Quote:
Originally Posted by downtownhsvguy
I have been reading this forum since I moved here almost a year ago from San Francisco Bay Area, so I thought it was time to start contributing.
1. I went by the twickenham square project and took some photos of the progress. Living in the Belk hudson lofts, I can not wait for the Publix to open. I walk over that way all the time and it would not be any problem to walk to pick up some food.
http://flic.kr/p/dNm3fw
http://flic.kr/p/dNm3hq
http://flic.kr/p/dNfsKk
http://flic.kr/p/dNfsLX
http://flic.kr/p/dNm3pw
2. On the current proposal to expand Bridge street, It is a little lack luster. WE have a development back in the bay area that is similar but it has a housing element to it. It is call Santana Row ( http://www.santanarow.com/). It has very high end shops along with clubs, restaurants and other features. But the most important element it has is housing above all the store fronts ( http://www.santanarow.com/living/). It is an amazing atmosphere and always lively because people also live there. One problem Bridge Street has is the lack of this element. I know for me, I do not want to drive. I want to get home and then walk to everything and this area does not seem to be very big on that. Just some food for thought. Maybe we can get into a discussion about how to get these developments started. Twickenham sqaure has the right idea but it needs to be massive expanded.
3. I have read a few places that downtown has a height limit for buildings. Does it still or has the mayor and company changed it.. Can someone explain to me what it currently is. I can not find anywhere any information on it other than it was up for vote in 2008. I really want to live in a high rise if I stay in the area. I know the Belk Hudson Lofts is almost completely full. This should be a great sign to developers to move in to build more. I have read where a lot of people want to keep downtown small to keep the square and surroundings, but i have been in many cities to where you can have both, if developed correctly. Anyones thoughts on this?
4. Downtown Huntsville is like San Jose, CA in many ways. In about 20 years it went from agricultural based economy to being the capital of silicon valley. The issue was that everyone thought it was still an rural city, when it was actually an urban one. It was a lot of work to help the people that lived there and around downtown to stop thinking of it that way. (example Suburban mentality; no surface parking, no where to park but there are garages everywhere and they are empty. Because they are used to strip malls) That is really hard to over come but they did it. Huntsville could learn a lot from them and not have to go through the billions it took to overcome that suburan mentality. They are enough transplants here, that a urban core would thrive and be successful.
Does anyone know how to get more involved in the downtown planning process so the mayor and company will know these kind of projects are wanted and so they can hear other views instead of the NIMBY? |
I think you've hit on a lot of good and important points.
Speaking specifically on the suburban and/or rural mentality, I think that has a lot to do with the current state of all of Alabama. Most people, even natives of the state, feel as if they live in a rural area when in reality most (around 75%) of us live in metro areas. Birmingham is possibly the city most affected by that mentality; if you asked anyone in that area, most of them would probably not believe that the lived in a large city. So, really, I think the mentality we're speaking of is indeed something that must be overcome in order for the state, and its cities, to legitimately progress.
Additionally, the state as a whole has a HUGE identity issue. This is a biased theory, obviously, but I think that stereotypes about the state have perpetuated this. So, this paragraph and the preceding one certainly indicative those momentousness barriers to the cities of our state. In my opinion, however, all of the Big 4 and other centers like Tuscaloosa and Decatur have begun to recognize the economic and cultural importance of downtown areas. If you've read anything about the activity going on in downtown Birmingham, it's evident that attitudes are starting to change. Thank God.
As the descendant of transplants to North Alabama during the Space Race, I'm quite familiar with that rural and suburban mentality. I grew up in Decatur, and many citizens of the River City would consider Decatur to be a small town where everyone knows everyone; which is ridiculous, there's no way you can know all 55,000 people.
The Huntsville-Decatur area is, in many ways, representative of the larger cultural, and economic, fragmentation of the entire state. There are distinct cultural, demographic, economic, etc... differences between each of the Big 4 cities. This is arguable, but I'd say that both Huntsville and Decatur have culturally, economically, and demographically distinct parts of town. Decatur has the NE, SE, SW, and NW "regions", and the way Huntsville has had to grow around the Arsenal have made it inconvenient for a person in South Huntsville to make the trip to western Huntsville for a meal, entertainment, shopping, etc... Then across the mountain, it's similarly inconvenient.
Of course, Birmingham is possibly the most fragmented area in the state, but that's another argument for another day.
Anyways, I think a lot of what I said above is what largely perpetuates that rural or suburban mentality. People perceive their fellow citizens as been very different from themselves, and of course, who wants to live in close quarters with people they have nothing in common with? That feeling is especially evident in Birmingham. Even though I'm now in grad school, my colleagues from Birmingham still view downtown Birmingham as being very dangerous and don't want to venture there for fear of being shot. That feeling leads people to move out, of course, and also don't consider the health of downtown to be a priority; after all, it's somewhere to be avoided, so why invest in it? Charlotte even went so far as to rebrand their downtown; "uptown" is what they all refer to it as now.
As for the downtown height limit. I know that the inner part of downtown no longer has a height limit, and there are buffer areas between the core and the historic residential areas.
Sorry for writing a novel. I also apologize for typos, I didn't feel like going back and revising, haha. Welcome to the forum, we're glad to have you!
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