Upper McDowell Creek Master Plan

The attached map from The Huntersville Herald was really cool. I like how it lays out the area and color codes the future plans for the area around Birkdale. The only question that I have about this map that I haven't seen written about anywhere else is what the 'future development' is that is in the top left corner of the map. That would be the area along Catawba Ave in front of Robbins Park. I was always under the impression that Robbins Park would cover all of the land from McDowell Creek to Catawba.

Here's an except from Jason Pauling who's email I included in a previous post:

"Greenway master plans show proposed Upper McDowell eventually connecting to the Torrence Creek /Lower McDowell Creek greenway. Pauling said this will probably not happen for another five to 10 years, however. Plans to extend it in the north to Jetton Road extension may occur within a decade or so. It all depends on land acquisition. The county is currently working on plans to extend the Torrence Creek greenway from Cedarfield to Rosedale, and west from Cedarfield to Beatties Ford Road. That work is expected to begin next year and be completed sometime in 2008."

Robbins Park

This Robbins park Map. Notice at the bottom of the map the road connection to Birkdale village. I believe that this is Pennington that it will run into. Also, it looks like the road will run across McDowell Creek over to Stratford forest.

The Huntersville Herald

Does everyone get that local paper in their mailbox on a weekly basis? I'm talking about The Huntersville Herald which usually has a run down of local development projects and upcoming issues with the school board, town boards, police departments, and sports. I mostly like reading about the new developments and new roadway plans that the towns are considering. I would put the Huntersville Herald on par with the Charlotte Observer's Lake Norman section published on Thursdays and Sundays. The Charlotte Observer has better color layouts but The Huntersville Herald goes into much more depth on each specific story. Post a comment below about which newspaper you like better for your local news source. Even better, if you know of another informative local source, then post a comment about that as well.

The Herald's websites says that it is published by 5 PM each Friday, which figures that it gives them the entire work week to get it finalized. The Herald is a Mecklenburg Newspaper Group, LLC and is mailed for free to residents of Huntersville and Cornelius. Everyone else pays $35 per year for a subscription. I'm guessing that the newspaper is soley advertising supported since it is mailed out free and its website is plastered with ads for advertising in the paper. I'm amazed that a free ad support newspaper that serves such a relatively small community can survive.

Since finding their online website, I've been reading most of the articles on the papers website related to developments around the village. Right now I'm reading a complicated story about the future developments of Cornelius' planned Robbin's Park which is currently next to the Greens at Birkdale but which could be swapped to a further location. Anyways, if you want to read up on really local news then The Huntersville Herald is a great source.

A Time to Sit - Starbucks, Wine Bar, or Cafe Mia

This is my favorite time of the year for sitting outside. I especially love the mornings which are still crisp and slightly cool but which warm up slowly when the sun arises.
Morning. Here in Birkdale my favorite place to sit outside in the mornings is at the Starbucks. The coffee is ok but what I really enjoy is the people that Starbucks attracts. It is energizing to see so much life in one place and to see people starting their day on such a nice morning. Its amazing how many business meetings take place over a cup of Joe at Starbucks. What is also amazing is the number of people willing to brave the wind, dew, or just about any elements in order to sit outside. I myself prefer sunny days but this past Sunday I even saw a woman sitting out under the overhang during that slogging rain storm we experienced.

Noon. Although I haven't had too many noontime meals in the village we mostly prefer Brixx (Brick oven Pizza) or Red Rocks (Not sure how to classify this one) for their lunch time fare.

Evening. Choices here vary depending on what we seek. If sitting out to enjoy wine is our desire then the Wine Bar is the place to be although we often have to wait a bit for outside seating and then fight for chairs to boot. If we desire beer then I highly recommend Brixx with its various foreign beers. You can't beat the Sampler beer platter which lets you sample four exotic beers at a reasonable price. Or even better is its Saturday night $2.50 beer special. We've sat outside many a night in the summer at Brixx listening to the live music. Lastly, our favorite ice cream, coffee, and conversation stop is Cafe Mia. Marco and Mia, the owners, and, yes, he is Italian, and double, yes, the cafe is named after his wife, Mia, have a wonderful selection of Gelato Ice Cream. It truly is delicious. They also have great Italian coffee which is way better than Starbucks. (On a side note they recently started serving a breakfast and a lunch but we haven't checked it out just yet).

So those are our choices. Of course there are more that we like at Random times: Jason's Deli (Good place for a dog too to sit out with you), Galway Hooker, Eez, and lastly just the plain old benches in Birkdale are nice too.