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II:  ri  7/3 


North  Carolina  S'ala  Liorary 
Ralsigh 


TARBORO,  NORTH  CAROLINA 


CENTRAL  BUSINESS  DISTRICT  STUDY 


North  Carolina  State  Library 
Raieigh 


Do€. 


TARBORO,  NORTH  CAROLINA 


CENTRAL  BUSINESS  DISTRICT  STUDY 


The  preparotion  of  this  report,  was  financially  aided  through  a 
Federal  grant  from  the  Urban  Renewal  Administration  of  the 
Housing  ond  Home  Finance  Agency,  under  the  Urban  Planning 
Assistance  Program  authorized  by  Section  701  of  the  Housing 
Act  of   1954,  as   amended. 


PREPARED  FOR: 

THE  TOWN  OF  TARBORO 

MAYOR         -  DR.  E.  L.  ROBERSON 
ENGINEER  -  B.  F.  HELMS 
MANAGER    -  W.  B.  HOWARD 

PLANNING  COMMISSION 

CHAIRMAN      -  TOM  B.  GRAINGER 
SECRETARY  -  PEYTON  BEERY 

MEMBERS        -  DR.  JOHN  W.  WHALEY 
ROBERT  McCRARY 
F.  P.  JENKINS 
J.  C.  MARROW 
WILLIE  HARRELL 
STANLEY  VICK 
JOHN  LONG 
W.  ERNEST  PRICE 
RUDOLPH  SEXTON 

TOWN  COUNCIL 


MEMBERS        -  C.  FRANK  ALFORD 
A.  B.  BASS 
HERMAN  CREECH 
GRAHAM  HARRIS 
CURTIS  B.  LEGGETT 
C.  W.  MAYO,  JR. 
L.  C.  SHOOK 
JOHN  UMPHLET 

PREPARED  BY: 

DEPARTMENT  OF  CONSERVATION  AND  DEVELOPMENT 

DIVISION  OF  COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

ADMINISTRATOR  -  GEORGE  J.  MONAGHAN 

SPECIAL  PROJECTS  SECTION 

HEAD  -  JOHN  H.  VOORHEES 

PLANNER  -  JERRY  M.  TURNER 
DESIGN  PLANNER  -  GAY  BRANTLEY 

DRAFTSMAN  -  LESLIE  DELONG 

DRAFTSMAN  -  BOB  JORDAN 

TECHNICIAN  -  JACKIE  GURLEY 

SECRETARY  -  GLENDA  YAR80R0UGH 

DATE  _  September,   1964 

Rendering  of  County  Courthouse  Square  by 

David  Hall  &  Associates,  Raleigh,  North  Carolina. 

PRICE  $1.00 


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TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 
INTRODUCTION  2 


THE  CENTRALBUSINESS  DISTRICT  OF  TARBORO  TODAY 

Site  Characteristics  3 

Trade  Area  4 

Retail  Sales  4 

Major  Functions  6 

Traffic  Characteristics  10 

Parking  Characteristics  10 

Appearance  12 


THE  CENTRALBUSINESS  DISTRICT  OF  TARBORO  TOMORROW 

Space  Requirements  13 

Planning  Objective  14 

Preliminary  Plan  14 

Traffic  &  Parking  18 

Pedestrian  Way  18 

Courthouse  Square  19 

Tree  Planting  21 

APPENDIX 

Consumer  Survey  25 

Merchant  Survey  32 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 
State  Library  of  North  Carolina 


http://www.archive.org/details/tarboronorthcaroOOnort 


INTRODUCTION 


INTRODUCTION 

This  report  presents  a  Preliminary  Plon  for  the  future  development 
of  Torboro's  central  business  district.  In  Tarboro  as  in  nearly  every 
city  and  town  across  the  nation,  the  problems  of  revitalizing  the  central 
business  district  or  CBD's  os  city  planners  refer  to  them,  ore  a  matter 
of  growing  concern. 

Today,  because  of  good  highways  and  short  distances,  central  business 
districts  ore  losing  business  to  modern  outlying  shopping  centers.  In 
these  shopping  centers  there  are  plenty  of  parking  spaces,  new  buildings 
with  attractive  store  fronts  and  well  lighted  interiors.  Signs  are  con- 
trolled and  relate  to  each  other  and  to  the  building  size.  Often  there 
are  landscaped  areas  with  trees,  flowers,  fountains  and  sculpture. 

On  the  other  hand,  most  central  business  districts  are  a  product  of  the 
past,  with  congested  streets,  old  buildings,  inadequate  off-street 
parking,  a  run-down  appearance  and  no  landscaping. 

This  study  will  analyze  the  characteristics  of  Torboro's  central  business 
district  in  order  to  determine  their  adequacy  and  to  propose  a  preliminary 
plan  for  future  development. 


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THE  CENTRAL  BUSINESS  DISTRICT 

OF  TARBORO  TODAY 


SITE  CHARACTERISTICS 
TRADE  AREA 
RETAIL  SALES 
MAJOR  FUNCTIONS 
TRAFFIC  CHARACTERISTICS 
PARKING  CHARACTERISTICS 
APPEARANCE 


SITE  CHARACTERISTICS 

In  1760  there  was  no  system  o(  roads  through  North  Carolina  and  no 
modern  means  of  locomotion,  so  that  when  frontiersmen  moved  up  the 
Tar  River  in  order  to  find  farmlands  and  establish  homes,  they  built 
their  town  on  the  banks  of  the  river. 

Today,  Tarboro's  central  business  district  is  still  located  close  to 
the  original  site  of  the  town  on  the  banks  of  the  Tor  River. 


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The  site  is  a  flot  area  some  40  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  river  so 
that  except  for  the  bridge  at  the  end  of  Main  Street  there  is  no  visual 
or  functional  relationship  to  it.  The  only  place  where  the  river  is  visible 
is  from  the  bridge. 

The  Tar  River  often  floods  during  heavy  rains,  but  the  central  business 
district  is  high  obove  this  level.  However,  water  does  collect  in  the 
flood  plain  and  in  the  two  droinage  creeks,  Hendricks  Creek  to  the 
west  and  East  Tarboro  Canal,  which  limit  development  in  those  districts. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  central  business  district  running  parallel  to 
Albemarle   Street  is  the  Atlantic  Coastline  Railroad. 

Only  o  few  of  the  streets  in  the  central  business  district  provide 
through  access  to  other  parts  of  the  town  because  of  the  river  to  the 
south  and  the  railroad  and  creeks  to  the  west. 

As  in  most  old  cities,  streets  have  been  laid  off  in  a  gridiron  pattern. 
Most  of  the  traffic  moves  along  Main  Street  (U.S.  Highway  64)  which 
corries  traffic  across  the  river  and  eost  to  the  coast. 


Tarboro's  major  area  of  development  has  been  to  the  north  of  the  Tar 
River,  north  and  west  along  U.S.  64,  so  that  the  central  business  district 
is  not  in  the  center  of  the  town.  The  small  town  of  Princeville  has 
developed  on  the  south  side  of  the  river. 


TRADE  AREA 

A  survey  of  Tarboro  merchants  indicated  that  57  percent  of  their  dollar 
receipts  come  from  the  8,411  residents  within  the  town  limits.  The 
remaining  43  percent  comes  from  persons  living  within  Tarboro's  trading 
area. 

Assuming  that  people  will  usually  trade  in  the  largest  place  that  is 
easily  accessible  to  them,  outlines  a  trading  area  for  Tarboro  which 
covers  approximately  half  of  Edgecombe  County  and  small  parts  of 
Halifax,  Martin  and  Pitt  counties.  This  trading  area  includes  such 
small  communities  os  Conetoe,  Speed,  Pinetops,  Palmyra,  Hobgood, 
Hamilton,  Oak  City  ond  Hossell.  This  area  is  primarily  agricultural 
and  has  an  estimated  population  of  15,000  residents. 

Tarboro  merchants  in  a  recent  survey  estimated  that  33  percent  of 
their  dollar  receipts  came  from  persons  residing  within  Edgecombe 
County  and  10  percent  from  the  other  counties. 

Persons  living  in  Tarboro  and  within  its  trading  area  are  attracted  to 
shop  in  other  neighboring  cities  where  there  may  be  a  wider  selection  of 
shopping   goods    and    specialty    items    not    readily   available    in    Tarboro. 

These  larger  cities  are  Rocky  Mount,  which  has  a  population  of  32,147 
and  is  locoted  16  miles  west,  Wilson  with  a  population  of  28,753  located 
26  miles  southwest  and  Greenville  with  22,860  persons  located  25  miles 
southeast. 


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Tarboro  customers  indicated  that  they  made  approximately  75  percent 
of  their  purchases  in  Tarboro,  but  went  to  the  larger  cities  primarily 
for  clothes,  automobiles,  furniture  and  oppliances.  Rocky  Mount  was 
the  city  mentioned  most  often  where  individuals  shopped. 

A  survey  of  customers  indicated  approximately  80  percent  banked,  went 
to  doctors  and  lawyers  and  repaii  shops  in  Tarboro.  Tarboro  was  lowest 
in  its  ability  to  attract  persons  to  the  town  for  entertainment. 


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TARBORO  RETAIL  SALES  (1»58) 


RETAIL  SALES 

The  volume  of  retail  sales  in  Tarboro  rose  from  10.5  million  in  1948 
to  12.9  million  in  1958.  Although  this  is  a  23  percent  increase,  when 
adjusted  for  inflation  it  only  represents  an  increase  of  2  percent. 

During  the  some  time  Tarboro's  share  of  the  retail  sales  within  Edge- 
combe County  decreased  from  40  percent  in  1948  to  33  percent  in  1958. 
This  can  be  attributed  to  the  nearby  location  of  Rocky  Mount,  better 
roads,  more  cars  and  the  continuing  competition  for  the  consumer's 
dollar. 


SALES  AS  A  PERCENT  OF  TARBORO  TOTAl 
Food  Slotos  25.1% 


There  were  110  retail  trade  establishments  in  Tarboro  according  to  the 
1958  census  of  business  or  approximately  21  percent  of  all  those  within 
the  County.  These  establishments  accounted  for  approximately  33  percent 
of  the  retail  soles  which  took  ploce  within  the  County. 

Establishments  selling  automobiles,  drugs,  other  retail  products  and 
gasoline,  accounted  for  sales  above  33  percent. 


TARBORO  SALES  AS  PERCENT  OF 
COUNTY  SALES  BY  CATEGORY 


Apparal 

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Emlng 


27.6S 
49.ex 
45.8% 
31.5% 
35.2% 
48.7% 
17.1% 
14.5% 
19.2% 


TARBORO.N.C. 

CENTRAL  BUSINESS  DISTRICT 


EXISTING.    LAND     USE 

PRIMARY   TRADE  ftgg    WHOLESALE  8  STORAGE 

SECONDARY  TRADE  REPAIR 

CONVENIENCE  TRADE  MANUFACTURING  & 

CONSUMER  SERVICES  INDUSTRIAL   SERVICES 

ADMINISTRATIVE,  TRANSPORTATION 

FINANCIAL, a  ADVISORY  RESIDENTIAL 

SOCIAL  a  CULTURAL  [~~|  VACANT  BUILDING 


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MAJOR  FUNCTION 

The  central  business  district  of  Tarboro  provides  4  generalized  major 
functions  or  activities  to  the  surrounding  population  -  retail  shopping, 
wholesale  trade  and  storage,  office  and  residentiol.  These  activities 
are  contained  by  the  open  spaces  of  the  Town  Commons  to  the  north 
and  the  river  to  the  south. 

The  retail  shopping  area  is  where  customers  may  do  comporison  shopping 
for  clothes,  general  merchandise  and  specialty  goods.  This  area  is 
located  along  Main  Street  from  Church  to  Granville  Street. 

The  wholesale  trode  and  storage  area  which  includes  agricultural 
supplies,    and   utilities   is   located  on   either   side  of  Albemarle  Avenue. 

Administrative,  financial  and  odvisory  services  are  located  in  a  diagonal 
pattern  across  the  north  side  of  the  central  business  district.  This  in- 
cludes the  central  offices  of  the  Carolina  Telephone  and  Telegraph 
Company  in  which  350  people  are  employed. 

Residences  hove  located  in  the  area  to  the  eobt  along  St.  Andrew  Street, 
but  are  gradually  moving  out  of  town. 

The  mop  on  the  opposite  page  shows  how  each  building  in  the  CBD  is 
being  used.  These  uses  are  defined  ond  total  areas  tabulated  on  the 
following  page. 


PRIMARY  RETAIL  -  Primary  retail  shopping  areas  are  generally  lo- 
cated in  the  Central  Business  District  or  in  large  regional  shopping 
centers.  These  trade  establishments  sell  low  bulk  comparison  and 
speciality  items.  Primary  retail  establishments  can  be  broken  down 
into  two  categories:  1)  stores  which  generate  their  own  trade  such  as 
department  stores  and  variety  stores  and  2)  opparel  shops,  shoe  stores, 
jewelry  stores,  and  similar  establishments  which  are  economically 
dependent  upon  the  pedestrian  traffic  generators  --  department  stores 
and  variety  stores  --  (or  supplying  potential  customers. 

SECONDARY  RETAIL  -  Secondary  retail  establishments  usuolly  sell 
"high  bulk"  items  such  as  furniture,  appliances,  home  furnishings, 
automobiles,  farm  equipment,  hardwore,  lumber,  building  materials  and 
similar  goods.  Merchandise  in  secondory  trade  establishments  is 
relatively  expensive  and  seldom  purchased  by  the  individual  customer. 
Due  to  the  expensive  cost  of  secondary  trade  goods,  the  customer  is 
generally  willing  to  travel  longer  distances  to  compare  merchandise 
between  widely  separoted  competing  establishments.  As  a  result, 
secondary  retail  establishments  do  not  have  to  locate  in  close  proximity 
to  each  other;  instead,  they  often  locate  at  independent  locations  along 
major  streets  or  highways.  In  many  instances,  these  establishments 
locate  in  areas  which  adjoin  the  Central  Business  District. 

CONVENIENCE  RETAII Convenience  retail  establishments  merchan- 
dise goods  commonly  referred  to  as  "convenience  goods."  They  sell 
merchandise  such  as  food,  drugs,  and  gasoline  which  are  purchased 
frequently.  Establishments  selling  these  goods  generally  serve  a  smaller 
market  area  than  do  either  primary  trade  or  secondary  trade  es- 
tablishments. They  are  frequently  located  in  outlying  neighborhood 
shopping  areas  in  order  to  be  as  near  as  possible  to  their  customers. 
Food  stores  and  gasoline  stations  generally  do  not  prosper  in  the 
intensively  developed  core  of  the  CBD  since  they  require  locations 
with  convenient  access. 

ADMINISTRATIVE,  FINANCIAL,  AND  ADVISORY  SERVICES  -  Ad- 
ministrative, financial,  and  advisory  services  include  offices  or  es- 
toblishments  performing  either  the  management  or  administrative  duties 
of  government,  business,  and  welfare  agencies  or  providing  monetary  and 
professional  services  for  the  community.  These  include  doctors'  offices, 
lawyers'  offices,  accountants'  offices,  banks,  the  city  hall,  the  post 
office,  and  similar  uses. 

CONSUMER  SERVICES  -  Consumer  services  include  establishments 
providing  services  to  the  person.  Establishments  such  as  restaurants, 
barber  shops,  theaters,  pool  halls,  hotels,  newspaper  offices,  telephone 
offices,  and  similar  uses  ore  included. 


CULTURAL  AND  SOCIAL  SERVICES  -  Culturol  and  social  services  in 
the  Central  Business  District  include  churches,  libraries,  and  similar 
uses. 

INDUSTRIAL  SERVICES  AND  MANUFACTURING  ~  Industrial  service 
and  manufacturing  activities  include  all  establishments  engaged  in 
manufacturing  processes  and  all  related  industrial  services. 

WHOLESALE  TRADE,  REPAIR  SERVICES,  STORAGE  -  This  category 
includes  all  wholesole  activities,  mechanical  repair  services  and 
enclosed  storage. 

TRANSPORTATION  -  Transportation  establishments  provide  for  the 
conveyance  of  passengers  and  freight  from  ploce  to  place. 

VACANT  FLOOR  SPACE  -  The  vacant  floor  space  category  includes 
all  buildings  or  portions  of  buildings  which  were  not  being  devoted 
to  any  use.  Floor  space  being  used  only  on  a  part-time  basis  was 
considered  as  occupied  floor  space.  All  storage  space,  either  possive 
or  active,  was  considered  as  occupied  floor  space. 


CENTRAL  BUSINESS  DISTRICT  FLOOR  SPACE 


Adm.,  Fin.,  &  Adv.  Services 
Primary  Trade 
Secondary  Trade 
Convenience  Trade 
Consumer  Service 
Vacant 

Repair 


207,000  -  square  feet 

72,000  -  square  feet 

59,000  -  square  feet 

41,500  -  square  feet 

34,000  -  square  feet 

31,000  -  squore  feet 

16,500  -  square  feet 


Sub  Total 


461,000    -    square  feet 


Manufacturing  &  Industrial  Service 
Social  and  Cultural 
Wholesale  and  Storage 


27,500    -    square   feet 

23,000    -    square  feet 

219,000    -    square  feet 


Total 


730,000    -    square   feet 


TRAFFIC  CHARACTERISTICS 

Since  Main  Street  is  the  major  street  into  which  all  traffic  bound  for 
the  central  business  district  flows  and  because  it  carries  U.S.  64  traffic, 
it  is  usually  filled  with  cars.  Cars  block  traffic  as  they  maneuver  to 
back  into  parallel  parking  spaces  on  either  side  of  the  street  and  the 
general  flow  of  vehicles  backs  up  behind  the  traffic  lights  located  at 
every  intersection.  Main  street  presently  carries  more  than  7,000  vehicles 
during  a  24  hour  period.  The  generally  accepted  standard  for  such  a 
street  is  only  6,000  vehicles. 

A  new  by-pass  for  U.S.  64  Is  presently  being  programmed  which  will 
divert  through  traffic  off  Main  Street.  It  is  to  be  located  outside  the 
town  limits  to  the  west  of  Tarboro  and  there  will  be  very  easy  access 
into  the  central   business  district  on   both  St.   James  and  Wilson  Streets. 


TRAFFIC  VOLUMES  MAP 
(NUMBER  OF  CARS  PER  DAY) 


PARKING  CHARACTERISTICS 

Finding  a  parking  space  in  Tarboro  is  usually  a  problem.  And  often 
when  a  parking  space  is  found  it  is  not  conveniently  located.  There  are 
approximately  1,000  parking  spaces  in  the  central  business  district  of 
which  575  are  unmetered  time  controlled  spaces  along  the  curb,  241  ore 
for  private  use  in  off  street  lots  and  227  for  customer  use  in  off  street 
lots.  There  are  no  lots  for  public  parking.  A  number  of  the  existing 
spaces  ore  too  far  away  from  center  of  town  to  be  desirable,  while 
some  of  the  others  closer  in  are  unpaved  and  unlighted,  with  clutter 
surrounding  them.  Who  could  expect  these  to  be  used  by  the  lady 
shoppers  of  Tarboro.  On  the  north  side  of  town  employees  of  Carolina 
Telephone  and  Telegraph  absorb  oil  possible  spaces. 


Modern  methods  of  estimating  parking  requirements  are  by  means  of 
ratios  of  building  floor  space  to  parking  space.  Under  this  method  there 
is  presently  about  a  1  to  1  relationship.  The  Home  Builders  Council's 
standard  for  shopping  centers  is  1  square  foot  of  floor  space  to  3  square 
feet  of  parking  space  so  that  under  this  ratio  there  would  be  a  present 
deficiency  of  approximately  2,000  spaces.  If  it  is  assumed  that  the 
central  business  district  needs  half  the  parking  spaces  of  a  shopping 
center  then  there  would    still    be  an   existing   deficiency  of  500    spaces. 


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APPEARANCE 


There  is  no  consistent  character  or  appearance  to  Tarboro's  central 
business  district.  This  is  true  even  though  there  are  a  number  of  new 
buildings.  The  stimulating  effect  of  the  new  courthouse,  municipal 
building  and  one  or  two  stores  is  lost  because  of  their  settings.  The 
courthouse  is  a  very  large  building  which  con  never  be  seen  as  a  whole 
because  it  is  set  so  close  to  the  street.  In  addition  to  this  <t  faces 
onto  the  back  end  of  a  parking  lot  and  Main  Street  stores.  Several  of  the 
newer  stores  find  themselves  surrounded  by  older  buildings  which  are 
not  attractive,  with  a  wide  variety  of  canopies  or  awnings,  and  signs. 
The  visual  image  which  remains  in  one's  memory  is  not  distinguishable 
in  any  positive  way  from  any  other  North  Carolina  commercial  district. 
It  all  comes  out  as  a  sort  of  nondescript  gray  area.  However,  there 
are  several  small  assets,  one  of  them  being  the  few  trees  that  line 
St.  James  Street,  These  add  their  natural  beauty  to  soften  the  bleakness 
of  the  buildings.  Unfortunately,  the  little  area  of  ivy  with  the  large 
oak  tree  next  to  the  Post  Office  has  disappeared.  This  was  one  of  the 
most  pleasant  areas  within  the  whole  downtown,  ond  should  have  been 
preserved,  not  destroyed. 


THE  CENTRAL  BUSINESS  DISTRICT 
OF  TARBORO  TOMORROW 


SPACE  REQUIREMENTS 
PLANNING  OBJECTIVE 

PRELIMINARY  PLAN 

TRAFFIC  &  PARKING 
PEDESTRIAN  WAY 
COURTHOUSE  SQUARE 
TREE  PLANTING 


Ea 


SPACE  REQUIREMENTS 

Before  designing  the  preliminary  plon,  it  is  necessary  to  estimate  the 
omount  of  additional  space  which  will  be  needed  in  the  future  for  the 
expansion  of  existing  businesses  and  establishment  of  new  ones. 
Building  space  requirements  for  the  future  will  be  determined  by  a 
number  of  different  variables  such  as  the  population  and  growth 
characteristics  of  the  trading  area,  changes  in  income  or  shopping 
habits  of  consumers,  changes  in  the  patterns  of  retailing  and  the 
initiative  and  actions  of  businessmen  to  make  Tarboro's  central 
business  district  more  competitive  with  neighboring  cities. 

There  are  no  specific  locational  trends  for  new  development  within 
the  central  business  district.  The  new  city  hall  and  county  courthouse 
are  the  newest  building  additions.  The  courthouse  is  generating 
building  activity  in  the  immediate  vicinity  for  office  space.  In  regard 
to  commercial  structures,  Clorks  Department  Store  on  Main  Street  has 
expanded  into  another  section  of  its  building.  Rose's  Variety  Store  has 
a  new  building  and  there  have  been  improvements  in  the  post  to  Marrow- 
Pitt  Hardware  and  Williams'  Variety  Store.  These  building  activities 
do  not  indicate  ony  new  trend  of  growth  in  Torboro  except  that  Main 
Street  is  still  the  major  street  in  the  centrol  business  district  on  which 
commercial  establishments  wish  to  be  located. 

Mony  of  these  new  structures  have  been  built  because  of  the  ob- 
solescence of  existing  buildings  rather  than  any  large  new  demand  being 
created  by  population. 

Past  population  trends  indicate  that  Tarboro's  population  is  not  in- 
creasing significantly.  However,  since  1960  a  number  of  industrial 
plants  have  moved  into  the  planning  area  increasing  the  number  of 
people  employed  in  manufacturing. 

This  report  will  assume  that  the  growth  of  the  central  business  district 
will  be  directly  related  to  the  population  increase  planned  for  In  the 
Tarboro  Lond  Development  Plon,  which  provided  an  estimated  population 
for  the  Town  and  planning  area  of  13,000  people.  Over  a  10  year  period 
this  would  approximate  a  3  percent  Increase  so  that  this  study  will 
assume  that  floor  space  requirements  should  be  planned  for  138,000 
square  feet.  The  merchants  surveyed  indicated  they  were  presently 
planning  on  increasing  floor  space  by  28,000  square  feet.  In  direct  re- 
lationship to  this  floor  space  requirement  is  the  requirement  for  off- 
street  parking  which  should  be  expanded  to  take  care  of  the  existing 
deficiency  and  keep  up  with  future  needs  which  means  providing  a 
minimum  of  845  additional  parking  spaces  or  a  total  for  the  central 
business  district  of  approximately  2,000  spaces. 


PLANNING  OBJECTIVES 

Torboro's  central  business  district  should  be  planned  so  that  it  will 
become  an  integral  part  of  the  everyday  life  of  the  town.  There  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  Tarboro  will  be  anything  but  a  small  town  for 
many  years  to  come.  For  this  reason,  it  should  plan  it's  growth  ac- 
cordingly. To  imitate  large  metropolitan  techniques  in  its  growth  pattern 
would  be  out  of  character. 

One  of  the  major  ottributes  of  small  cities  is  a  sense  of  scale,  in  that 
buildings  are  related  to  man  and  that  nature  follows  him  right  into  his 
environment.  For  this  reason,  trees  and  planting  should  be  developed  in 
the  central  business  district  to  provide  o  greater  balance  with  buildings 
and  to  create  a  more  intimate  scale.  Tree  plantings  would  provide  a 
sense  of  uniformity  and  help  to  visually  tie  the  area  together.  Certainly 
the  functional  necessities  of  the  automobile  should  be  recognized  but 
they  should  not  dominate  the  development  of  the  central  business  di  strict. 
Automobiles  should  either  be  moving  on  the  major  streets  or  parked  in 
off-street  parking   lots   which  are   readily  accessible  to   shopping   areas. 

The  central  business  district  should  be  developed  in  an  attractive 
manner.  There  should  be  improvements  in  store  fronts,  signs,  street 
lighting  and  oil  the  other  gimmicks  which  decorate  stores.  In  small 
cities,  signs  have  limited  value  as  stores  have  regular  customers  and 
everyone  knows  where  each  store  is  located. 

And  lost,  Torboro's  central  business  district  should  be  so  developed 
that  it  provides  a  specific  identity  in  which  local  residents  may  hove 
pride  and  visitors  will  appreciate  and  remember.  It  should  attempt  to 
complement  the  traditional  architecture  and  materials  of  the  past  with 
contemporary    designs    in    order    to    make    a    richer    visual    environment. 


PRELIMINARY  PLAN 

The  preliminary  plan  for  the  future  development  of  Tarboro  is  primarily 
concerned  with  providing  a  more  efficient  and  attractive  relationship  for 
the  different  functions  occurring  in  the  central  business  district. 

The  proposed  improvements  relate  to  those  actions  which  the  Town 
should  initiate  in  contrast  to  decisions  made  by  private  property  owners. 
The  Town  should  be  concerned  about  the  development  of  the  streets  and 
the  major  circulation  system  for  traffic,  for  the  development  of  off-street 
parking  in  order  to  get  congestion  off  the  streets,  for  the  construction  of 
sidewalks,  installation  of  street  lights,  trees  and  landscaped  areas. 
The  Town  should  also  take  the  initiative  to  provide  the  guide  lines  and 
regulations  along  which  private  property  owners  might  improve  their 
store  fronts,  and  provide  complementing  signs  and  possibly  even 
canopies. 


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TRAFFIC  AND  PARKING 

There  ore  no  major  changes  or  re-routing  of  traffic  in  the  proposed 
traffic  circulation  system  for  the  central  business  district  (with  the 
exception  of  the  closing  of  St.  Andrews  Street  in  front  of  the  court- 
house). As  already  noted,  the  new  bypass  will  toke  through  traffic  off 
Main  Street.  However,  in  the  future,  it  might  be  necessary  to  take 
parking  off  Main  Street  as  it  will  continue  to  be  the  most  heavily 
traveled  street. 

Off-street  parking  has  been  proposed  to  the  rear  of  the  stores  facing 
Main  Street.  Since  most  of  the  traffic  will  be  moving  along  Main  Street 
these  areas  will  be  easily  accessible  by  side  streets  and  entrances. 
Off-street  parking  areas  hove  been  located  so  that  they  are  convenient 
to  all  the  different  parts  of  the  central   business  district. 

Attractive  pedestrian  walkways  have  been  proposed  in  eoch  block  leading 
from  the  parking  spaces  to  the  shopping  area  on  Main  Street. 

PEDESTRIAN  WAYS 

Except  for  the  new  brick  sidewalks  around  the  courthouse  the  standard 
concrete  pavement  throughout  the  centrol  business  district  does  not 
contribute  to  the  Town's  appearance. 

It  is  proposed  that  new  standards  for  sidewalks  be  adopted  throughout 
the  downtown  area,  especially  for  Main  Street.  These  sidewolks  should 
be  widened  so  that  there  is  room  to  develop  a  landscaped  setting  for  the 
area.  The  sidewalk  itself  could  be  constructed  of  concrete  with  a  grid 
pattern  of  brick,  quorry  tile,  or  stone  poving.  The  combination  of  these 
materials  will  provide  o  greater  variety  and  help  integrote  the  traditional 
brick  with  the  modern  concrete. 


Widening  the  sidewalk  area  will  provide  adequate  space  for  landscaping 
and  planting  along  the  street  edge.  It  is  importont  to  have  street  trees 
and  planting  to  soften  the  cold  face  of  buildings  and  help  bring  the 
natural    beauty    of    the    Town    right    into    the    central    business    district. 


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MAJOR  CIRCULATION  SYSTEM 


SIDEWALK  GRID 


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COURTHOUSE  SQUARE 

One  of  the  most  important  aspects  of  the  preliminary  plan  is  the  proposed 
creation  of  "Courthouse  Square".  At.  present  time,  the  very  beautiful 
new  courthouse  is  located  in  such  a  manner  that  visitors  passing  along 
Main  Street  would  never  know  it  existed.  Such  an  investment  in  time, 
money  and  talent   should  not  be  hidden  on  the  back   streets  of  Tarboro. 

It  is  proposed  that  "Courthouse  Square"  be  created  running  from  Main 
Street  to  the  front  of  the  courthouse.  Unfortunately  two  large  buildings 
would  hove  to  be  purchased  and  removed,  but  this  would  more  than  be 
worth  the  investment  in  creating  a  beautiful  orea  which  would  create  a 
vista  from  Main  Street  to  the  entire  front  of  the  building.  Also  St. 
Andrews  Street,  for  the  one  block  in  front  of  the  courthouse  would  have 
to  be  closed  to  automobile  traffic. 

"Courthouse  Square"  would  have  a  number  of  advantages  in  addition  to 
a  beautiful  site  for  the  courthouse.  It  would  provide  a  useful  shopping 
and  civic  areo.  The  Squore  could  be  used  for  many  different  community 
and  county  activities.  There  could  be  art  shows  in  the  Spring  when 
people  want  to  get  outside;  band  concerts  in  the  Fall  when  high  school 
football   is   in  the  air  and  choir  groups  from   local   churches   at  Christmas. 

But  most  important  "Courthouse  Square"  would  become  an  identifying 
feature  of  Tarboro  which  people  all  over  North  Carolina  would  remember 
and  many  come  to  visit. 

The  proposed  plan  for  "Courthouse  Square"  is  designed  to  help  blend 
the  traditional  and  the  modern.  Our  lives  ore  filled  with  a  rich  heritage 
from  the  past  and  with  the  exciting  explorations  in  contemporary  design. 
There  is  no  reason  to  isolate  these  facts,  but  to  try  and  bring  them 
together  in  such  a  manner  that  they  complement  each  other  ond  thereby 
create  a  more  exciting  environment.  We  can  not  go  back  to  the  days  of 
Williamsburg,  but  we  can  remember  them.  To  attempt  to  construct  all 
buildings  in  this  manner  would  be  only  an  act  of  poor  imitation.  It  is 
necessary  to  preserve  as  much  of  the  past  which  is  valuable  visually 
and  to  create  new  and  modern  building  forms  to  complement  them. 


TREE  PLANTIKG 

A  tree  planting  program  for  the  Tarboro  central  business  district  should 
be  adopted.  The  few  trees  that  already  exist  there  are  very  pleasant  and 
all  efforts  should  be  made  to  preserve  and  add  to  them. 


Trees  should  be  selected  which  fit  the  area  in  which  they  are  plonted. 
Only  certain  small  trees  whose  roots  do  not  seriously  affect  utilities 
and  whose  size  does  not  eventually  cause  danger  to  neighboring 
buildings  and  overhead  utilities,  should  be  used  in  street  planting. 
Larger  trees  may  be  selected  for  planting  within  "Courthouse  Square," 
or  other  open,  larger  areas. 


Trees  may  be  planted  in  the  ground  within  the  sidewalk  area  by  taking 
out  a  square  (usually  4  feet)  of  the  concrete  paving.  A  neater  more 
attractive  planting  is  accomplished  when  the  soil  around  the  tree  is 
covered  with  some  material,  brick,  cobblestone,  river  pebbles  -  set  in 
a  sand  base.  The  drawing  below  shows  cobblestones  around  a  tree  . 
Trees  may  also  be  planted  in  large  containers.  These  are  available  in 
many  shopes  and  materials  -  concrete,  wood,  fiber  gloss,  all  of  which 
seem  to  work  well. 


The  accompanying   list  and   illustrations   provides  a  possible  selection. 


PERSPECTIVE 


331 


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CONCRETTE     PLANTING 
COMTA.)NCR 
21 


SMALL  TREES 

A.  Ilex  cassine  -  Cassine  Holly 

Height  15  -  20  feet,  Spread  8  -  10  feet 

This  pyramidal  shaped  tree  is  evergreen  with  fine  textured  foliage. 
Molti-trunked  specimens  should  be  used  as  they  appear  more 
interesting  than  the  trees  with  single  trunks.  The  Cassine  holly  has 
a  medium  growth  rote. 

B.  Lagerstroemia  indico  -  Crepe  Myrtle 
Height  20  -  30  feet.  Spread  10-15  feet 

This  handsome  small  tree  has  dull  green  foliage  appearing  in  the 
spring,  which  turns  a  burnished  copper  in  the  fall.  Throughout  the 
summer,  upright  clusters  of  flowers,  (pink,  red  and  white)  create  a 
profusion  of  color.  The  sculpture- 1  ike  appearance  of  the  trunk  and 
bark  makes  the  crepe  myrtle  interesting  oil  year,  even  in  the  winter 
after  the  leaves  are  gone.  The  crepe  myrtle  is  reosonobly  fast 
growing,  relatively  free  from  disease  and  is  long-lived.  This  is  one 
of  the  best  all  round  small  street  trees  for  eastern  North  Carolina. 

C.  Prunus    caroliniano  -  Carolina  Cherrylourel 
Height  20  -  30  feet.  Spread  15  -  20  feet 

This  beautiful  small  tree  has  the  advontage  of  being  an  evergreen, 
or  holding  its  leaves  all  year  round.  The  lustrous,  dark  evergreen 
foliage  forms  a  small  symmetrical  tree  with  a  heavy  round  crown. 
Numerous  small  white  flowers  form  in  the  spring  and  black  berry- 
like fruits  develop  later.  The  Cherrylourel  is  relatively  free  of 
insects  and  disease. 


LARGE  TREES 

D.    Acer  florinanum  ■  Southern  Sugar  Maple 
Height  -  40  -  60  feet.  Spread  20  -  30  feet 

The  Southern  Sugar  Maple  has  medium-textured,  dork  blue-green 
foliage  which  turns  a  brilliant  yellow  in  autumn.  Lacy  yellow  flowers 
appear  in  the  spring  on  this  long-lived  disease  free  tree.  Although 
it  is  0  slow  grower,  it  is  an  excellent  street  tree. 


A 


E.  Ginkgo  bilobo  -  Ginkge  Maidenhair  tree 
Height  50  -  75  feet.  Spread  30  -  40  feet 

The  spreading  and  drooping  horizontal  branches  of  the  Ginkgo  hove 
dull,  green,  leathery  foliage  which  turns  to  a  beautiful  yellow  in  the 
autumn.  The  mole  variety  of  the  Ginkgo  is  preferred  for  ornamental 
plantings  due  to  the  ill-smelling  green  fruits  dropped  by  the  females 
in  late  summer.  The  long  lived  Ginkgo  is  rather  slow  growing  but 
survives  under  almost  any  conditions. 

F.  Quercus  lourifolio  darlington  -  Darlington  Laurel  Oak 
Height  60  -  80  feet.  Spread  30  -  34  feet 

The  Darlington  Laurel  Oak  has  lustrous,  green  leaves  which  create 
a  brood,  dense,  round-topped  crown.  This  oak  is  a  rapid  grower  and 
makes  an  excellent  street  tree.  It  has  the  additional  advantage  of 
being  evergreen,  with  small  willow  like  leaves. 

G.  Plotanus  ocerifolio  -  London  Plane  Tree 
Height  50  -    100  feet.  Spread  25  -  70  feet 

This  tree  is  very  similar  to  the  sycamore  and  is  a  fine  tree  for  city 
street  plontings.  The  London  Plone  Tree  is  round-headed  with  wide 
spreading  open  branches.  The  trunk  is  creamy  colored  with  mottled 
grey  splotches;  The  large  maple  like  leaves  ore  light  green  and 
create  a  very  dense  foliage. 


G  22 


DESIGN  FEATURES 


T  "T       L  I  this    new    contemporary    b 

^^Ij^^^^^^T^^l^J^   I  f°'  pedestrions  are  locot 

I      flf/    I      11    I  I  II    III    t      [_  parking  to  Main  Street. 


"Courthouse  Square"  is  not  the  only  landscaped  area  which  is  provided 
within  the  plan.  A  small  park-like  area  has  also  been  provided  adjacent 
to  the  municipal  building  which  would  help  create  a  better  setting  (or 
contemporary  building  As  mentioned  earlier  small  walkways 
d  within  each  block   leading  from  the  off-street 


At  the  end  of  Trode  Street  the  present  recreation  facilities  have  been 
expanded  to  indicote  a  marina  for  the  storage  of  local  boats  and  a  water 
front  recreation  area,  with  possibly  a  restaurant  in  conjunction  with  the 


-T I  r 

'^  ^nf^^^  ^  [^"^^T^^   ^J  I  Kiosks    or    information 

II      II        taL/rt-a       ll  '  \_  throughout    the    Town, 

public. 


centers    could    be   placed    in    strategic    locations 
These   could    display    notices    of    interest    to    the 


The  Town  for  some  years  has  been  considering  new  lighting  for  Main 
Street.  The  Preliminary  Plan  proposes  that  the  central  business  district 
be  developed  along  two  characteristics;  1)  thot  planting  be  developed 
so  thot  it  will  appear  as  a  delightful  town  shopping  area  and  soften  the 
appearance  of  buildings  and  2)  that  the  traditional  ond  modern  aspects  be 
so  related  as  to  complement  each  other. 

If  this  is  the  recognized  purpose  then  the  Town  should  not  consider 
putting  the  large  mercury  vapor  lights  which  completely  drown  every- 
thing in  light,  but  should  attempt  to  select  several  different  types  of 
lights.  In  some  areas  there  should  be  high  standards  so  that  lights 
would  cover  intersections,  while  along  the  sidewalks  there  should  be 
lights  at  a  lower  level  which  would  illuminate  the  sidewalks. 


23 


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APPENDIX 

CONSUMER  SURVEY 
MERCHANT  SURVEY 


f 


CONSUMER  SURVEY 

APPENDIX  A 

CONSUMER  AND  MERCHANT  SURVEYS 

The  Tarboro  Planning  Commission  and  Chamber  of  Commerce  conducted 
a  survey  of  people  who  shop  in  the  central  business  district  and  of  the 
merchants  who  have  their  stores  located  there.   The  purpose  was  to 
question  a  cross-section  of  the  people  who  live  in  Tarboro  and  its 
trading  area  to  learn  their  shopping  habits  and  their  opinions  of  the 
central  business  district's  .effectiveness  as  a  shopping  and  service 
center.   These  questionnaires  were  distributed  during  the  Spring  of 
1964,  and  the  replies  give  some  indication  of  favorable  and  unfavor- 
able conditions.   There  were  378  replies  to  the  consumer  questionnaire 
and  17  replies  to  the  merchant  questionnaire. 


Question  1  -  Where  do  you  buy  most  of  the  following  items? 

Under  each  type  of  purchase,  the  four  communities  receiving  the 
largest  number  of  replies  are  listed.   Besides  Tarboro,  as  anticipated. 
Rocky  Mount  leads  in  nearly  all  categories.   Convenience  items  such  as 
food  and  drugs  are  purchased  mainly  in  Tarboro.   Fewer  purchases  of 
expensive,  high  bulk  items  such  as  automobiles  and  farm  equipment  are 
ma  d  e  in  Ta  rbo  ro . 

REPLIES 


Type  of 

Number 

Type  of 

N  uir 

lb  e  r 

Pur cha  s  e 

0_f 

Replies 

Percent 

Purchase 

Of 

Re 

ip  1  i  es 

GROCERIES 

FURNITURE  AND 

Ta  rbo  ro 

305 

8  0% 

HOME  FURNISHINGS 

Rocky  Mount 

23 

67o 

Ta  rbo  r o 

256 

Wilson 

4 

1% 

Rocky  Mount 

6  4 

G  r  e  en V  i 

He 

0 

0% 

Wilson 

6 

Others 

48 

13% 

G  r  e  en  V  i 1  1  e 
Others 

16 
32 

6  87c 

17% 

1% 

5% 

9% 

WEARING  APPAREL  HARDWARE  AND  AP- 

Tarboro  312  72%  PLIANCES 

Rocky  Mount  86  20%  Tarboro  264  73% 

Wilson  8  2%  RockyMount  60  17% 

Greenville  4  1%  Wilson  7  2% 

Others  24  5%  Greenville  2  1% 

Others  28  7% 

AUTOMOBILES  FARM  EQUIPMENT 

Tarboro  201  62%  Tarboro  86  69% 

Rocky  Mount  46  14%  Rocky  Mount  15  12% 

Wilson  7  2%  Wilson  3  2% 

Greenville  4  1%  Greenville  3  2% 


Others 

69 

21% 

Others 

18 

15% 

LUMBER  AND  BUILDING 

SUPPLIES 

MEDICINE  AND  DRUGS 

Tarboro 

217 

80% 

Tarboro 

287 

79% 

Rocky  Mount 

22 

8% 

Ro  cky  Mount 

23 

6% 

Wilson 

4 

2% 

Wilson 

4 

1% 

G  r eenv  i  1  1  e 

3 

1% 

Greenville 

3 

1% 

Others 

24 

9% 

Others 
INSURANCE 

46 

13% 

Ta  rbo  r o 

279 

7  4% 

Ro  cky  Mo  un  t 

46 

12% 

Wilson 

6 

2% 

Greenvil  le 

2 

1% 

Others 

42 

11% 

-25- 


Question  2  -  Where  do  you  visit  the  following  people  or  places  most? 

Services  such  as  the  hospital,  bank,  lawyers  and  repair  shops  are 
frequented  most  in  Tarboro.   Eating  places  and  amusements  are  provided 
mostly  in  Rocky  Mount.   Only  46  percent  of  the  replies  indicated  that 
persons  visited   Tarboro  for  entertainment  reasons. 


REPLIES 

Type  of  People     Number 

Typ  e  of  Peop 1 

e     Number 

Or  Places      Of 

Rep  lies 

Percent 

Or  Places 

Of  Replies 

Percent 

DOCTOR 

DENTIST 

Tarboro 

302 

7  57o 

Tarbo  ro 

288 

7  6% 

Rocky  Mount 

46 

11% 

Rocky  Mount 

45 

12% 

Wilson 

4 

1% 

Wilson 

22 

6% 

Gr eenvi  lie 

9 

2% 

G  r eenv  i 1 1 e 

4 

1% 

Others 

43 

11% 

Others 

19 

5% 

HOSPITAL  OR  CLINIC 

EATING  6.  DRINKING  PLACES 

Ta  rbo  ro 

305 

80% 

Tarboro 

277 

68% 

Rocky  Mount 

35 

9% 

Rocky  Mount 

88 

22% 

Wilson 

6 

2% 

Wilson 

14 

3% 

Greenvil  le 

7 

2% 

Gr eenvi  lie 

12 

3% 

Others 

26 

7% 

Others 

18 

4% 

BANK 

ENTERTAINMENT 

PLACES 

Tarboro 

299 

82% 

Tarboro 

173 

4  6% 

Rocky  Mount 

20 

5% 

Rocky  Mount 

121 

3  2% 

Wilson 

5 

1% 

Wilson 

38 

10% 

Gr eenv  i  1 1 e 

3 

1% 

Gr eenvi  lie 

22 

6% 

Others 

41 

11% 

Others 

22 

6% 

LAWYER 

REPAIR  SHOPS 

Tarboro 

213 

8  5% 

Tarboro 

267 

80% 

Rocky  Mount 

18 

7% 

Rocky  Mount 

45 

10% 

Wilson 

2 

1% 

Wilson 

5 

2% 

Greenvil  le 

1 

1% 

Gr eenv  i 1 1 e 

1 

1% 

Others 

17 

6% 

Others 

22 

7% 

-26- 


Question    3 


Do    you    live     in    Tarboro? 


Yes 

No 


Number  o  f 
Rep  lies 

260 
118 


Percent  of 
Total 

68% 
3  2% 


If  you  do  not  live  in  Tarboro,  write  the  name  of  the  community  in  which 
you  live. 

REPLIES 


Commun  i  t  y 

Ro  cky  Mo  unt 

Wilson 

Gr eenvi lie 

Others 


Number  of  Replies 

18 

1 

0 
90 


Percent  of  Iota  I 

16% 

1% 

0% 
83% 


How  many  miles  is  this  from  Tarboro? 

REPLIES 


Distance 

Und  er  5  miles 
5  to  10  miles 
10  to  15  miles 
15  to  20  miles 
Ove  r  20  miles 


Number  of  Replies 

25 
25 
40 
12 


Percent  of  To  ta 1 

23% 
23% 
3  6% 
11% 
7% 


The  majority  or  68  percent  of  the  persons  filling  out  the  question- 
naires lived  in  Tarboro.   As  shown  above,  the  largest  number  or  about 
83  percent  of  those  not  living  in  Tarboro  came  from  communities  scatter- 
ed throughout  Edgecombe  and  the  surrounding  counties.   The  majority  of 
the  persons  included  in  this  83  percent  came  mainly  from  Bethel,  Conetoe, 
Fountain,  Macclesfield,  Pinetops,   Speight  Forest,  and  surrounding  rural 
areas.   One  person  indicated  he  lived  in  Scotland  Neck  and  two  persons 
Indicated  Rob er t sonv i 1 1 e .   There  were  19  other  communities  excluding 
Rocky  Mount  and  Wilson  from  which  27  persons  came. 

The  third  and  final  part  of  the  question  deals  with  the  actual 
mileage  or  distance  between  these  communities  and  Tarboro.   There  were 
110  replies  to  this  portion  of  the  question  out  of  a  possible  118. 
About  half  of  these  persons  stated  that  they  lived  within  10  miles  of 
Tarboro  and  83  percent  indicated  they  lived  within  20  miles. 

Question  4  -  How  often  do  you  come  to  downtown  Tarboro? 

The  greatest  number  of  replies  indicated  they  made  daily  visits  to 
Tarboro  probably  because  they  worked  there.   Only  13  percent  or  49  replies 
showed  less  frequent  visits  to  Tarboro.   No  response  indicated  visits  to 
Tarboro  only  several  times  a  year. 


Frequency  of  Visits 

Daily 

2  or  3  times  a  week 

Once  a  week 

One  e  a  mon t  h 

Several  times  a  year 

This  is  the  first  time 


REPLIES 

N 

umb  er 

of  Re 

Pl 

ies 

329 

31 

15 

3 

0 

0 

Percent  of  Tota I 

8  7% 
8% 
4% 
1% 
0% 
0% 


Question  5  -  How  many  years  have  you  come  to  shop  in  downtown  Tarboro? 

The  majority  or  about  63  percent  of  the  378  replies  have  been 
shopping  in  Tarboro  for  ten  years  or  longer,  while  138  persons  have 
shopped  for  either  5-10  years,  1-4  years,  or  1  or  less  years. 


Number  of  Years 

10  years  or  longer 

5- 10  yea  r s 

1-4  years 

1  or  less  years 


REPLIES 

Number  of  Replies 

232 

68 

53 

17 


Percent  of  Total 

63% 

18% 

14% 

5% 


Question  6  -  Approximately  what  percentage  of  your  total  shoppin; 
spending,  not  counting  groceries,  do  you  consider  that  you  do  in 
Tarboro  ? 


REPLIES 

Percentage  of  Shopping  Spending  Number  of  Replies 
Less  than  25  percent  54 

Between  20  &    60  percent  118 

Over  60  percent  196 


Percent  of  Total 
15% 
3  2% 
53% 


Over  half  or  53  percent  of  the  368  responses  to  this  question 
designated  the  respondents  purchase  over  60  percent  of  all  their  shop- 
ping goods  except  groceries  in  Tarboro.   Thirty-two  percent  spend 
between  20  and  60  percent  of  their  total  shopping  spending  in  Tarboro, 
Only  15  percent  spend  less  than  25  percent  of  their  shopping  income 
in  downtown  Tarboro. 

Question  7  -  Can  you  usually  find  the  merchandise  you  need  or  are 
looking  for? 


Number  of  Replies    Percent  of  Total 


Yes 

No 


289 

75 


7  9% 
21% 


Of  the  364  replies  to  this  question,  289  or  79  percent  of  the 
respondents  stated  that  they  could  find  the  merchandise  they  were 
s  eek  ing  . 


Question  8  -  How  do  you  rate  downtown  stores  with  regard 

REPLIES 
Number  of  Replies 


WINDOW  DISPLAYS 
Exce 1 1 ent 
Good 
Fair 
Poor 
No  Op  in  io  n 

STORE  FRONTS 
Excellent 
Good 
Fa  ir 
Poor 
No  Op  in  ion 


18 

181 

135 

25 

15 


5 

116 

181 

64 

11 


5% 

48% 

3  6% 

7% 

4% 


1% 
31% 
48% 
17% 

3% 


-28- 


10 

3% 

175 

4  7% 

145 

3  9  7. 

29 

87o 

12 

3% 

1 

1% 

29 

87o 

79 

2  27o 

165 

4  67o 

82 

237o 

How  do  you  rate  stores  from  the  standpoint  of: 

Number  of  Replies    Percent 

CLEAN,  WELL  LIGHTED  INTERIORS 
Excellent 
Good 
Fair 
Poor 
No  Opinion 

RESTROOM  FACILITIES 
Exce  1  1  en t 
Good 
Fair 
Poor 
No  Op  in  ion 

How  do  you  rate  sales  personnel? 

COURTEOUS  AND  HELPFUL 
Excellent 
Good 
Fair 
Poo  r 
No  Opinion 

PERSONAL  APPEARANCE 
Excellent 
Good 
Fair 
Poo  r 
No  Opinion 

KNOWLEDGE  OF  PRODUCTS 
Excellent 
Good 
Fair 
Poor 
No  Opinion 

QUALITY  OF  MERCHANDISE 
Excellent 
Good 
Fair 
Poor 
No  Op  in  ion 

SELECTION  OR  VARIETY  OF  MERCHANDISE 
Excel  lent 
Good 
Fair 
Poo  r 
No  Opinion 


69 

208 

79 

12 

6 


47 
244 

67 
4 
7 


30 
187 
113 

30 
6 


30 

219 

89 

1  1 


15 
147 
129 

52 
6 


187o 

5  67, 

21% 

3% 

2% 


13% 

6  6% 

18% 

1% 

2% 


8% 

51% 

3  1% 

8% 

2% 


8% 

62% 

2  5% 

3% 

2% 


5% 
42% 
3  7% 
15% 

1% 


Only  7  percent  rated  downtown  Tarboro  stores,  personnel,  and 
merchandise  as  excellent.   On  the  other  hand,  just  12  percent  rated 
them  as  being  poor  and  4  percent  had  no  opinion.   The  majority  of 
the  replies  rated  the  downtown  stores  as  "good"  in  regard  to  window 
displays,  store  fronts,  clean,  well  lighted  interiors,  rest  room 
facilities;  the  sales  personnel  as  courteous  and  helpful,  their  per- 
sonal appearance  or  knowledge  of  products;  and  merchandise,  both  in 
quality  and  variety.   Approximately  30  percent  feel  conditions  are 
only  "fair". 
-29- 


Question  9  -  Of  the  improvements  listed  below  which  do  you  think 
should  be  incorporated  in  downtown? 

REPLIES 

Type  of  Improvement  Number  of  Replies  Percent 

More  Parking  313  82.8% 

Improve  Store  Fronts  181  47.9% 

Provide  Public  Restrooms  177  46.8% 

Stores  Open  One  Night  143  3  7.8% 

Pedestrian  Mall  123  32.5% 

Covered  Sidewalks  82  21.7% 

Shrubs  Planted  45  11.9% 

Trees  Planted  27  7.1% 

The  majority  of  respondents  checked  those  items  with  which 
they  had  experience  with,  parking  being  the  almost  unanimous  choice. 
Improving  store  fronts,  providing  public  restrooms,  keeping  the  stores 
open  one  night,  and  having  a  pedestrian  mall  are  the  other  improvements 
most  frequently  requested  in  that  order.   There  was  only  limited  inter- 
est in  covered  sidewalks,  and  planting  shrubs  and  trees.   This  may  be 
because  they  are  unfamiliar  with  them  in  a  downtown  area  and  because 
they  provide  some  of  the  more  intangible  values. 

Question  10  -  Considering  traffic  congestion,  your  ability  to  find  a 
parking  place,  the  appearance  of  stores  and  the  selection  of  merchan- 
dise in  downtown  Tarboro  stores,  what  suggestions  do  you  have  for  im- 
proving downtown  Tarboro? 

Response  to  this  question  was  very  enthusiastic.   Every  possible 
kind  of  community  improvement  was  indicated.   In  many  instances,  re- 
spondents took  time  to  write  a  full  page  of  comment  concerning  their 
thoughts  and  feelings  about  Tarboro.   Many  suggestions  were  indicated 
by  more  than  one  person. 

REPLIES 

Suggested  Improvement  Number  of  Replies 

Adequate  Parking  54 

More  Specialty  Stores  55 

Downtown  Cafeteria  49 

Modernize  Downtown  Stores  19 

More  Recreational  Facilities  19 

More  Variety  in  Merchandise  19 

Occupancy  of  Vacant  Stores  16 

Decrease  in  Loitering  14 

Clean  up  River  Bridge  Area  and  Put  Up  Lights                  13 

Repair  Sidewalks  12 

Downtown  Grocery  Store  11 

More  Courteous  Store  Personnel  11 

Downtown  Medical  Doctor  7 

Better  Quality  of  Merchandise  4 

Installation  of  Parking  Meters  4 

Rerouting  of  Traffic  Around  Tarboro's  CBD  4 

Lower  Store  Rent  3 

Downtown  Dentist  2 

More  Advertising  2 

Branch  Post  Office  in  North  Tarboro  1 

Establishment  of  YMCA  and/or  YWCA  1 

Downtown  Mortician  1 

No  Op  in  ion  19  5 

Total  515 

-30- 


Some  of  the  other  suggestions  of  interest  are  as  follows: 

Reduce  the  price  of  gas  to  31. 9<;  per  gallon. - 

Use  the  Henry  Ford  idea,  "find  out  what  the  people  want  and  give  it 
to  them . " 

Better  traffic  control  from  city  limits  to  city  limits  on  Main  Street. 

Better  zoning  for  off-street  parking. 

Continual  planning  to  prepare  for  the  forecasted  25%  increase  in  vehi- 
cles in  operation  predicted  by  1975- 

Change  the  name  of  Main  Street  back  to  the  original  name,  that  of  St. 
George  Street. 

Renovate  from  end  to  end  or  rebuilt  it,  especially  the   old  "jottem 
down"  type  stores  like  those  on  Lum  and  Abner  shows. 

Do  something  to  Albemarle  Avenue. 

Put  a  traffic  light  at  the  intersection  of  Wilson  and  Albemarle  Streets 

Everyone  should  smile  and  speak  when  meeting  another  person  on  the 
street,  whether  they  know  them  or  not. 

A  sign  erected  to  welcome  visitors  and  customers  to  Tarboro, 

Lower  the  prices  of  merchandise  to  compete  with  Raleigh  and  other 
places  in  eastern  North  Carolina. 

Washthewindowsinvacant  stores. 

Provide  restrooms  for  negroes. 

Establish  book  and  music  stores- 
No  parking  on  Main  Street. 

Arrange  store  counters  so  that  they  are  not  as  close  together. 

Implement  city  improvements  by  dealing  with  the  "tight-fisted  money 
bags  in  Tarboro." 

The  words  of  one  of  the  respondents  summarizes  the  results  of 
the  Tarboro  Consumer  Survey.   "These  are  not  criticisms  that  are 
written  here,  only  suggestions  for  improvement.   Every  town  can  al- 
ways stand  improvement,  just  like  people." 


-31. 


MERCHANT  SURVEY  „     . 

Results  of  the  Merchant  Questionnaire 

In  addition  to  the  use  of  a  questionnaire  to  measure  the  con- 
sumers' opinion  of  downtown  Tarboro,  the  Tarboro  Plan-ang  Board  dis- 
tributed questionnaires  prepared  by  the  Division  of  Community  Plan- 
ning to  gauge  the  opinions  of  the  merchants 

Question  1  -  Do  you  own  or  lease  your  present  business  area? 

Number  of  Replies    Percent  of  Total 


Own  their  building 


2  1  1 7o 


Leasetheirbuilding  15  897,, 

Question  2  -  Estimate  the  approximate  percentage  of  your  total  dollar 
receipts  in  1963  received  from  customers  living: 

Percent  of  Dollar  Sales 

Within  the  Tarboro  City  Limits  57% 

Outside  Tarboro  but  within  Edge- 
combe County  33% 
Outside  of  Edgecombe  County 


10% 


After  averaging  the  percentages  listed  in  each  category  by  the 
merchants,  the  results  showed  an  estimated  57  percent  of  the  total 
dollar  receipts  received  by  the  downtown  Tarboro  merchants  came  from 
within  the  Tarboro  city  limits,  while  33  percent  came  from  an  area 
outside  Tarboro  but  within  Edgecombe  County.   Only  10  percent  of  the 
merchants'  total  dollar  receipts  were  received  from  consumers  outside 
of  Edgecombe  County. 

Question  3  -  Number  of  employees  working  in  store  or  office  (includ- 
ing owner,  clerks,  salesmen,  etc.) 

One  hundred  eighty-five  employees  worked  in  the  17  stores  includ- 
ed in  the  survey . 

Question  4  ~  How  many  of  these  employees  regularly  drive  a  car  to  work? 

Ninety-four  employees  drove  a  car  to  work,  or  51  percent  of  the 
total  employedt. 

Question  5  -  How  many  off-street  parking  spaces  do  you  provide   for? 

Owner  and  Employees   8  4 
Customers  103 

The  11  merchants  responding  to  this  question,  6  short  of  the  num- 
ber answering  questions  3  and  4,  indicated  they  provide  84  off-street 
parking  spaces  for  themselves  and  their  employees  and  103  spaces  for 
their  customers. 

If  we  assume  the  6  merchants  now  answering  this  question  do  not 
provide  any  spaces,  10  of  their  employees  automatically  do  not  have 
off-street  parking  spaces  which  means  some  of  these  people  will  proba- 
bly park  on  Main  Street,  thus,  contributing  to  the  parking  problem. 
One  consumer  stated,  "it  is  very  discouraging  to  drive  down  the  street 
looking  for  a  place  to  park  and  see  someone  run  out  of  a  store  and 
either  move  a  car  upward  or  backward  to  hide  the  policeman's  chalk 
mark."   The  same  person  even  went  so  far  as  to  say,  "there  would  be  no 
parking  problem  if  the  merchants  and  clerks  would  stop  parking  in  front 
of  their  stores."   Although  this  is  an   oversimplification  of  the  park- 
ing situation  in  downtown  Tarboro,  it  does  indicate  that  the  merchants 
should  make  available  more  off-street  parking  space  for  their  employ- 
ees so  that  customers  could  more  readily  find  a  parking  place- 


Question  6  -  Do  you  feel  that  the  present  supply  of  parking  spaces  in 
the  downtown  area  is  adequate  for  present  needs?    Yes   1     No   1 6 

Only  one  of  the   merchants  felt  that  there  was  currently  suffi- 
cient parking  space  in  the  downtown  area.   The  remainder,  16,  stressed 
the  need  for  more  parking. 

Question  7  -  How  can  parking  be  improved? 

There  were  9  replies  to  this  question.   They  are  summarized  as 
foil ows : 

1)  More  off-street  parking  and  better  control  of  the  present  parking 
spaces  ; 

2)  Installation  of  parking  meters  and  establishment  of  municipal  park- 
ing lots; 

3)  Prevention  of  merchants,  clerks^  lawyers,  bankers,  doctors,  etc, 
from  using  controlled  parking  space  all  day; 

4)  One  hour  parking  on  Main  Street  and  for  an  additional  two  blocks 
on  either  side  of  Main  Street. 

Question  8  -  How  much  floor  space  do  you  presently  occupy?   7  5,154 
s  quar e  feet. 

There  were  16  replies  to  this  question.   A  total  of  75,154  square 
feet  is  the  expanse  of  floor  area  occupied  by  the  Tarboro  merchants 
answering  this  question. 

Question  9  -  Does  your  business  have  any  plans  for  expansion  within  the 
next  two  years  to  five  years? 

Yes   5  No   9 


How  much  additional  floor  space  will  you  build?   28,500  square 
f  eet  . 

How  many  additional  employees  will  you  employ?   1 8 

Of  the  14  replies  to  this  question,  five  plan  to  build  additional 
floor  space,  an  estimated  total  of  28,500  square  feet.   This  is  an  in- 
crease of  approximately  35  percent. 

Question  10  -  Would  you  be  willing  to  contribute  financially  (in  propor- 
tion to  your  direct  benefit)  to  provide  off-street  parking  for  customers 
in  downtown  Tarboro? 

Number  of  Replies      Percent  of  Total 

Yes  6  43  7o 

No  8  5  7% 

Question  11  -  Would  you  be  willing  to  form  a  special  assessment  district 
to  provide  off -street  parking? 

Number  of  Replies        Percent  of  Total 

Yes  7  587o 

No  5  427o 


■  33- 


Question  12  -  Who  do  you  feel  should  provide  off-street  parking  facil- 
ities? 

The  City  J_2 

Private  Enterprise  i.e.,  business  establishments  6 

Merchant  Cooperative  Corporation  3 

Organization  of  a  downtown  assessment  district  4 

There  were  25  answers  to  this  question.   Many  of  the  merchants 
felt  that  there  were  several  methods  of  solving  the  parking  problem. 
Twelve  or  48  percent  of  the  merchants  indicated  the  city  should 
provide  off-street  parking  facilities  whereas  the  remainder  or  52 
percent  Indicated  either  private  enterprise,  6  merchant  cooperation 
corporation,  3  or  a  downtown  assessment  district,  4. 

In  questions  10,  11,  and  12,  there  appears  to  be  a  genuine 
interest  and  willingness  on  the  part  of  over  half  of  the  downtown 
Tarboro  merchants  participating  to  provide  off-street  parking  facil- 
ities for  their  customers. 

Question  13  -  Has  the  development  of  new  shopping  centers  In  the 
suburbs  of  Tarboro  had  an  adverse  effect  on  your  business? 


Number  of  Replies 


Percent  of  Total 


Yes 

No 


4 
11 


26 
74 


Perhaps  other  shopping  centers  have  not  affected  Tarboro  mer- 
chants to  a  great  extent  yet,  but  with  several  of  the  consumers 
stating,  "it's  almost  impossible  to  find  a  parking  place,  and  when 
you  do,  one  hour  parking  certainly  does  not  allow  enough  time  to 
shop,  I  had  rather  go  to  shop  elsewhere  than  have  to  move  my  car 
every  hour ,  " 

Question  14  -  If  you  were  establishing  a  business  for  the  first 
time,  would  you  locate  where  you  are  presently  located? 

Number  of  Replies    Percent  of  Total 


Yes 

No 


1  1 

4 


74 
26 


)uestlon  15  -  When  you  do  expand,  will  you  do  so: 

Number  of  Replies    Percent  of  Total 


On  the  present  site 

Downtown 

Community  shopping  center 

in  Ta  r bo  ro 
Other 


29.4 
23  .  5 


5.9 
17.6 


There  were  13  replies  to  this  question,   Nine  or  69  percent 
Indicated  they  would  either  locate  on  their  present  site  or  on 
another  lot  downtown. 


Question  16  -  Major  problems  that  confront  Tarboro's  Centr.il  Business 
District  now.   Check  in  the  box  to  the  right  if  you  consider  the  factor 
a  major  problem. 


Lack  of  a  full  variety  and 

selection  of  goods. 
Inadequate  customer  facilities 

such  as  restrooms,  lounges, 

lunch  counters,  etc. 
Store  appearance  and  facilities 

generally  out  of  date  and  un~ 

appeal ing . 
Inconvenient  opening  and  closing 

hours. 
Lack  of  effective  leadership. 
Absentee  ownership 
Uncooperative  city  government. 
Inadequate  street  lighting. 


Number  of  Replies   Percent  of  Total 
4  23  .5 

6  35.3 


23  .5 
11  o8 
17.7 


There  were  29  replies  to  this  question.   The  majority  felt  that 
store  appearance  and  facilities  generally  out  of  date  and  unappealinj 
contributed  to  the  downtown  area's  problem^ 

Question  17  -  Indicate  what  actions  should  be  taken  in  downtown  Tar- 
boro  to  best  meet  the  needs  of  present  and  potential  customers. 

Only  9  persons  answered  this  question.   The  suggestions  are  as 
foil ows : 

1)  A  better  merchant  organization  and  more  cooperation; 

2)  More  off-street  parking; 

3)  Installation  of  parking  meters; 

4)  Plant  trees  and  shrubs; 

5)  Use  attractive  garbage  cans; 

6)  Provision  of  public  restrooms  and  restaurants  for 

customers  and  visitors; 

7)  Decrease  loitering  on  Main  Street; 

8)  Have  same  opening  and  closing  hours  by  all  merchants; 

9)  Occupy  empty  stores; 

10)  Modernize  old  buildings; 

11)  Enlarge  selection  of  merchandise  and  have  competitive 

prices  to  keep  shopper  in  Tarboro;  etc. 


Question  18  ~  Please  indicate  below  your  judgement  or  the  major  pro- 
blems that  confront  Tarboro's  downtown  shopping  area.   Check  those 
factors  you  consider  a  major  consideration. 


Numb  er  of  Replies   Percent  of  Total 


Physical  deterioration  of  down- 
town buildings. 

Inadequate  number  of  off-street 
parking  spaces. 

Congested  downtown  streets. 

Congested  street  leading  to  down- 
town . 

Poor  appearance  of  downtown  build- 
ings and  streets. 


16 
7 


7  0.6% 


9  4,1% 
41  .2% 


3  5.3% 

4  7.1% 


Similar  to  comments  listed  throughout  both  the  consumer  and 
merchants  surveys,  an  inadequate  number  of  off-street  parking  spaces 
were  again  indicated  by  16  merchants,  almost  100  percent,  as  the 
major  problem  confronting  Tarboro's  Central  Business  District.   Next 
in  order  of  frequency  mentioned  were  the  physical  deterioration  of 
downtown  buildings  and  the  poor  appearance  of  downtown  buildings  and 
streets.   Finally,  traffic  congestion  in  both  downtown  streets  and 
streets  leading  to  downtown  was  shown  to  present  a  major  problem  by 
13  me  r chant  s  . 


It  is  to  be  noted  that  questions  16,  17,  and  18,  in  the  merchants 
opinion  questionnaire  have  answers  which  correspond  very  closely  to 
those  dealing  with  similar  aspects  in  the  consumers'  ques t ionnar ie , 
questions  8,  8,  and  10.   The  correlation  in  replies  of  both  the  mer- 
chants and  consumers  indicated  that  there  is  a  general  consensus  of 
opinion  on  the  major  problems  confronting  Tarboro's  Central  Business 
District.   The  following  appear  to  be  the  major  concerns: 

1)  Inadequate  number  of  off-street  parking  spaces; 

2)  Store  appearance  and  facilities  generally  out  of  date  and  un- 
app  ea  1  ing ; 

3)  Inadequate  customer  facilities  such  as  restrooms,  lounges, 
lunch  counters,  etc.; 

4)  Lack  of  a  full  variety  and  selection  of  goods; 

5)  Inconvenient  opening  and  closing  hours  by  the  stores; 

6)  Traffic  congestion  on  downtown  streets  and  streets  leading 
to  down  town . 


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