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October 29, 2004
How to do a pedestrian street right
For a vibrant, active, economically successful pedestrian street (paseo), it must have the following:
1. Unique, independent restaurants, cafes, coffeehouses, bars (preferably half the number of venues) so the area is worth visiting in the first place.
2. Outdoor seating for all of the above, providing a strong sense of street life.
3. Significant amounts of housing surrounding the district, ideally also above the first or second floors of the pedestrian street.
4. Lots of trees to provide shade, motivating people to stay longer.
...and the following tips are important to note:
1. Don't base decisions on failed downtown pedestrian malls in the 1970s and 1980s. Hardly anything prospered downtown in that period.
2. Terminating the street with a key building or landmark provides a much more comforting sense of being in an outdoor room. Curving or organically crooked streets also help provide this sense of place.
3. Make them one block at first to hedge your risk. Mid-block paseos work well in this regard.
4. Ensure you're near a university and/or transit, parking, housing to provide foot traffic.
5. Brick pave them for human-scaling.
6. Run the architectural review/management through a main street program for quality control.
7. Engineer two-way streets around the pedestrian zone to keep traffic flowing efficiently.
8. Plan a variety of events, as a 'stage' is now set for entertainment and community building.
You now have a city icon; a compelling reason to come to the downtown that's safe for everyone, and something unique to pass the postcard test. It's not that difficult, it just needs progressive leadership.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
October 28, 2004
Is it time for the return of the pedestrian-only street?
Hundreds of pedestrian malls built in downtowns across the country in the 1970s and 80s failed. However, downtowns overall failed during that time, as regional malls became all the rage in a time before people experienced traffic congestion.
Back to the future: However, regional malls are failing in the 2000s. Cities and downtowns are regaining population for the first time in 30 to 50 years in the 2000s. People are migrating back to city centers because sprawl traffic is relentlessly rage-inducing, in the 2000s.
So...
Look for the return not only of simple and modest pedestrian streets and places (rather than overdone pedestrian malls), but vibrant pedestrian streets and places, like:
Pearl Street, Boulder, CO
Main Street, Charlottesville, VA
Church Street, Burlington, VT
Ithaca Commons, Ithaca, NY
Aspen, CO
Iowa City, IA
Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX
Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, CA
Powell Street, San Francisco, CA
Lincoln Road, South Beach, Miami, FL
Sacramento, CA
Denver, CO
Are there others? Please comment!
Here are some guidelines. to establishing a successful pedestrian street.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article | Comments (1)
October 27, 2004
A Coffeehouse David vs. Goliath
This is the coffeehouse 'David' in Athens, Georgia, Blue Sky Cafe, an independent, long-time institution and favorite hangout. I assume there's no need to tell you what the coffeehouse Goliath* is that opened up right next door, with little sympathy and remorse if they had put Blue Sky out of business.
Well, the good news is that Blue Sky expanded and is doing better than ever after that certain chain next door opened. Why? Because in addition to being a great coffeehouse and cafe, it has a bar - two of them, and a downstairs lounge for night dwellers. Because the front of the building opens up to outdoor seating for a true fresh air experience. Because there's free live music, and Blue Sky participates in local events. Because when you walk in, you know there's no place like it anywhere in the world.
The main reason? Because the people who work and frequent Blue Sky simply seem way more independent than the ones next door.
*You know, the coffee chain that's on every block in every town.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
October 26, 2004
Why do small towns and cities prefer independent merchants?
That's certainly the case in small towns and cities, but not in the suburbs. What's going on?
Suburbs are controlled by a few people. It was designed and built for the masses. Homes were built hundreds at a time, by the same firm. The same firms also built shopping malls and strip malls to accommodate dozens of retailers at a time. It took a lot of capital to build environments of such large scales, and that capital usually wasn't local, so because the investors were unfamiliar with the local culture and economy (nor interested in it), they went with national chains.
Small towns and cities are controlled by a diversity of many people. Hundreds of different people built hundreds of different residences. Hundreds of different business people built hundreds of different business venues. Naturally, because only locals would invest such small scales of capital on such small sites, they preferred venues that reflected their local culture and supported their local economy.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
October 25, 2004
Local businesses give 70% more back to you than chains
A new retail study for a Chicago neighborhood discovered that for every $100 spent on an independent business, $73 went back into the local community. However, for every $100 spent on chain businesses, only $43 went back into the local economy.
The study, completed by Civic Economics, the leading firm in the country for conducting these kinds of analyses, found that independents had 26% more of their staff locally, bought more than twice as much of their goods and services locally, kept more profits locally, and spent more on local charities.
Check out more studies on how independents contribute more to you than chains here, and through a dedicated news resource at New Rules' Hometown Advantage reports.
Posted by Neil | Link to Article
