“Last night on Food Network, they featured a FRIED PIE cart (yes, they fry gourmet handmade pocket pies-it’s a beautiful thing) that opens every night in Portland, Oregon. Apparently they have a district that has over 400 food trailers/carts (like the kind you see at fairs and street events) and it’s a hot spot after dark. People literally line up rain or shine to eat from these places. I would love to see a hint of that spirit of street fair while we are recruiting larger established businesses to downtown.

On 6th Street in East Topeka, right across from Reesers, there is this old crummy looking trailer that has really fabulous steak with lime and cilantro tacos. We drive 25 minutes to stand outside and eat the stuff. They sell authentic Mexican sodas and in the shopping center behind it, there is a little bakery with amazing authentic Mexican pastry.

I’d love to see us develop an area that celebrates local flavor in a concentrated area. I think street fairs with art booths and little shops that have unique stuff you can’t find in a big box store is appealing to tourists and locals.”

Excerpt from the Capital District Project Facebook Fan Page. You can read more at: Discussion Board: What entertainment options would you like to see downtown? Posted on May 20

“One thing that I think would be great is to incorporate artwork into the downtown area, the city of Wichita has an amazing sculpture collection and it is definitely one of the gems of the town. I agree with the idea of a movie theater(especially a drive-in), it would be awesome to be able to go see films without driving clear out to Wanamaker. I also like the idea of providing an area where local vendors could set up, basically an outdoor food court that would also provide a venue for the talented artisans in Topeka to sell and showcase their work. Another thing that I believe to be important is that we need to support the existing businesses (perhaps provide a guide detailing the different businessesin downtown), a lot of people don’t realize the great shops that are already downtown.”

Excerpt from the Capital District Project Facebook Fan Page. You can read more at: Discussion Board: What entertainment options would you like to see downtown? Posted on May 16