hip to be square?
Pursuant to Daniel’s comments on local megabookstores, what do y’all think of Technology Square? I honestly don’t really remember what the area looked like before it became Tech Square, so I can judge it only on its own merits.
Which are: the Tech B&N, while supremely yuppie, works well: I like the fact that the academic works are easy to access among the best sellers and the six thousand Tech T-shirts. The storefronts are accessible, there’s a good variety for an area basically builty up out of nowhere, and I do like what I’ve seen of the College of Management building. Also, Sidewalks Are Good Things.
The area still has a slightly barren feel to it, though. It needs street vendors. Or chalkings. Or drunken Techies. Or a MARTA stop nearby. Or more information available — maps of the area, the Tech trolley’s route, and so on.
It still feels a little too clean and not lived-in enough, is my feeling. But I want to hear what other people think.
Also — whether this is coincidental or not, I don’t know — that LA Fitness seems to be one of the less hospitable ones.
I work at Tech, so i’m a little biased… But it is much better than the barren eyesore it was before. It’s also very pedestrian friendly, and once the remodling of the 5th street bridge is completed it will feel a less like an island and more like a part of Tech.
I know that one of the businesses in Tech Sq closed recently, and I worry that there might not be enough traffic to justify the retail shops there…
I like it. The Tech conference center/ hotel has a nice bar to just hang out. Tin Drum is a good option for cheap eats.
But two vendors have already closed shop (coincidentally they were both Asian vendors- a bubble tea shop and a small ethnic grocery boutique). It seems like the name brand chains (Moe’s and ColdStone) do well, though.
Oh, and I forgot to add the parking sucks.
Just a note that it isn’t a ColdStone – it’s a Marble Slab… Some people prefer one over the other.
Ah – I’m lactose intolerant so I don’t know the difference ;)
No more bubble tea? Waah! Clearly we bubble tea aficionados aren’t doing enough.
“Welcome to The Bubble Tea Shop” shouted by the store owner just doesn’t have the Gusto that “Welcome to Moe’s” has.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a fan of either.