The Main St. reconstruction plan presented to the common council last night by DOT reps (see Northwestern coverage here) is very much like our city budget: not bad, just not very bold or innovative. Certainly a more pedestrian friendly and aesthetically pleasing Main St. would be an improvement over what's there now, but I felt very frustrated by the fact that city planners and the DOT did not seem very receptive to taking a serious look at alternative models of Main St. reconstruction. After the meeting councilors received an email from retired Oshkosh North High School journalism teacher Ron Harrell that expresses the frustration very clearly (posted here with Ron's permission):
It was painful for me to watch, as I know it was for some of you to sit through, tonight's meeting with the DOT "experts." I can't believe how little vision was applied to the Main Street project from the DOT and some of our city planners. Tony, you hit it on the head when you used the WiFi example to illustrate how, if things like WiFi aren't incorporated, the project will already be obsolete before it's completed. Have there been any visioning sessions? Did BID members fully understand what this project would mean to their businesses? How many of these businesses are operating on a shoestring right now? Jess made a good point about how planning for the Convention Center might be impacted, yet Jackson didn't seem to feel there might be a problem. Bryan made good points about signage. Paul, Dennis and Burk made their points about bike paths, sidewalks and the like. I finally stopped watching because it looked like we were going down the paths we've traveled before--paths leading to a dead-end, not to the future. Hopefully someone will take the bull by the horns and get some people with vision to sit down and explore the myriad possibilities and problems that exist.
What ideas do you have for Main St. reconstruction? Paul Esslinger and I argued that we should at least take a serious look at turning Main St. into a Madison style State St. (Before dumping loads of tired arguments about why something like that can't work in Oshkosh, can't we at least try to imagine some reasons why it can?). Post your ideas here or email me privately at tony@tonypalmeri.com
Finally, I hope our friends over at Main St. Oshkosh take an active interest in this issue. If we don't get Main St. reconstruction right it could be literally 50 years before there's another opportunity to do something that will turn our downtown into the thriving community center it deserves to be.
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9 comments:
Tony,
I think closing off Main Street to traffic is an excellent idea - it should at least be considered. I wish we could close off my block of Main Street to traffic...
Has anyone, the DOT, Jackson Kinney, anyone, talked to the business owners downtown?
Ron,
The DOT, Mr. Kinney, and Mr. Patek all claimed that much communication has taken place with the Business Improvement District and that they are largely supportive of the plan.
I asked if it might not be a good idea to require that at least 50% of the owners sign off on the plan before we proceed (similar to the way citizens on residential streets petition for street repair). My idea was NOT to suggest that failure to get the required signatures would result in doing nothing; clearly something has to be done down there. Rather, if the business owners in the affected owners won't sign off on the plan it would mean that they would want to see alternatives presented.
Quite frankly, I don't understand what is the purpose of so-called "professional" government if it does not provide cost-benefit analyses of at least two possible reconstruction scenarios for a Main St. project.
The new city manager--or strong mayor if we do in that direction--really needs to demand more creativity and analysis from the professionals.
Well I don't know if communicating with the Business Improvement District (with capital letters) is the same thing as talking to actual retail business owners downtown. Who are we talking about - the building owners, the tenants that lease the buildings, or what?
As a CPA and a business advisor to many downtown businesses, I question the wisdom of redoing the parking lots off Jefferson (between the library and Main St) at the same the DOT is redoing Main Street and the facades. Do we want to completely shut down the businesses of downtown Oshkosh? Name one business downtown that is financially thriving and can easily asborb a $15k-$20K hit for both of those projects?
I think closing Main St is a great idea. I would personlly petition the downtown businesses (those that are still open, of course) to have this happen.
Cost Benefit analysis is a catch phrase for contractors and developers. Most cost benefit analyses are based on _full occupancy_ which, especially in retail, has no basis in reality. Businesses come and go.
Full Cost Accounting takes into account all the variables. What will the city be providing if, say no one wants to locate there? What if you build it and no one comes? Your field of dreams is empty.
There are those working in government who do Full Cost Accounting and it's part of the sustainability movement.
Some suggested reading--
http://www.mainstreet.org/
Also there's an array of info if you google "Main Street Program".
Lots of ideas.
repsoccermom makes a good point.
Why schedule the projects together? Re-do the parking in preparation for the Main Street construction project. That way people can still access the businesses.
Bike lanes (a must), no street parking, pedestrian crosswalks with signs explaining that traffic must stop for peds, wide sidwalks with benches and outdoor cafe style seating, planters and trees, beautiful awnings or signage on store fronts,...
Parking behind shops. Shuttles or trolleys to transport people from remote parking areas....
More ideas.
Question--
When was the last time Jackson Kinney attended any urban planning or urban restoration workshops or conventions? The guy definitely needs a lot more vision, creativity and the ability to see past the end of his nose. Maybe a tiny boot in the fanny wouldn't hurt either.
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"The DOT, Mr. Kinney, and Mr. Patek all claimed that much communication has taken place with the Business Improvement District and that they are largely supportive of the plan."
Claims are nice, but we all know where that leads. (flash-back to summer 2007) Some type of proof, documentation or a report from BID would be nice for starters. And it wouldn't be too much to ask for. Put it on the next's meeting's agenda and see what crops up.
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