My small town (~64,000 folks) is attempting to restructure its downtown into a more pleasing passageway for business and good community vibes. Or as the Missoula Downtown Association (MDA) puts it, "The expected increase in population in the Missoula market, our community’s commitment to preserving open space, and potential conflicts between old and new, commercial and residential are highlighting the need for a Downtown Master Plan in Missoula." So what does the MDA do? Yep, you guessed it. They hired an out-of-state consultant from Oregon to lead our community out of foreseeable travesties.
My hut of employment is a little nook of vinyl records along the primary artery of the downtown businesses, but across the river/bridge. And my boss thinks the main issues facing the PortlandOregonian adviser is traffic circulation: the downtown's two one-way streets and its lack of bike lanes.
When I keyed in on the bike lanes and began posing questions about possible solutions, he returned with a diatribe-- restricting parking downtown along the streets will restrict much of the business in the city's core. He proposed cutting into the current sidewalk and using the new space to establish a bike lane. Either that or create a seamless lane on streets parallel to, but not on, the main corridor.
I dig many things about my city, although its expanding real quick-like. There's a lot that we can be proud of. But I had to tell him, even though such an argument would (under his logic) limit our business, a bike lane is more important to me than vehicle parking. I extended this declaration with a few simple utterances.
What should we encourage as oil prices shift and the population grows? Suburban sprawl? Or would it be feasible for a small, but growing, community to dictate exactly the type of development we'd like to see in the future, if any? Are we a community built on improving and refining sustainable principles?
I wonder how many other small nooks are predicting the same sorts of challenges.
Photos courtesy of: http://www.mikesparr.com & notblogging.notwriting.com/2005/09/
Tell him about all these Asian countries that are booming even with bike lanes. It's a myth that restricting parking would resist business except the kind of business you want in your downtown area are those that would sell on the streets. If you want huge companies with huge buildings, they probably would make provisions for parking in their construction process. But then i depends on the area of land you're willing to designate as downtown. Anyway...i don't believe bike lanes would restrict business, and if there is a functioning public transport system, everybody would be fine.
You make a good point about rising gas prices. A town that chose to encourage and accomodate those who chose to ride a bike rather than drive, maybe that town would have more people actually riding a bike! I wonder how that would affect further development. I predict a reduction in sprawl if the majority of people were getting to and from places with a bike rather than a car, which would preserve open space.
I'm traveling to Boulder at the end of August and I'm excited to see how they're managing their town. I've heard that part of their taxes go toward the city government buying up open spaces around the town to protect them from development. I wonder if they have bike lanes...
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You must be the change you wish to see in the world -- Mahatma Ghandi
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. --Mahatma Gandhi
My Blog: http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kablock
Exactly. Adding bike lanes (which increases the safety of existing riders and the riders who will be encouraged to use a different mode of transportation) is a step away from sprawl.
Boulder, Colorado? Yeah I'd be interested in hearing what they've offered, too.
my documentary...
Wanna smile on the spot?
Yeah my downtown is pretty weak too. We have a nudy bar that is unpleasant so the city is trying to relocate it. I think there needs to be more shops and restaurants! People would walk more if a street of these businesses were all available at walking distances. Our city is growing and we need to accommodate all these new changes and I think our Governor so far has been able to help.