Interesting article from D magazine

[smontgomery]

Why the Fixation on Downtown is Wrong - dmagazine.com/may02/spaces0502.shtml (http://dmagazine.com/may02/spaces0502.shtml)

Any opinions on this?

[GarrettCarey]

I must admit that it is a very interesting article with several good points. Maybe some of our city leaders will read this article and learn a thing or five.

I too am intersted in hearing what others have to say.

[jsoto3]

i mostly agree with that. i do, however, feel that there is still a need for planning and "grand plans." i don't think anyone ever expects such plans to flesh out as envisioned. but such visioning excites people and gets the wheels turning in the minds of those who can get things done. it establishes and asserts an attitude of how we might go foward. there is never consensus. grand plans create desire, a reason to look to the future of a particular area.

[MustangMonkey]

This writer made some good general points, but didn't address any specifics. Interesting to read none-the-less.

If a place is attractive people will want to be there. Nice infrastructure, museums, parks, ect... do not equate to economic and entertainment vitality, but they are pieces that are typically needed. Chicago is well known for museums.

If downtown wasn't treated as if it where invincible in the past, then we wouldn't need many of the projects that are seen as necessary today. The highway loop around DTD is a major barrier to neighborhood interaction. Highways practically cease to exist in San Francisco. All streets are urban street level thoroughfares or tunnels.

I don't know of any existing plans that will swallow up large amounts of land and not allow other spontaneous development. There are lots of areas that can be developed, even with big ticket projects.

Waiting on market forces to develop the CBD would be more practical if it where the population and economic center, but we all know that that is weighted to the North.