You would think the City Council might have had the discussion about moving the market to Court Square before a fortune was spent on the last facelift of the area. That might have solved most if not all of the problems they face there. Too busy with crap ideas like giving away money for that stupid Water Street competition. The real owners will hire who they want when the time comes to develop and the city will have little to say in the matter.

Why don’t you just buy some ad space instead of comment spamming?

Why not make the City Market a true “farmers market” and move the craft vendors and locally owned food wholesalers over to Lee Park or Court Square instead of letting them piggy-back on the successful Water St location for which actual farmers are mostly responsible? By diversifying locations, the argument could be made that half of the customers will park at one site and walk to the other (particularly if the other is Lee Park as its within sight almost..)and vice-versa, allieviating parking concerns.

I like Mr./Ms. Four Asterisks’ idea: split the market between Water Street and Lee Park. I agree that the non-farmer/crafts vendors could be sorted out from the farmer vendors. Court Square is a good idea except for Temple Beth Israel has complained that it would impact their ability to get on-street parking during their services/activites on Saturday. Lee Park has some shade and would mean that the market would “straddle” the Mall. The special events that they have in Lee Park currently e.g. International Festival, Vegetarian Festival, could be moved to Court Square, which is pretty dead during the weekend.

Since the city is spending millions on transit, why not use it? The trolley (free) loops around the Mall.

*****, the good thing, at least, is that the parking situation @ Meade only lasts for 4 hours on Wednesdays. I think the Market should be moved to the back portion of the park, immediately after you go over the creek. The parking lot would hold the vendors, and some overflow could go on the street.

P&R should provide an easy way for the vendors to unload their trucks and get the goods that short distance– either w/ large carts or some other means. That would eliminate parking and re-parking, and would then free up enough on-street parking for the customers. Not a perfect solution, but perhaps better than what they have now.

How about we move the City Market to the County Office Building where it belongs.

Why should the City earn $1.1 million from farmers who live in Albemarle County and other rural areas?

All the City is doing is sucking the life out of the County. First with $19+ million in revenue-sharing and now $1+ million for the market. The County was cutting its budget to the bone while the City rebricked the Mall.

Doesn’t anyone else see what the problem is?

Charlottesville has a bad case of “entitlement.”

quote: “That’s the key: walking. You can’t walk to U Hall. You can walk to Court Square or Lee Park…”

Is there some reason you believe that all market customers live within walking distance of Court Square and Lee Park?

The Temple folks need to work with the majority of people who want to shop on Saturday. Older churches downtown need to realize that a vibrant business community is needed in this economy. Downtown belongs to the public and not to a religious group. Remember separation of church and state.

real farmers markets (e.g., those in california) don’t have craft vendors. move them to the mall next to the smelly lady with the sunglasses!

Lest you think that the City is actually pocketing that $1.1 mil in sales…. think again. The City receives a small percentage fee from each vendor, based on their sales for any given day. Collection of vendor fees keeps the market operating in the black - all the operating expenses of the market are covered. Sales revenue from the farmers market goes directly to the producers at the market. However, the city benefits greatly by having the market downtown. Spillover to the adjacent ‘brick and mortar’ businesses is considerable, and would be affected, if not lost, with a move to a different venue.

All I’m saying…. there are enough people and organizations in this town that have valid opinions, concerns and ideas — wouldn’t it be nice to have some kind of public forum to discuss the options?

uhm, I meant Why not

@ Mike; The reason I am told they can’t use the top level of the Water Street garage, which I think would be great, is because the ramps don’t have enough clearance for the farmerss trucks. Could that be fixed, I wonder?

I think Betty Bartlett has good ideas. That City Market is not a farmer’s market. The crafts dand bake sales people were there when it was housed at the corner of Ridge and South streets and at Jefferson School. It started out as just an “recreational” activity setup by the Parks & Rec division. Now it seems people are proposing that it become a money-making proposition at tax payers’expense for a few people. I knew that was soon to happen. Yet, there is a governing committee who takes it upon itself to determine as to whom can participate as a vendor and who can’t. If it is to remain a city-run “acitivity”, then the participants do not need for the City to turn over multimillion-dollar property strictly for a handful of people’s use for something that is pretty much equivalent to a hobby. Nobody is earning a living there.
That handful of people could fit into Court Square quite nicely and there is no reason to stretch it past Jackson Park so it shouldn’t have any effect upon Temple at all. As for trucks, they go through there everyday and I believe they can get through there on Saturday mornings just fine.
If people desire it to become a money-making proposition, then they should go private and find their own place of business. Several people who participated in P&R’s ceramics club have done just that at their own expense.
I lost my friendship with a vendor about 10 years ago by expressing my views and I’m sure I’m not any getting any love here, either; however, with people losing their jobs, their homes and their places of business, I say to those who expect a grand facility funded the tax payers’, please look for your welfare elsewhere than in my pocket.

Could they put it under the existing pavillion, mall? There are nearby places for parking the buses. Seems there would be a place to also park vendor trucks??

I like where the market is. Not everyone walks there, but plenty of people do. And if it’s unattractive, well why not make it more attractive? There used to be whiskey barrels filled with flowers and plants on Second St and South St. Get rid of the weeds, run the streetsweeper through the lot before the farmer’s trucks arrive, seal the asphalt and repaint the parking lines. It’ll at least be neater, and seems a lot easier than shifting the whole thing.

If more space is needed, close off First and Second St and put vendors there. Maybe the craftspeople who don’t need to have their car there(and most of them don’t - look at the guys on the mall)could set up on the streets. You could probably fit 15 or 20 vendors on Second St. alone, in a location that wouldn’t seem like they were being pushed aside.

I’ve never bought a t-shirt or a stool at the market, but I like having those vendors(and the musicians, and the prepared food and coffee guys). Maybe spaces should be alloted on the basis of the fees collected by the city so farmers are more likely to be in decent spots. If there are too many little guys raise the fee to sell in the market(it could be refundable when you hit a certain sales level). One thing that’s certain is the craftspeople will have a much more difficult time selling their items at a different location blocks away.

One final thought: let’s not make the market too perfect. It’s great to have something developed organically(sorry) by a disparate group of people be such a success.