Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Cajones
Increasing the downtown population from 3,500 to 10,000+ residents is a wonderful objective. What's our objective to proportionately increase our downtown green space (at a minimum hold the line)?
As packaged and sold to the public, the close to $80 million on the Museum reach (and growing) was made to bring these residents and mixed-use projects.
It's interesting that Castro's comment that the people are looking for drycleaners was in bold.. who else wants a drycleaners in HemisFair Park? Future generations will be better served by consolidating our central park. Seriously, can we not think about skyscrapers (buffer/density) on the south side of Durango?
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First, the term "green space" is an abstraction. It doesn't describe anything, and is usually used in suburban planning vernacular (in itself an abstract thing). Our central city has a great system of public spaces - urban parks, plazas, squares, natural areas, and, of course, the Riverwalk (one of the most unique public spaces in the country). And more importantly, they're arranged in a meaningful way.
This is the overarching problem with Hemisfair Plaza - it's an confused collection of dreary, dated "modern" buildings, segregated by uses and physically removed from the fabric of the rest of downtown. It's the posterchild of the worst sort of Robert Moses-inspired "planning" efforts from the middle of last century. It's the polar opposite of an authentic urban neighborhood, and a miserable use of public property.
As I mentioned, the central city has great public spaces (and other important civic amenities). What it doesn't have (and desperately needs) is a critical mass of medium-density residential, built in accordance with the principles of the new urbanism (compact, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods). That's not to say that the redevelopment of Hemisfair shouldn't contain parks/plazas/etc/; it absolutely should. But on the hierarchy of things to be concerned about, a lack of "green space" is pretty low on the list.
Finally, the overall tone of your posts suggests a cynicism about the motives of the people trying to create a more livable central city. I hope that's not the case.
Chad.