Spring has sprung in Grant Avenue!!

I must say to start off, that last Sunday’s Traffic Free Day on Grant Avenue was a sign of the new times around here. Changed shop fronts and the occasional builders rubble littering the sidewalk seem to be a regular feature.

The Traffic Free day certainly made its target. According to an email I got from Marcelle Ravid, the organiser and Counciller for Ward 73 of Johannesburg, “The aim was an awareness of pedestrians rights, air and noise pollution from cars and transport issues in this being Transport Month in Johannesburg.”

As someone who actually lives on Grant Avenue, I can’t tell you what a pleasure the street was on Sunday. It looked great, chairs, tables and umbrella’s up and down the Avenue. Turnout from the Public was low, but it did give pause for thought about the possibility of doing this once a month.

As Marcell said, “Should the traders wish to do this again, the ball is now in their court, to organise themselves, raise money to do marketing and advertising and really go all out to attract people to Grant Avenue.”

But changes are afoot in Grant Avenue anyway.

Starting from the north which signalled the changes with the conversion of the Grub Store into Chuckleberrys. La Concorde, that very popular meeting spot, has just put in a whole new kichen, so their meal range has improved even more.

Further South, there are three new restaurants opening, including the renovation of Mo’s café into a Jazz bar. I’m sure that all Grant Avenue regulars will agree that the new Sunday night sound of a lonesome saxophone wailing into the street makes a welcome change from the broken bottles and street fights of the previous operation.

Its been interesting watching the conversion of the Fishmonger into a really well fitted out restaurant with open kitchen.

To make things even more exciting for jazz lover’s there is another new jazz bar, featuring a grand piano and quality food, opening up opposite Debonairs.

These last two are due to open in the next few weeks, so it looks like the festive season is going to be festive.

That will make four live music venues in the area, if you include 88 and the Radium. All kinds of jazz for all tastes.

Many people will have made their Christmas bookings already, but if you haven’t, Norwood might be a central place to meet. But do make your bookings soon for Christmas parties. Johannesburg closes for the season, as we all know, so finding a place for New Year can be tricky at the last moment.

This was emphasised to me by Dimitiri, the owner of the New York café, who will be open all of December. He’s done an amazing job of picking up the New York Café and is one of the few places that stayed open late all through winter,

Its great to say that advertising is starting to pick up on the GrantAvenue.co.za website. The New York Café and Red Carpet Movies are the most recent two advertisiers. Oh, and if you’re looking for signs that Norwood is rebuilding, check out the new extension to the RedCarpet shop.

And then I’m expecting the art work from Huizemark and Pam Stein Properties, so that’s a good sign.

Finally, a moment for unashamed website promotion. I put up a beta of a website yesterday at http://NoWellFine.2bctnd.com

NoWellFine is intended to give you more information about the Road Traffic legal situation in Johannesburg.

Did you know that about 20% of the fines written out in South Africa are incorrect and thus invalid? If you received a ticket recently, then you may want to drop by nowellfine.2bctnd.com and run a check on your ticket.

It will cost you R45 and amongst other things, we’ll check the correlation of quoted regulations, the wording of the fine and the amount of the fine. If these three don’t correlate, the ticket is invalid.

I’m fighting with my ISP’s DNS settings so haven’t got a domain up for it yet so http://NoWellFine.2bctnd.com will have to do for beta testing Use the code blog_1 for a 20% discount. And I’d really appreciate the feedback.

Enough! More news as Grant Avenue continues to wake up for the season.
Happy days
tm