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What is important is the overall pattern of buildings along Broadway; they are tight to the street and without break (except for a few recently created interrup- tions). In this pattern we sense a downtown — a feeling that cannot be found in strip centers or pad developments; in this pattern there is value for 411 ' Monticello. We need only to look to communities like Eagan or Maple Grove •--- --. � to see the efforts that others are going through to create a"downtown." eil% • • The buildings themselves, while not gems, are characteristic late nineteenth and early twentieth century Midwestern small town commercial architecture. Building facades of this type were straightforward, with little detail or embell- Highway 25... ishment. They were built by solid entrepreneurs who understood that it was • Streets leading into downtown must be the goods and services that would be desired as Monticello grew from a settle- developed with qualities that echo downtown and the riverfront, letting ment to a city. people know that Monticello is more than just a string of mixed commercial Public facilities are sought out in small towns and Monticello has three impor- uses stretched along a highway. These are busy streets, with a great deal of tant buildings in or near its current downtown. The City Hall, Post Office and traffic focused on the river bridge. In Library are central civic and social places for a small town, but in Monticello looking at this traffic, we must ask: they become lost in the mix of uses along Broadway and Walnut Street. "Is this traffic good or bad?" Character can also be found in Monticello's great natural resource. The Mississippi River has shaped the community as much as any other force, yet this powerful natural force seems forgotten when we compare it to market trends and development patterns. The river shaped the patterns of vegetation in Monticello, and pieces of prairie and oak savanna can still be found here. These patterns will become important in the creation of a plan that not only creates a better economic environment, but one that reflects the longer history of the region and the underlying character of Monticello as a special place. • Issues Issues affecting the future of Monticello's downtown and riverfront, and the key factors that direct us toward resolution of each issue are summarized as follows: • There are four major traffic patterns within Monticello, but the prob- lem areas are likely a result of traffic from outside of the community. The major patterns are: • Connection between I-94 and Highway 10 using Pine Street • Connection between I-94 and Highway 10 using Broadway • Pine Street as a connection between communities north and south of Monticello • Local traffic We can never solve a traffic problem; by building more and wider streets, we only encourage more traffic (traffic that may disrupt the positive qualities of what we already have in Monticello's downtown). The answer lies in managing the traffic. To do this, we do not count cars, we count who is in each car; and we do not look at streets, we look at areas served by the streets. • The automobile environment dominates the major entries into Monticello, with much of Pine Street and Broadway surrendered to the A New Bridge - - Revitalizing Monticello's Downtown and Riverfront Page 1:14