"Mark Snyder" wrote: <snip>
> Who says the development has to include something like a McD's or a > Laundromat? Why couldn't there be something cool like a caf� or coffee shop > that only sells fair trade coffee to raise awareness of how most commercial > coffee producers exploit the land and the farmers? Or something like the > Seven Bridges World Market (http://www.sevenbridgesworldmarket.com/) to > promote exposure to other cultures? I believe that a coffee shop is the one commercial activity that adds to the experience of going to the library (well I would also probably agree that a small book store where you could purchase books too). But both of those are about enhancing the library experience. They are about doing things with books. I think that beyond that, you have to think that this building is going to be with us for fifty or 100 years and that you can't guarentee that there will be some cool hip store there forever. You have to expect that ultimately, economics are going to win out and the things that are the most economically viable, the stores that end up in strip malls and that homoginize us all will be the things that survive long term and will end up also being economically viable in this location. > ><snip> > > > > A library in a mixed use development will never be a landmark, will never > > provide identity, and ultimately cheapens what a library should be for our > > community. I would hope the Library Board and the City would consider > > building a landmark rather than a retail outlet for the Roosevelt Library and > > I would hope the community accepts nothing less. > > I would hope the community insists on high standards for the Roosevelt > library design and any mixed use development - however, I would also hope > the community would be open-minded enough to actually consider and evaluate > design proposals before rejecting them outright. > > Isn't it possible that creative ideas for mixed use development might draw > people to the library who might not visit otherwise? Wouldn't that be a > good thing? I am a big advocate of mixed use. I think mixing residential and commercial is a really good thing and creates a better city. But I think that there are a few situations where I think it is not appropriate though, and this is one of them. Think about it this way. Think of a church. Think of your favorite church. I will lay odds that that that church space isn't stuck in with housing and retail. Instead, that church building stands alone, as an icon in your mind, a separate and sacred space. There may be a school attached, a gym, a day care in the basement, but that sacred space stand separate and distinct from everything else. In addition, look in your mind's eye about how it helps define the space around it - about how it says "I am a part of this neighborhood, this community" and how the community builds it to reflect itself. Try another example. Take City Hall. It is built in a Richardson Romanesque style. (that means it looks like a giant brownstone) It was built that way to say to this community (back in the 1890's) that Minneapolis was a real city, a great city, and a permanent city, one that had grown from nothing to an international concern. Now try and take that image and throw a Micky-D's in there, the laundry mat, someone's barking dog. It simply doesn't work. To use some geeky words, it profanes our community. Now you could argue that McDonald's or the Mall of America are icons of the community. You could argue that the retail space with the hidden parking ramp over on Grand Avene (great mixed use), with the Gap are icons of the community. You could argue that all of the commercial space along Lake Street with its apartments above it are icons of the community. But I think that Minneapolis residents deserve better. Take Hosmer, for example. An icon for the community. St Anthony Park Library. An icon for the community. Even the Roseville Library is an icon for the community. Franklin. The same. Shoving a library into a mixed use commercial/housing development? Simply a warehouse for books. Carol Becker Longfellow _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
