HRSR INFORMATION 10-04-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Poorly located parking facili- Copycat downtowns.The thereby reducing this distinctive- ties. Parking lots and structures unique qualities offered by each ness. I worry that this trend in gofound in the most inappropriate individual downtown are what set downtown development is some- places—major downtown intersec- them apart from other generic com- thing we need to be acknowledging tions, right on the main commercial mercial settings and other down- and addressing more than we are. street, along pedestrian corridors— towns.Yet increasingly, downtowns Kent Robertson,Professor of Community drive me crazy. In this focus on dri- have adapted the same tried-and- Development at St. Cloud State University vers rather than pedestrians, it is true strategies for streetscapes,retail (Minnesota), has published more than 25 obvious that downtown planners articles on downtown development and P mix, events, promotions, and "spe- led downtown workshops for communities have overlooked a very basic tenet: cial amenities" (the ubiquitous and at conferences nationwide. Contact All drivers become pedestrians once farmers market comes to mind), him at kent @stcloudstate.edu. • they arrive at their destination. Uninteresting windows.Do the owners of some downtown busi- Volunteers and events tied to community / nesses ever walk in front of their — continued from page 1 to our annual appeal," a maili f establishments to see what image sent out three months prior they are projecting?On a typical in the three-block district. The school is generous both November,Garwig says. / downtown street, windows can "It can be difficult , t vol- with ran e from barren to overstuffed cash and in-kind donations, g including Lawrenceville Main unteers to help with •.ne-a- with merchandise and advertising to thon,but we try to . e it fun by tasteful and inviting. busi- Street's rent-free office space, says g Ann Garwig, executive director.The having a nice ogether and nesses located on suburban strips, •Viding back downtown street-level windows school also provides have the potential to say a lot about Lawrenceville Main "Certainly don't co r %-round information Street use of its golf to the callers," she the type of business located inside on any event as b: : says. "Also,because il p passersby stop course at no charge the golden egg."to entice assersb to sto in. g gg." we don't do cold Stand-alone office develop- for its annual Golf P- calls,people are ments.The increasing presence of Scramble, its biggest j g p fund-raising event of the year. This ore willing to get involved." large, isolated office developments "People don't like to ask for that relate poorly to the downtown year's golf outing is expected to net / p between$8,000 and$10,000. /' money," Garwig says, and on the fabric-even if they include attrac- other end, "People don't like to get tive landscaping and so-called pub- The boarding school also 1: p g p use of its development office a phone calls from paid solicitors" lic plazas—is disturbing to me. So all volunteer solicitors its bank of phones for vol s to use during an annual • e-a- making calls during Lawrenceville Homework from the thon drive each Febru. Main Street's phone-a-thon are downtown professor "A lot of towns gave a col- donors themselves, Garwig says, So there you have my per- lege or university , ;'ght have and start off their calls by identify- sonal list of downtown pet facilities like tha sometimes ing themselves as Lawrenceville peeves. I'm sure each reader has communities w' ave a company Main Street donors and volunteers. his or her own list of bothersome that does tele ' eting," Garwig downtown trends. Please email Neighborliness helps says. "So °es you can make a me one or two pet peeves that / fund-raising efforts partners ere, and they'll allow truly annoy you, together with a phone-a-thon hone-a-thon is a critical you to eir bank of phones.We brief rationale and your name, just d' one night a year." component of our annual fund-rais- position, and organization by ing efforts," says last year's fund- November 15.The peeves I re- itors all volunteers and raising chairperson,Art Schonheit- ceive from readers will form the « donors themselves er. It provides us with an opportu- basis of a follow-up column to be • published in a forthcoming issue During the phone-a-thon, "we nity to talk to donors personally, of Downtown Idea Exchange. , 1 all people who have given pre- thank them for what they've done viously but have not yet responded in the past, and bring them up to September 15, 2004 Downtown Idea Exchange • www.DowntownDevelopment.com 3