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The Need to Redefine <br />To evaluate the need for redevelopment, the Task Force <br />completed a series of exercises and small group discussions. <br />Characteristics of "Downtown" Exercise <br />The first exercise asked Task Force members to define the <br />"Components of a successful downtown" and describe "What <br />downtown means ". Their responses included the following in no <br />particular order: <br />What makes a downtown successful? <br />❖ "Heart" or center <br />❖ Nostalgia <br />❖ Authenticity <br />❖ <br />Unique/ traditional (sets us apart from suburban <br />development) <br />❖ Past, present and future planning <br />❖ Shopping /eating <br />Why do you come downtown? <br />❖ Diversity of activity <br />❖ Destination <br />Tradition <br />❖ Special events/ entertainment <br />How do you know when you are downtown? <br />❖ Mass of historic buildings <br />❖ Signage <br />What does downtown mean to you? <br />❖ Vitality <br />❖ Interest, not necessity <br />❖ Commercial, retail and service <br />❖ Connectivity, transition, cohesive <br />November 19, 2012 <br />❖ New residential <br />❖ Accessibility <br />o Pedestrians <br />• Traffic flow /access points <br />• River <br />History <br />Activities/amenities <br />❖ Aesthetically pleasing <br />❖ Balance of old and new <br />❖ Charm, pleasant feel <br />❖ Brick and south Main Blocks <br />What should downtown have that it doesn't <br />❖ Embellishments (flags, plantings, color) <br />❖ Specialty businesses <br />❖ Signage <br />■ Directional <br />■ Informative <br />Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Exercise <br />The second exercise involved a discussion of Strengths, <br />Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, a summary of which is <br />provided in the Appendix. <br />It was a result of this exercise in which the Task Force reached <br />consensus that "Downtown Elk River" has already changed, as a <br />result of time and market, to a point where it is no longer the <br />thriving commercial center it was 50 years prior. Further, <br />consensus was that "Downtown Elk River" needs to reinvent <br />itself as the historical, cultural, and energetic core of community. <br />With the core established and strengthened, the service and office <br />uses will reemerge in the area, even when changes to Highway 10 <br />require more destination driven trips. <br />-Part I, page 18 - <br />