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Old Posted Apr 7, 2011, 11:51 PM
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Downtown Alliance setting new 10 year vision plan for downtown:
From the Ithaca Journal


Goals for downtown Ithaca set for the next decade
Improved transit, new Commons, more apartments among targets for Downtown Ithaca Alliance


Written by
Liz Lawyer


The Downtown Ithaca Alliance's vision of downtown in the year 2020 includes a stronger "spine-and-spoke" transit system, a rebuilt Commons and 1,500 new residential units.

Besides those three main goals for the coming decade, the Downtown Ithaca 2020 Strategic Plan includes dozens of smaller targets, like increasing downtown's appeal as a location for conferences and meetings or making sure downtown is a comfortable place for senior citizens to live and visit.

The DIA's first 10-year strategic plan ended in 2010, said Executive Director Gary Ferguson. The 90-page plan for the 2010s has a new set of ideas. Ferguson hopes it will encourage sustainable growth, control urban sprawl, maintain retail and commercial activity, and encourage diversity.

The 2020 Strategic Plan was drawn from surveys, outreach meetings with community groups and stakeholders, public meetings and existing development plans. It was developed with an eye toward 11 fundamental concepts, including mixed-use projects, reducing automotive uses, and improving transitions at neighborhood edges.

"There's no such thing as a silver bullet for a community," Ferguson said. "Like a casino -- that's an example of a silver bullet. Rarely does that work."

Ferguson said an estimated 4,000 new units of housing will be required in Tompkins County to keep up with population growth. By establishing a goal to have 1,500 of those in the downtown area, Ithaca can prevent urban sprawl and encourage less driving, among other sustainable practices.

"But if those were built on the periphery of the community, that's not a very strong, bold statement about our dedication to green and sustainable principles," he said.

Other aspects of the plan call for capital improvements to The Commons and other downtown areas, such as parking garages. With financial woes at every level of government and in the private sector, funds for infrastructure improvements are low. But Ferguson says there will never be an ideal time to make repairs.

"We have to deal with the urban core whatever the fiscal environment is," he said. "Even in tough times, one has to be willing to invest in the future. You may have to change the way you do business, but you still have to do business."

The hundreds of specific goals in the plan include:

* Adding two more hotels to downtown.

* Exploring the concept of a joint City of Ithaca/Tompkins county administration building.

* Providing free Wi-Fi on The Commons.

* Creating a Downtown Residents Council to act as a liaison between the city, DIA and downtown inhabitants.


Here's The link:

http://www.theithacajournal.com/arti...et-next-decade
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