bars, clubs, something. Reading Eave’s review of 80 East really brings that to mind, because while I had a bit of hope for the place, it appears that its going to be catering to the same over 50, high dollar crowd that the rest of Oak Ridge’s independent shops and restaurants tend to cater to.

I was pondering this stuff while reading a Metro Pulse last night, and daydreaming of how cool it’d be to have some sort of hip-underground district for somebody in the 20s-30s to relax. Some of my favorite towns, like Asheville, or Guelph, Ontario, have this elusive something. You can walk around, stop for a burger in some mom and pop greasy spoon with metal signs all over the wall, and then take off for a beer in some bar with the drafts written on a chalkboard. After that, you head over to the local (independent) bookstore for a cup of coffee while you peruse the local history section.

Something I’ve found about these towns, invariably, is that these bookstores HAVE a local history section, and a good one. There’s a fierce pride in a city that has these undefinable parts of town, and its precisely for that reason, that you CAN’T define it. Chattanooga is starting to pick it up in the area on the north side of the Walker Street Bridge, where new parks and shops have started thriving. You see people walking around feeling that they are part of something bigger than they are, that they belong in a town that has a shared identity, and no matter what economic background, or where they’re from, if they live there, they’re part of the group. Almost a subconscious hive mentality.

Which is the type of mentality that’d help Oak Ridge a lot, and one that I don’t think they have.

Now, I’m not necessarily advocating head shops and baby slings to fix all of Oak Ridge’s ills. However, the town is culturally dead. Yes, it has an art museum. No, I haven’t been to it. Further, I’m aware that we have Jackson Square, which has ENORMOUS potential, but is hampered by the fact that there isn’t a place, other than Big Ed’s, to cool your heels, and that most of the shops there appear to be offering services (insurance, haircuts, law offices), which takes potential retail space away from making the joint a shopping haven.

Another part of Oak Ridge’s problem here is the fact that theres no consistency. If the art museum was within walking distance from Jackson Square, and the library, and Bissel Park, and the Time Out Deli, and Mr. K’s, we’d have that part of town I’m talking about. The center nucleus of businesses would grow, and the people heading over there to walk around, hang out, and give some identity to this faceless town would appear.

THATs when you’d have something to do.

Now, I’ve been spending all this time talking about the problems, but not offering much in the way of solutions. I fear that’s going to take a serious effort. Some could say that Arnsdorff’s town center might fix it, but thats depending on
a) The jackass ever getting it done, and
b) The place not having an artificial, plastic feel.

I think the appeal of these districts in other towns is in the fact that they’re using buildings that are 40-50 years old. Its going to be hard to duplicate that in a new construction environment. No, the new square is going to be something like Turkey Creek, at absolute best, and more than likely a glorified strip mall. I’m not holding out much hope for it.

No, theres not going to be a hero on a white horse come riding in to save Oak Ridge business, and in turn Oak Ridge entertainment. And I lump the two together, because an active town is an entertained town, and in the year 2006 what gets a person out of the house is somewhere to go, and walk, and windowshop. Its a place where you sit outside with a cup of coffee and watch something other than a parking lot, and turnpike traffic. Its shops where you’re recognized for being part of the town, and you feel rewarded for supporting it.

We need to build something ourselves out of Oak Ridge. We need to start by recognizing and promoting what we have. We need to consolidate what there is into a place where foot traffic can bring in people in. It needs to be in an existing part of town, to do homage to what has been there before.

Now, surely I’m not the first person to think of this before, and not the first person to look at Jackson Square as the obvious place for it.  So what happened?

This entry was posted on Monday, August 21st, 2006 at 8:36 am and is filed under Food, Consumerism, Local, History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.