Big-city charms

Morganton gives off a downtown vibe with small-town ambience

Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007

By Marcie Young
Charlotte Observer Staff Writer

MORGANTON - Nobuo "Norman" Sasaki has lived in the suburbs of big cities like Kyoto, Japan, and New York City.

And now he's finally living downtown.

In April, the 64-year-old executive moved to the city to run a Japanese textile company, and even though downtown Morganton has a population of no more than 400, Sasaki is living the big-city life.

Here, about 75 miles northwest of Charlotte, Sasaki lives within walking range of everything he needs and gets some of the cultural perks of a metropolis -- but in a small-town setting.

"It's so different from New York or Los Angeles, with its quiet streets and stores," he said through a translator as he signed his lease at the Morganton Trading Co., an old hosiery mill transformed into a luxury apartment complex. "It's the good, old, American town I envisioned."

Morganton, with its tree-lined blocks and overhead speakers feeding music into downtown, is a strolling city. Residents can walk everywhere they need to go, from the grocery store to church, without having to worry about parking and freeway traffic.

In the city center, an 8-by-10-block grid of leafy streets and quaint buildings, downtown residents can run all their errands -- from the fish market to the grocery story and pharmacy -- without having to pull the car out of the driveway.

"For folks wanting to ... simplify their lives, it works perfectly," said Lee Anderson, the city's director of development and design. "Everything is at your back door, and that's why downtown living makes a lot of sense to people."

A 125-year-old hosiery factory, the Morganton Trading Co., has been transformed into City Hall and a 37-apartment luxury apartment complex.

Across the street, the newly built condos and townhouses of 400 Union Square mingle with real estate and attorneys' offices, and a couple of new restaurants are slated to open.

A few blocks south, developer and Morganton native Clark Erwin refurbished an abandoned furniture outlet with wrought-iron rails reminiscent of old New Orleans, into a eight-unit condo complex that includes a gym, deli and a gift shop.

"Some people just want to downsize and like the idea of being downtown," Erwin said. "But it's that small town appeal that makes it fun ... the fish monger has been at it for years, sells locally, and everyone knows him."

Dick and Chris Golden, 65-year-old Massachusetts natives who have lived in St. Louis and Lincoln Park, N.J., recently sold their home on nearby Lake James, a growing retirement destination in Burke County, opting to rent a two-bedroom loft in the Morganton Trading Co.

The Goldens, who retired to North Carolina 14 years ago and spend half the year on the Florida coast, are a 10-minute walk from the movie theater, the grocery store, a coffee shop, clothing and sporting goods stores, doctor's offices, banks and a used bookstore.

Morganton offers a metropolitan vibe but on a considerably smaller and quainter scale, said Chris Golden.

"It's city," she said. "It's a happening town."

But the Big Apple it's not.

Morganton is at least an hour's drive from a large city, and while downtown residents have their basic needs met within walking distance, the city doesn't have all of the amenities of a large city.

A few clothing shops offer high-end brand names, such as Burberry and LaCoste, but downtown planners have had a hard time getting some store owners to keep longer hours and stay open during peak shopping times.

"When shops are open later, that's when folks go out," said Sharon Jablonski, director of the Main Street program, downtown's development organization. "The more people we can get to do that, the better off we are."

Recently, the evening sun poured through a giant window behind the bar in the upstairs dining room at Yianni's Greek restaurant, the rays bouncing off glass wine bottles lined up on the table.
While owner Ioannis "Yianni" Dimarhos prepared the dessert, an Asheville wine distributor explained each wine's flavor to a group of 20 guests gathered for the monthly wine tasting and five-course dinner.

Wine tastings, a cosmopolitan event for a predominantly rural county, are just one thing downtown Morganton is offering residents wanting a blend of big city sophistication and provincial charm.

A handful of rooftop decks perched on historic buildings above downtown overlook the 170-year-old white and cream courthouse, the city's centerpiece.

But creating a dynamic downtown didn't happen by chance.

In the late 1970s, Morganton's center city sometimes had more boarded-up storefronts and vagrants than shoppers. Looking to restart the city's heart, Morganton took on a Main Street program in 1982, and businesses started to trickle in.

In 1996, the Morganton City Council appointed an advisory committee and hired consultants to come up with a detailed, long-term plan for boosting the city center though 2015.

And the city has pursued that vision ever since -- creating a greenway, improving parking and recruiting more restaurants and residential spaces, which have soared from one apartment to more than 70 during the last decade.

Housing prices are still low by big-city standards but are climbing.

Rents at the Trading Co. start at $660 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and cap at $1,235 for a 1,625-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment. Condos and townhouses at 400 Union Square and Erwin's Morganton Station, meanwhile, range from $143,900 to about $250,000.

The population is growing but is still tiny. Seven years ago, downtown had a population of 268, according to the Western Piedmont Council of Governments.

She's happy with the progress Morganton is making but said she and city officials want more. A bakery, wine shop, downtown inn and more shops and art galleries top Jablonski's wish list for the city center during the next four years.

"That's definitely what I pray for every day," she said.

So do the Goldens. Even though easy access to the arts and dining brings a cosmopolitan flair to the small city, said Dick Golden, they haven't committed to making Morganton a permanent home.

"We're very intrigued by some of the restaurants opening up," he said, "and if they're good, that will help."


About Morganton
The county seat of Burke County, Morganton was founded in 1777 and is nestled against the foothills of Western North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. The city, intersected by U.S. 40 and U.S. 64 and 70, is about an hour from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. Morganton was profiled in the 2001 book, "The 50 Best Small Southern Towns."

Population
More than 17,000 people live in Morganton, which is about 19 square miles. Burke County, about 514 square miles, is home to about 89,000 people.

Highlights
The 5-mile greenway for runners, walkers, bicyclists, rollerbladers and skateboarders curves along the Catawba River and winds through some of the city's wooded areas.

The Old Burke County Courthouse, downtown's centerpiece, was built in 1837 and, from 1847 to 1862, held the August sessions of the N.C. Supreme Court. It is the only courthouse outside Raleigh where the Supreme Court has convened, according to the Historic Burke Foundation.

Famous Former residents
• Etta Baker, Piedmont blues guitarist and musician
• U.S. Sen. Samuel James Ervin Jr., chairman of the Senate's Watergate Committee
• Johnny Bristol, musician and Motown producer


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