Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Downtown Density

One of the big problems with downtown, and something the comprehensive plan will have to address is the amount of empty space between buildings. Especially in the  area between Walnut and College, you find quit long stretches of sidewalk bordered by parking spaces. while parking is a good and necessary thing (and the lack of which is also a common complaint about downtown), their presence breaks up the flow of foot traffic.

An important feature of a vibrant retail area is a dense business presence so that shoppers can readily move from one store to the next. This is the problem University Mall has with its food court. By locating it on a low traffic wing, it ensured little to no foot traffic in the area. No foot traffic means no pedestrians and no pedestrians means no shoppers.

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