Planning for New Downtown Development
by Suzanne Sutro Rhees
Planning for new development in downtown districts, whether in towns or cities, requires flexible zoning and careful consideration of design issues.
Read first few paragraphs of article:
Almost everyone has a mental picture of the "traditional"
downtown: a Main Street lined with two- or three-story block
buildings with ground-floor retail or office uses and offices or
apartments upstairs. The building walls frame the street, which
in turn is lined by sidewalks, on-street parking, and sometimes
amenities such as shade trees and street furniture. It is a
familiar, reassuring image, assuming that the downtown economy
is healthy and that the storefronts are occupied.
Contrast this
with another image: the one-story "mini-mall" with parking in
front; the single-purpose office building set in the middle of
large parking lots; the chain restaurant with its drive-through
lane and "Anywhere USA" architecture -- all separated from each
other by ubiquitous parking lots and driveways.
Now ask this: how can the traditional downtown attract needed
new development without reducing the first image to the second
one? Can new buildings and uses be added to the existing fabric
of downtown without destroying its character? An understanding
of some basic zoning techniques and design principles can assist
the planning commission in finding a good "fit" between old and
new.
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