|
<br />6 4- cf¿;
<br />
<br />2
<br />
<br />1.2.
<br />
<br />"The Big Fix" (also knows as "The Magic Bullet"). This refers to the very common but mistaken
<br />notion that a big anchor use, like a movie theater, sports center, performing arts center, hoteVconvention
<br />center, or other large destination development, will single-handedly reverse the fortunes of downtown.
<br />Issues oflocatioIl, design, ground-level treatment, public space, land-use & development policy
<br />restructuring, and other revitalization programs are then swept to the side. The result: a large, alien
<br />development that people drive to and away from in the center of the dying downtown, with, at best,
<br />some new shops directly across the street. In Redwood City, the City Council has seen to it that this did
<br />not happen with the Retail Cinema project, which in most other cities would have become a bland-
<br />walled, insular super-block building.
<br />
<br />1.3.
<br />
<br />Emphasis on automotive convenience at the expense of "Place:" Ever since shopping malls and
<br />commercial strips stole away the largest share of shopping investment from downtowns, cities have
<br />made the common mistake of assuming that downtown should compete with these facilities by
<br />providing more convenient parking, wider roads with plenty of capacity, and by placing parking next to
<br />anchors. This is a mistake. Downtown cannot compete with the convenience of mini-malls, strip
<br />centers, power centers and shopping malls sUITounded by surface lots and positioned along wide arterial
<br />streets. To be successful, downtown must be the lively alternative to the strip, offering great places to
<br />walk, sit, and to hang out. The best downtowns offer streetlife, vitality, urbanism, romance, beauty, and
<br />the magic of the city. Uses that do better in such vital environments (such as restaurants) choose
<br />downtown every time.
<br />
<br />Runners-Up. Three additional very common mistakes that didn't make it into the Big Three:
<br />
<br />A
<br />
<br />B.
<br />
<br />Planning downtown in isolation from the rest of the city - as if the retail in the downtown is not
<br />affected by city-wide competition. If downtown is to become a true center of the community, it must be
<br />planned as a central node in the overall framework of retail-driven places in the city. Another example
<br />of this mistake relates to the tendency of cities to locate civic buildings such as new city halls,
<br />community recreation centers, libraries, and post office storefronts on available sites outside of
<br />downtown, rather than to think about the best place in the structure of the city to get the most value from
<br />civic buildings. Since successful downtowns are always the most public districts in the city, it is
<br />essential for civic buildings to be clustered there whenever possible.
<br />
<br />The idea of "let the market decide" instead of using policy tools to incubate a successful downtown is a
<br />deadly misunderstanding in the downtown revitalization business. The historic downtown was, in fact,
<br />a creature of market demand, for the same reason that communities must act to keep downtowns strong
<br />in the CUITent suburban development landscape: the enduring preference of retail investment has been
<br />for visibility and access. Left to its own, retail will follow the primary circulation arteries anywhere
<br />zoning allows it to. The market combines with rampant commercial zoning along wide thoroughfares
<br />and freeway interchanges to produce strip retail and dead downtowns (or no downtowns in cities that
<br />never had one, such as Cupertino or MiIpitas).
<br />
<br />FI'",'dIl11l1l
<br />
<br />T \I II ;!;
<br />
<br />1\ (I II ( III Ie ,\
<br />
<br />URBAN DESIGN
<br />
<br />74 New Montgomery Street, Suite 300 San Francisco, California 94105
<br />Tel: 415.291.9455 Fax: 415.291.9633 Email: infoOftburbandesign.com
<br />
|