From Email Inbox: Downtown Design

"In my view, the cities that have maintained their old town centers have the best downtowns. Cities have a life of their own, which is developed over years as the result of many individual decisions. Heavily centrally planned new "downtowns" are glorified outdoor shopping malls that lack character and personality and are mostly the province of big national chains stores. ...

But this suburban community is echoing what urban writer Joel Kotkin calls the New Suburbanism--a car centered, spread out suburban area that is punctuated by some "villages" and "new suburban and residential cores." So we live like suburbanites and work like suburbanites in various and sundry office parks and elsewhere, but we'll increasingly entertain ourselves in places that try to reinvent the old-fashioned downtown with areas that reflect the nostalgic visions of the baby boomers. There's nothing wrong with that. It's fun to congregate with other people, go to the moves, dine and shop.

How those area are created is more important that the creations themselves.

We need to stand firm and insist that it's done in the marketplace, without the coercive power of government planners who want to impose their vision on the community. Anaheim is taking the market-friendly approach and will undoubtedly yield the most successful result.

Note how non-controversial the city's plans have been, give that it is not forcing anyone off their property and is not lavishing subsidies on the developer. Other cities, most recently Yorba Linda have become embroiled in political battles over centrally planned downtown development.

How about putting freedom first in a downtown policy? That's something that is worth being nostalgic about."


Steve Greenhut sgreenhut@ocregister.com 714-796-7823
The Orange County Register, Sunday April 2, 2006
Commentary page 5