Perception of Starkville

[Coach34]

FYI: that's why I'm all in on brading ourselves as "State" on everything. It's the only chance we have to seperate ourselves as a brand from Ole Miss (because what we have done has obviously not worked).

agree 100

[Tater]

1. A Cowbells sized bar in The District? Yes. A bar like Cowbells in The District? No.

2. A barcade could work, but I don't think it would work in The District. I think downtown or in between downtown and The District would be a great place.

3. I don't have a problem closing bars at 1. Oxford's bars close at 1 on Fridays and 12 on Saturdays and do completely fine.

4. Agree completely. I wish the The Graduate would've bought that land instead of the University. It's going to be really hard to make Muldrow two way now because of The Landing. Had the widened the road prior to putting it in, you probably could've done it. You might could widen it on the other side though.

5. Little Dooey's is throwing away money not having that back area open all year. They'd double their revenue with that because that could be a good nightlife place for people in their 40s and 50s to go and not have to fight the crowd in The District.

1 - agreed and what I said - just not explicitly so good clarification.
2 - my vision is for university to just be walkable with bustling entertainment and stores all the way down the street from "downtown" to "the district". Not completely realistic, but a good goal to work towards the next 10 years.
3 - Preference I guess
4 - Agreed. Main point is we need a major hotel on University which allows people to walk easily
5 - They kept it open some last year, but they need to be consistent and it needs to be strictly Bar and no food. Just to build clientele. Also need to set up access from University. Walking all the way around is a PitA that people will ignore. Seeing the line on University breeds interest and makes it easier.

To expand on #2 - that damn cemetery where it is is unfortunately awful placement. So much could be done right there to make a massive change in bridging the gap.

[StarkVegasSteve]

1 - agreed and what I said - just not explicitly so good clarification.
2 - my vision is for university to just be walkable with bustling entertainment and stores all the way down the street from "downtown" to "the district". Not completely realistic, but a good goal to work towards the next 10 years.
3 - Preference I guess
4 - Agreed. Main point is we need a major hotel on University which allows people to walk easily
5 - They kept it open some last year, but they need to be consistent and it needs to be strictly Bar and no food. Just to build clientele. Also need to set up access from University. Walking all the way around is a PitA that people will ignore. Seeing the line on University breeds interest and makes it easier.

To expand on #2 - that damn cemetery where it is is unfortunately awful placement. So much could be done right there to make a massive change in bridging the gap.

I just do not understand the placement of that thing. It ruins the flow of everything.

[Tbonewannabe]

I had a client from Indiana text me Friday night when Ole Miss was playing. He thought he was being nice congratulating me on how well Ole Miss was playing. It really does get old.

FYI: that's why I'm all in on brading ourselves as "State" on everything. It's the only chance we have to seperate ourselves as a brand from Ole Miss (because what we have done has obviously not worked).

Yeah it is kind of generic but it is honestly the best thing we have going as far as Marketing.

[DawgFromOxford]

I just do not understand the placement of that thing. It ruins the flow of everything.

Quick google search says that cemetery has been around since the 1800s , so who would have thought it wind up being in a main part of town. It was added to the National Historic places register in 1990 so I'm assuming there's virtually 0% chance it can be moved.

[gtowndawg]

Yeah it is kind of generic but it is honestly the best thing we have going as far as Marketing.

I saw a video the other day on Twitter from a news reel when we played in the 1937 Orange Bowl. Even in 1937 the news guy referred to us as "State" so there is a long history to just own it and brand it everywhere.

[Tbonewannabe]

I saw a video the other day on Twitter from a news reel when we played in the 1937 Orange Bowl. Even in 1937 the news guy referred to us as "State" so there is a long history to just own it and brand it everywhere.

I agree. I was just saying that several schools could go by it. We need to push it hard and get it out there.

[BeardoMSU]

To expand on #2 - that damn cemetery where it is is unfortunately awful placement. So much could be done right there to make a massive change in bridging the gap.

I've got an idea...**

[dparker]

I'll add my two cents.

If we are talking about perception then it all comes down to lived experience and people seeing it with their own eyes. Starkville is hard to get to and expensive to stay. There are rarely reasons to visit (conferences, concerts, etc.) outside of sports and sports weekends are the most expensive. The end result is the people with a bad perception don't go see the changes everyone is referencing.

I drive through Tuscaloosa on the way to the coast. Auburn is on the way to ATL. Baton Rouge is on I-10. Fayetteville is on I-49. Nashville is Nashville. Columbia is at the intersection of 3 interstates. And so on and so forth. Oxford and Starkville are only serviced by HWYs and Oxford is relatively close to I-20 and 55 on the way to Memphis.

We can't change the geography but maybe we can give more reasons for it to be a destination with academic conferences and professional events but those are typically held in bigger cities with more hotel rooms and things for attendees to do.

[Political Hack]

Here's a list of teams/schools that recruit Atlanta harder than State (academic, baseball and football):
All in-state Georgia teams
Bama
Auburn
UAB
Troy
West Virginia
Tennessee
Vandy
NC State
Milsaps
Ole Miss
Florida
Miami-OH
Princeton
Penn
UConn
Boston College
Baylor
Tulane
UT Martin

and that's off the top of my head.

If you don't tell people about Starkville/State, Ole Miss fans and other SEC competitors will.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I'll add my two cents.

If we are talking about perception then it all comes down to lived experience and people seeing it with their own eyes. Starkville is hard to get to and expensive to stay. There are rarely reasons to visit (conferences, concerts, etc.) outside of sports and sports weekends are the most expensive. The end result is the people with a bad perception don't go see the changes everyone is referencing.

I drive through Tuscaloosa on the way to the coast. Auburn is on the way to ATL. Baton Rouge is on I-10. Fayetteville is on I-49. Nashville is Nashville. Columbia is at the intersection of 3 interstates. And so on and so forth. Oxford and Starkville are only serviced by HWYs and Oxford is relatively close to I-20 and 55 on the way to Memphis.

We can't change the geography but maybe we can give more reasons for it to be a destination with academic conferences and professional events but those are typically held in bigger cities with more hotel rooms and things for attendees to do.

Hotels shortage is one of the main problems. Because as you said, we could attract more professional events and conferences because we actually do have the space for that between the university and The Mill. Also some other things holding back Starkville is, like you said not serviced by a major hwy. There are not many high paying jobs in Starkville unless you're a lawyer, doctor, or are high up at Mississippi State, and lack of entertainment options on a non ballgame weekend(this one isn't a huge one but is something to mention nonetheless)

[KB21]

What's the latest on the sale of OCH? What I have heard is hearsay, but I've heard that NMMC really wants to expand their footprint in the area.

[Bothrops]

Google Maps hasn't updated the Starkville area in like 7 or 8 years. The old Dude is still on the map.

[gtowndawg]

I'll add my two cents.

If we are talking about perception then it all comes down to lived experience and people seeing it with their own eyes. Starkville is hard to get to and expensive to stay. There are rarely reasons to visit (conferences, concerts, etc.) outside of sports and sports weekends are the most expensive. The end result is the people with a bad perception don't go see the changes everyone is referencing.

I drive through Tuscaloosa on the way to the coast. Auburn is on the way to ATL. Baton Rouge is on I-10. Fayetteville is on I-49. Nashville is Nashville. Columbia is at the intersection of 3 interstates. And so on and so forth. Oxford and Starkville are only serviced by HWYs and Oxford is relatively close to I-20 and 55 on the way to Memphis.

We can't change the geography but maybe we can give more reasons for it to be a destination with academic conferences and professional events but those are typically held in bigger cities with more hotel rooms and things for attendees to do.

It's a great point. I'm told Oxford has a lot of youth baseball (and maybe softball) tournaments? I know a lot of Memphis families that have gone down there for the weekend, stayed in hotels and did the youth baseball thing. After while I guess it grows on them and naturally it's great for the local economy. I thought I recall Starkville was going to do something similar or am I dreaming that up?

[StarkVegasSteve]

What's the latest on the sale of OCH? What I have heard is hearsay, but I've heard that NMMC really wants to expand their footprint in the area.

Another 17 up by the city/county.....not letting it sale in 2017 to whoever it was that wanted to buy it.


To answer your question. I know NMHS(North Mississippi Health Services) out of Tupelo and Baptist were interested in bidding. The first round of bids were due the first week of March and they didn't release who actually placed bids. My guess is those two placed bids and maybe NMMC as well. I know Oschner was sniffing around for a while about possibly bidding but don't know if that ever came into fruition.

[Bothrops]

It's a great point. I'm told Oxford has a lot of youth baseball (and maybe softball) tournaments? I know a lot of Memphis families that have gone down there for the weekend, stayed in hotels and did the youth baseball thing. After while I guess it grows on them and naturally it's great for the local economy. I thought I recall Starkville was going to do something similar or am I dreaming that up?

Oxford gets a lot of weekend visitors throughout the year. Sporting events just bring in more. Starkville, on the other hand, is quiet when no big games are being played.

[StarkVegasSteve]

It's a great point. I'm told Oxford has a lot of youth baseball (and maybe softball) tournaments? I know a lot of Memphis families that have gone down there for the weekend, stayed in hotels and did the youth baseball thing. After while I guess it grows on them and naturally it's great for the local economy. I thought I recall Starkville was going to do something similar or am I dreaming that up?

We did it. Starkville has those ballfields. Cornerstone Sports Complex right off 25. Same number of fields as m Trade in Oxford. I think Oxford is just a more desirable location for that because Oxford has 3x the amount of hotels as Starkville, plenty of AirBNBs, Batesville has plenty of hotels and is 20 minutes away, and Memphis is an hour away

[StarkVegasSteve]

Oxford gets a lot of weekend visitors throughout the year. Sporting events just bring in more. Starkville, on the other hand, is quiet when no big games are being played.

And that's what Starkville has to figure out how to change. Like go to Oxford in June/July and the square is going to be pretty packed. Go to Starkville in June/July and The District will be quiet. Like I said, I think one of the big things is figuring out how to connect The District and the downtown area. Oxford has bars,restaurants, and boutique stores all right on The Square. Starkville has bars in one area, stores in one area, and restaurants in another area. There's no fluidity and flow.

Also, WE GOTTA FIGURE OUT THE PARKING. There's like 50 spots total in The District. People might come and stay a while if they had a damn place to park.

[gtowndawg]

We did it. Starkville has those ballfields. Cornerstone Sports Complex right off 25. Same number of fields as m Trade in Oxford. I think Oxford is just a more desirable location for that because Oxford has 3x the amount of hotels as Starkville, plenty of AirBNBs, Batesville has plenty of hotels and is 20 minutes away, and Memphis is an hour away

Interesting. I'm a big believer in sports tourism, but yeah, Starkville would need more hotels and other reasons to attract people for the weekend other than a State game.

[State82]

Also, WE GOTTA FIGURE OUT THE PARKING. There's like 50 spots total in The District. People might come and stay a while if they had a damn place to park.

No doubt. This is a huge problem and one that keeps me out for the most part.