Updated Farmhouse (via Email)
Received via email from Jennifer Rao (jenniferrao@hotmail.com)
1) Update the existing colonial scheme and expand the overlay to include an updated modern farmhouse theme. This would include allowing for the limewashing of the existing orange toned brick to a white or cream color, allowing for updated windows (including metal frames), allowing for wider variety of paint colors on frame instead of just white, yellowish cream, and tan (perhaps following the colors of the Historic Williamsburg line from Benjamin Moore). This would brighten up the shopping area and make it look more modern. Plus allowing for an addition of a modern farmhouse theme honors the fact that Dunwoody began as a farming community and would be in line with the architecture of the Cheek-Spruill House.
2) Widen the sidewalks from the library to the nature center and on the Mt. Vernon side of Dunwoody Village. The best small town areas / village shopping areas encourage walking. Having wider sidewalks with streetlamps and benches along those routes (and not just at the inside part of Dunwoody Village) would make for a welcoming walk from the library or playhouse to Dunwoody Village and from the Nature Center to Dunwoody Village. And this would also the provide a nice loop for walkers who would like to do laps around the village and then maybe get a cup of coffee.
3) Remove a large chunk of parking from between the Starbucks/Smoothie King area and the main shopping center and the potholed odd side exit next to the post office and create public park areas. There is WAY too much parking in that shopping center and it is not particularly welcoming. Removing some parking and the realigning the existing parking so it faces parallel to the shopping center instead of away from it would make the shopping center seem more accessible. The smaller park area next to the post office would provide a welcome entrance for people in the new townhome community to walk into the shopping center. The larger park area on the other side would be a central focal point of the village, provide seating that would be welcome during events in the village such as the art festival, this seating would also be of benefit to merchants in the shopping center. Maybe some sort of small pavilion? I think the inclusion of some artistic play equipment such as at Abernathy Park in Sandy Springs would be greatly appreciated by parents.
4) Improved signage. First the signs around the shopping center need to be more visible. Some of the hollies need to be trimmed down. Signs near each entry point might be helpful too. When I first moved here it took me 10 minutes to find the Brewster's at night because the signs are so impossible to see. Really if you don't know it's in the shopping center you will have a hard time discovering it. There should also be banner signs attached to the light poles. Perhaps, "Welcome to the Heart of Dunwoody: Dunwoody Village" something that lets you know where you are.
Dunwoody, unlike many of it's neighbors, has NO clear city center. You could very easily not know you are in Dunwoody. But the Dunwoody Village area does have many of the makings of a good city center; a library, a playhouse, restaurants, shopping. It needs to be updated, be made more welcoming, and made more accessible to foot traffic. Chamblee, Alpharetta, Suwanee, Roswell, Sandy Springs and others all have created central walkable areas with great public spaces. Dunwoody needs to do the same. It is a benefit to the City and to the homeowners of Dunwoody.
I am not suggesting this as an architectural style but it is a nice example of an open public plaza with seating and a fountain surrounded by shopping.
My plans for Dunwoody Village involve the following steps:
1) Update the existing colonial scheme and expand the overlay to include an updated modern farmhouse theme. This would include allowing for the limewashing of the existing orange toned brick to a white or cream color, allowing for updated windows (including metal frames), allowing for wider variety of paint colors on frame instead of just white, yellowish cream, and tan (perhaps following the colors of the Historic Williamsburg line from Benjamin Moore). This would brighten up the shopping area and make it look more modern. Plus allowing for an addition of a modern farmhouse theme honors the fact that Dunwoody began as a farming community and would be in line with the architecture of the Cheek-Spruill House.
2) Widen the sidewalks from the library to the nature center and on the Mt. Vernon side of Dunwoody Village. The best small town areas / village shopping areas encourage walking. Having wider sidewalks with streetlamps and benches along those routes (and not just at the inside part of Dunwoody Village) would make for a welcoming walk from the library or playhouse to Dunwoody Village and from the Nature Center to Dunwoody Village. And this would also the provide a nice loop for walkers who would like to do laps around the village and then maybe get a cup of coffee.
3) Remove a large chunk of parking from between the Starbucks/Smoothie King area and the main shopping center and the potholed odd side exit next to the post office and create public park areas. There is WAY too much parking in that shopping center and it is not particularly welcoming. Removing some parking and the realigning the existing parking so it faces parallel to the shopping center instead of away from it would make the shopping center seem more accessible. The smaller park area next to the post office would provide a welcome entrance for people in the new townhome community to walk into the shopping center. The larger park area on the other side would be a central focal point of the village, provide seating that would be welcome during events in the village such as the art festival, this seating would also be of benefit to merchants in the shopping center. Maybe some sort of small pavilion? I think the inclusion of some artistic play equipment such as at Abernathy Park in Sandy Springs would be greatly appreciated by parents.
4) Improved signage. First the signs around the shopping center need to be more visible. Some of the hollies need to be trimmed down. Signs near each entry point might be helpful too. When I first moved here it took me 10 minutes to find the Brewster's at night because the signs are so impossible to see. Really if you don't know it's in the shopping center you will have a hard time discovering it. There should also be banner signs attached to the light poles. Perhaps, "Welcome to the Heart of Dunwoody: Dunwoody Village" something that lets you know where you are.
Dunwoody, unlike many of it's neighbors, has NO clear city center. You could very easily not know you are in Dunwoody. But the Dunwoody Village area does have many of the makings of a good city center; a library, a playhouse, restaurants, shopping. It needs to be updated, be made more welcoming, and made more accessible to foot traffic. Chamblee, Alpharetta, Suwanee, Roswell, Sandy Springs and others all have created central walkable areas with great public spaces. Dunwoody needs to do the same. It is a benefit to the City and to the homeowners of Dunwoody.
I am not suggesting this as an architectural style but it is a nice example of an open public plaza with seating and a fountain surrounded by shopping.
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