megan weatherly: 2010

Kaytee, Johanna and I went downtown Graham today to get to know some people and see what kinds of things were going on, and here's what we found:

Heritage Real Estate

We spoke with Mary Porter about real estate in the Graham area.

She said downtown Graham has an interest in "beautifying" and that some measures have been taken to do so (awnings, flags, landscaping, etc.).

We asked about existing apartments/the need for apartments, and she basically told us that in the immediate downtown area (the few blocks right around the courthouse) there are no apartment buildings, and that there are mainly single family homes. We drove around and found this to be true, however, as you move farther away from the center of town, there are some apartment complexes, especially near I-40.

She told us that downtown Graham is made up of local, family owned businesses, a good majority of which are law offices. Apparently Mondays bring in quite a bit of traffic through downtown because they are court days for traffic violations.

When we asked her what she would like to see brought to Graham, she said clothing storesand a seafood restaurant.

She sent us to a coffee shop down the street (I forgot to write down the name of it). We met with the owner, Jerry, who has been in business in Graham for 3 years (he is originally from Hillsborough). His business seemed to do well (quite a few lawyers came in to get coffee while we were there), and he said that he has encountered all types of people, most who live in Graham. He mentioned that many young families live in Graham and that there are schools close to downtown. His shop closes at 4 every day because downtown empties out by then. Because of this, he said he would like to see more nice restaurants and bars open to encourage people to stay downtown later into the evenings (we only saw one bar downtown, and it was very small).

Jerry sent us to the Court Square Florist to deliver a cup of coffee to and speak with Johnsie, who has lived in Graham all her life and now owns the shop that her mother originally opened. We only spoke with her briefly because she was busy, but we did speak with her assistant, Minerva, who said that there was a great need for clothing stores/boutiques, craft stores(she mentioned a stained glass shop), antique stores, and restaurants.

We ate lunch at the Graham Soda Shop, which actually got pretty busy around noon. It does have a younger feel (with young employees) and we saw signs for live music and karaoke on the weekends.

__________

The general impression I got from speaking with them all is that they would like to see morerestaurants and shops that will draw people into downtown. None of them seemed as concerned about providing residential space.

Generally speaking, downtown Graham isn't very "young." We mostly encountered older people. They were all definitely interested in making improvements and introducing new things to Graham, but at the same time, the town seems very traditional, which I think is important to keep in mind when deciding what to put into the mill and how to design it.