Wendy Introwitz Pareene writes: "But it is not like that at 46th Street, and at Diamond Lake Road there = is a vibrant little business district a block off the interstate. I = wonder if the combination of blocking off Nicollet with that ugly K-Mart = parking lot, plus the ramps at 31st and 35/36th Streets combined to = create the terrible blight at 35 & 36th?"
Avidor- There is a much better understanding these days about what excessive auto traffic does to communities. Even the Access Project supporters admit that excessive automobile traffic does terrible things to communities. The Access Project supporters, however like to make a distinction between the effects on residential (bad) and the effects on business (good) but there isn't clear evidence that increased auto traffic is good for small business nodes like Nicollet and 38th Street. Nicollet and 38th Street is a combination of small businesses, much of which are minority-owned and homes.... High traffic areas tend to favor suburban-style franchise businesses like what you see at 46th Street. Such businesses require a lot of big, ugly signs and pavement to attract a high volume of customers in automobiles. This sort of development discourages pedestrians and creates a high-rent, franchise-based economy that makes every neighborhood look the same. But high traffic areas can degrade a small business node like the one at 35th and Nicollet Avenue because it's simply a bad fit for that community. In high traffic areas, people have less time to notice the subtle attraction of small businesses...if 38th Street became as hectic as 46th Street or 35th Street would anyone have the time to be seduced by the wafting olfactory allure of Shorty & Wag's wings and ribs? Cities are human eco-systems. Since cars were introduced into that eco-system in the last century, they have behaved as unpredictably as a Buckthorn or Eurasian Milfoil. The fact that we see Milfoil and Buckthorn in many places is no reason to allow it to spread further. There is a limit to our power of imagination...we have made so many mistakes based on faulty evidence and a hasty process. When it comes to the decision to move the ramp to 38th Street we should follow the Hippocratic Oath and "first, do no harm." Ken Avidor STRIDE Kingfield _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
