From The Suggestion Box – Richardson Needs A Market

Posted in City Stuff, Suggestion Box by dickdavid on July 9, 2010

I love living in Richardson. In my opinion, it’s the perfect suburban setup that’s nicely tucked between the urban culture of Dallas and vast comforts and conveniences of Plano. Five minutes in any direction will take you to a destination that suits your mood.

Although it’s a great city, Richardson isn’t perfect.

From a rider’s perspective, the one thing we truly lack is enough cool destinations. Sure, there are some great local businesses that give us places to go, but there’s nothing that cultivates a sense of community. We need a destination that’s sprinkled with a little bit of culture while giving us a reason to get out and enjoy our city. We need a local market – maybe a farmer’s market, maybe an artisan market OR maybe a bit of both. Bring us a fun place to gather and neighbors will come together to socialize.

Dallas has made some valiant efforts to bring some life back into their Farmer’s Market. It’s no Pike Place Market or Granville Island, but at least an effort is being made.

Dallas Farmer's Market

Dallas Farmer's Market

Of course, you don’t need a structure or a whole lot of real estate to pull this off. One of the best examples that I’ve seen of a local market is on South Congress in Austin. The area is intermixed with local businesses, some artisan markets and several interesting food vendors. They all seem to flourish because of the benefit of being a great destination with a nice mix of things that interest everybody.

Artisan Market On South Congress - Austin

Food Vendors On South Congress - Austin

It would be great to position our market along one of the 4 DART Red Line stops to draw in some of our neighbors as well. Plus, we have such a strong, diverse culture of Asian, Mediterranean and Hispanic influences throughout our community. If you mix that with some farm fresh produce, great local artisans and a few unique food stands, we could have a market that’s unique to anything in the Metorplex.

Richardson is a great town to ride bicycles and it’s getting even better. Now, we need to give folks more reasons to get out and ride.