This is purely a functional observation of shopping in Knoxville, of the design of Turkey Creek, and of the design of shoppertainment areas and parking lots in general. Please apply at will to the discussion of appropriate asphalt for the South Waterfront.

I live off Broadway in the 4G/ONK area. couple of weeks ago, I saw a sales flyer for a $99 brown leather office chair from Office Max. Went east to "Knoxville Center" and parked in a vast oasis of largely empty asphalt. They were out of stock, but politely looked in inventory and found one remaining at the Turkey Creek store.

Driving distance 21.2 miles to another vast oasis of asphalt full of very short-tempered drivers.

With New Years sales going on, the parking lot at Office Max Turkey Creek was pretty full. I parked in front of Office Max, got my chair, loaded it in the buggy, took it to my truck. No cart returns. Walked back to Office Max returned the cart. Got the "pissed off accelerated drive around" by a large SUV. They wanted a parking space I was walking past. My apologies to that driver for not having longer legs that could walk as fast as their SUV.

I then walked to Super Target to get a side table. No table. Leaving Target, a driver ignored the pedestrian painted stripes and zoomed past me (which means that pedestrians have the right of way, btw) although, not being a militant pedestrian, I try hard to make eye contact with drivers, yield the right of way, be polite, smile, etc.

Anyway, I then walked back to truck in front of Office Max.

I decided to DRIVE to Super Walmart, parking equidistantly between Walmart and the outparcel Chick-Fil-A. (my lunch plan.) Got table at Walmart, no drive by incidents this time, loaded the table in the truck, and walked to Chick Fil A, (through the drive through lane to get to their "sidewalk." Got honked at (maybe they thought I was a homeless person? who would walk?)

my only point: Turkey Creek could have been designed so much better. It could have been designed as a community but it wasn't. The goal was traffic clogged, destination shoppertainment.

Buying a chair and a table should be relatively pain free, and pleasant. It wasn't. From an objective, function point analysis of moving person, vehicle, and purchases from point A to B to C, it was dysfunctional.

There are some nice shops that would be fun to visit, but it's just not worth it, and I shouldn't have to drive to each store located within the same shopping center. If my son were with me, I would, purely for safety from some of the aggressive drivers.

I'm sure I did it all wrong, it's my fault, I just don't understand, but next time, I'm ordering online and paying shipping.

Turkey Creek could have been more like Gerber Village in Asheville, where they tore down the Gerber Baby Food plant and built this:

From SmartGrowth News:
Asheville's ''Gerber Village:'' No Cars Required

''Gerber Village could be called the 'Anti-Atlanta','' says The Asheville Citizen-Times in an editorial about this $150 million project for the 38-acre south Asheville site of the former Gerber baby food factory, where in three to five years about 1,500 residents will find ''almost every amenity without involving an automobile.''

The site's ''urban village'' zoning district, created by the Asheville City Council under its Unified Development Ordinance ''to encourage smart growth,'' the editorial says, is ''a far better fit than the Wal-Mart Supercenter'' that had been discussed as a possibility.

South Miami's Gulfside Development Co. expects to break ground this summer, planning a total of 230,000 square feet of retail and office space, with its first phase construction completed next spring, and 516 to 616 condominiums.

''Once you're here, everything you need is going to be readily available,'' stresses Gulfside Director of Development Jose Suarez-Marill.

Glad to see similar examples of downtown-like urban villages in Buncombe County, the daily mentions Eastwood Village, Cheshire and Biltmore Lake, concluding, ''In-fill development of vacant land, an increase in the city and county tax base and minimal traffic impact is indeed 'smart growth' and a welcome addition to the landscape.'' -- The Asheville Citizen-Times 5/28/2004

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