Personal Narrative: Drive-By Town

Woodlawn and Washington Park lack commercial vitality likely due to the low and declining residential density and the lack of disposable income needed to support retail development. Businesses in Woodlawn and Washington Park largely cluster along the neighborhoods’ commercial corridor with prime access to the CTA’s Green line Stations and are characterized by low sales volume and not much diversity. With large concentrations of vacant land and a lack of neighborhood amenities both neighborhoods will have an uphill struggle to start growing the residential base if done in isolation from UChicago and other non-profit and public partners.

Being able to retain highly educated individuals was one of the tangible benefits of the creation of the DBAP. Increasing the city’s population has led to greater tax revenue, job opportunities, and overall community strength. In part due to the construction of the DBAP, the once depressed downtown now boasts a higher population that hasn’t been seen since the area was dominated by tobacco

Danville needs downtown revitalization to keep people buying goods here instead of going to other towns and purchasing goods and services. The Danville Business Alliance was formed in 2004 in order to revitalize Danville which has been ongoing and still is a “work in progress.” Mr. Tom Beiter, who

With a growing real estate market, investors can expect a good return on their investment. In addition, the industries within the town bring in new residents and potential business income.

City area can no longer rest on its reputation as a diversified economy with a well-educated population. The region has fallen behind in growth and competitiveness compared to its peer cities and it needs concerted focus to improve.

I would change Wilmette’s downtown area. Wilmette doesn't really have one central downtown area where all the shops and restaurants are located. This is a problem for citizens because it is harder to easily find buildings or go shopping in Wilmette. Sure, there is the area by the train tracks that is widely considered the downtown area. However, it is frustrating that many other important locations are located in other, smaller locations. In addition to Wilmette’s main downtown, there is Plaza del Lago, Linden Square, the Ridge Road District, the Green Bay Road District, and the West Lake Avenue and Skokie Boulevard Districts, which include Eden’s Plaza. Personally, this is annoying because many of the stores/restaurants seem to be dead.

Some measures that might be taken in redevelopment in the West Trail area if one were to aim for a Rossland type restructuring would be more terracing of the landscape to level the steep grades, integrating retail in residential areas rather than concentrating it in the downtown core and Waneta and providing adequate public transit options to more areas. These adjustments would help to relieve the automotive dependency of the city, reduce accidents in the winter both vehicular and pedestrian and help create more close knit

Building the vitality of the downtown core through the creation of new residential, business, retail, cultural and entertainment opportunities.

The Muskoseepi Park Skatepark and Grande Prairie Skatepark Strategy open house was hosted on October 24th at 6:00 pm in a Muskoseepi Park meeting room facing the proposed expansion site. This open house is part of the council directed Skateboard Park Strategy to access existing parks and recommend new areas and designs that will meet current needs and look ten years into future needs (Grande Prairie Skatepark Strategy, 2017). During this open house participant input on both locations for future skateparks and designs for the City of Grande Prairie and the two proposed concept drawings for the Muskoseepi Park Skateboard park were explored. The following paper will explore and evaluate the nature and organization of the

With the vision of The Parks & Recreation Department and their vision to accommodate for the large increase in the members of its facilities and is not always able to provide accommodations for daily use. The City Council seen values in the project and later has decided that there is a need for added recreational facilities for its residents. Which caused the proposal of the building of the Stanley Park community center. The community park will be created on a vacant 60‐acre city‐owned lot. Some of the features of the community center and park will have

While downtown’s decline had much to do with the crowds that it drew, making it a hassle, it was this same business that gave it its special quality. As the masses grew within the metropolitan region, downtown and the opportunities which it had to offer also grew. The busier the city became, it seemed, the more business could be conducted, the more people could find things to entertain themselves with, and the more industry and business could thrive. However, these businesses were not just thriving for the owners.

Have you ever seen the TV show the “Walton’s?” If you have, then you will definitely be able to identify how unique the place was where I was raised. I was raised in North Arkansas in a small community called Onia. In fact, the road that I lived on was called Lawrence Road. It was named this because all of my relatives lived down this road. My Grandpa, who is now a retired Baptist preacher, lived down this road along with his brothers and sisters. The church that I grew up going to was also pastored by my grandfather for over thirty years and it was about two miles down the road. The community bordered the Ozark National Forest so it was very rural and isolated. Most of the traffic on Lawrence Road was mainly the people who lived

With this method, it would divide the traffic of people more evenly throughout the downtown area but not at a remove all and rebuilt type of manor. This also helps in that the businesses that are currently there hipster or jazz included doing not have to compete with new ideas. We all know that the movement of “hipster” will be phased out and a new trend will come in and take over so either way, a spread of different ideas is better than a concentrated area. Also with this method, people can choose their favorite section and not waste time going across downtown to get to their other destination. The more one has to move to acquire what they need is going to tire them out and cause them to no go to the next area. Or the opposite can happen it could force consumers out of their comfort zone, and make them explore a new area because their favorite shop is there, like an

In response to the lack of effort on the part of businesses to renovate the downtown area, city council members to take action. What are some ways that the city government could promote this kind of revival?

Revitalization efforts in downtown areas have gained momentum over the past few decades, this paper is focused on revitalization strategies, recognizing the process of decline, while identifying key strategies used in downtown revitalization efforts over the past fifty years (Faulk 2006). Downtowns, unlike suburban shopping malls or office complexes, evolved slowly over time, responding to changing technologies, social and economic patterns. A city’s identity relies heavily on the image of its downtown, so inevitably cities of all sizes commit themselves to achieving successful downtown redevelopment (Robertson 1995). As I have been reading literature on downtown revitalization a number of strategies and principles have surfaced. Many of