Yes, I remember it from when I first moved here in
'85. It reminded me of downtown Madison without the buses and bikes.
I'm pretty sure that Madison is still that way--and it works well for managing
the huge amount of downtown traffic (because of the isthmus) and pedestrians
(because of the university and state capitol building on either end). I
think it probably helped to maintain downtown vitality because it made it easier
for people to get around downtown even if those passing through in a
car had to change their usual routes. I don't think it could have
worked without municipal parking lots and a great many people who traveled by
foot, bike, and bus.
I think that if we keep a goal of creating a
downtown that is "user friendly" in mind that the chance of failure is much
less. The old "pedestrian" Third Street made it more difficult for the
community to patronize downtown businesses due to fewer parking spaces and
lack of direct access to the shops.
I love the idea that Bob mentioned about a
parking/convention center along the riverfront. I also think that some sky
walks would make sense--making it easier to get from one's car to a place of
business without freezing in the winter or sweating through professional dress
clothes in the summer--not to mention security for women walking to vehicles
after dark!
Are these ideas like this ever discussed by the
city council? Will any of the candidates commit to this kind of a
discussion?
Kathy Seifert
--- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 4:52
PM
Subject: RE: [Winona] Downtown
[Winona Online Democracy]
The
pedestrian mall on Third Street was considered "state-of-the-art" when it was
built, and many cities did similar things. In St. Paul, a similar piece
was built on 7th Street, which also died a slow, painful death and was
replaced a while ago. In Minneapolis we have the Nicollet Mall - the big
difference being buses and taxis are allowed, bringing people past all the
offices and store fronts. In the 30 to 40 years since these things were
done, almost all of them around the country have been taken out, just like
Winona's. It's one of those experiments that failed. Should we
fault people for trying? Was there any way to know how it would
work? Probably not.
The
lesson I tell my city clients who are contemplating changes to their
streetscapes is to keep a mix of pedestrians and cars - it works.
Streets that are all pedestrians are almost guaranteed to fail as good
places to do business. And streets that are all cars (no sidewalks or
trails) are almost guaranteed to fail as nice places to visit. In a
downtown setting I recommend both.
Phil Carlson,
Minneapolis
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