“The improvements they have come up with will be great,” said Garner, who plans to open a gift shop in the yellow building beside her florist on First Avenue next month.

The improvements — part of a streetscape plan recommended by the Old Town Committee to the Knightdale Town Council last Wednesday — are now scheduled to be added to the town’s capital improvement plan for funding.

The preliminary cost estimate is $140,000.

Already included in the capital plan for this year is the renovation of the sidewalks on a residential portion of First Avenue from Sycamore to Roberson Streets. The town also has an option on 75 acres of land off First Avenue for a town park.

The spiffing up of downtown, or Old Town, got its start about two years ago after the town hired a consultant to study how to improve the area. Part of the consultant’s recommendations were the improvements in the downtown district and the creation of a committee made up of people who live downtown to further explore those options.

Garner, who opened the florist in March two years ago, said Old Town has been good to her.

The florist is thriving in the middle of the recession — she was at the business until 3 a.m. last week and back at 7 a.m., finishing orders. She believes other business folks would set up shop among Knightdale’s tiny strip of retail if there were more buildings.

But the owners of the building that housed Knightdale Fitness which closed a year ago haven’t had any nibbles.

Casey Zboralski, a hairdresser at The Hair Junction on First Avenue, said the word on the street is there are no takers yet. Zboralski said businesses already downtown could benefit from angled parking spots.

“People are afraid of parallel parking,” she said with a laugh.

Her co-worker, Elyse Woodruff, wondered if the narrower streets— intended to slow down traffic — would encroach on the parking opportunities downtown.

But Hair Junction’s owner Martha House couldn’t be happier with the plan.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “The lights — it just will make it more like a quaint little town.”

Lallalo Contreras, working at his sister Marie’s La Mexicanita Bakery, at the corner of First and Main said street traffic is already good at the business and thinks a beautified downtown would only increase it.

A former resident of Hendersonville, Contreras misses the brick streets, shops with flowers and the “country in the city” feel of the place, he said.

“It looks pretty nice,” he said. And he’s hoping the Knightdale streetscape would look similar, he said.

But Henry Lovejoy, piecing together a stained glass window at Stained Glass Associates, isn’t expecting changes in the streetscape to bring in more people.

“It’s hard to compete with Target and the shopping centers,” he said. That’s not stopping Garner, who plans to put up a bright green awning in front of her sunny building soon. She’s a downtown believer.

“People stop in all the time and want to know if there’s a building they can rent,” she said.