"Dull, inert cities, it is true, do contain the seeds of their own destruction and little else. But lively, diverse, intense cities contain the seeds of their own regeneration, with energy enough to carry over for problems and needs outside themselves."

—Jane Jacobs; The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961)

I feel secure saying we will finally see major advances in Downtown Garland this year and that everyone's attitude of what is possible in Downtown will multiply several times. Staff is currently in discussions with High Street Residential, a division of Trammell Crow, to build a large multi-use building—retail, housing, and parking—that will be a catalyst project, one that gets things started. Similar development would also occur south across Austin St. But, as implied, that's only the beginning. Opening the new Dallas County Community College campus and a renovated downtown library are important steps also.

However, the most important step for long-range success will be revitalizing the heart of Downtown, the plaza area. We will not reach long-range success if we have burned-out shells, boarded fronts, and long empty spaces around the square. I don't believe in taking private property for purely economic development reasons, but these perennial sore spots regularly challenge my principles. Another sore spot we as a city can address is the plaza itself; the sometimes-working water feature is not conducive to people gathering, enjoying the days and nights, or just taking a shortcut across. There are far better designs that could be utilized and, fortunately, the staff is reviewing these and voters approved bond monies for revitalizing the plaza in the 2004 Bond Package.

Linked from HyettPalma website

As mentioned in my From Reno post, one workshop that I attended and particularly enjoyed was "Best Practices & Approaches to Downtown Revitalization," presented by Doroles P. Palma and Doyle G. Hyett, of HyettPalma, Inc. They presented examples of projects they have been involved with as part of the America Downtown® program that is administered through the National League of Cities. I was excited to be able to hear them speak because I was somewhat familiar with their perspective on downtowns and have felt we have a common vision.

From one of the workshop handouts: Local elected officials in thousands of America's cities have made Downtown revitalization a key priority. This is due to the following truths:

• You can't have a first-class town without a first-class Downtown;
• Downtown revitalization is economic development;
• Downtown is a visible indicator of your community's overall health and quality-of-life; and
• As Downtown goes, so goes the town.

HyettPalma's philosophies originally gained my interest when they conducted a seminar on downtowns in Austin about three years ago. They opened with these ¢facts¢:

• Fact: Downtown success is spelled E-C-O-N-O-M-I-C-S—(Fiction: If we build it they will come)—a successful downtown is one whose investors (business owners, property owners, real estate developers, the local government, etc.) realize an increasing return on their investments.
• Fact: Spenders Count—(Fiction: Special events will save downtown)—spenders that downtown must attract include retail shoppers, professional services clients, diners, entertainment users, and apartment renters. Spenders attracted by a particular downtown use often cross-over to other uses.
• Fact: Downtown can successfully co-exist with the giants—(Fiction: Downtown can't survive in a age of malls, discounters, and power centers)—now flourishing downtowns aren't competing head-on with the giants or continuing with ¢business as usual;¢ instead, these downtowns live by the adage ¢evolve or die¢ and found ways to successfully co-exist with the giants.
• Fact: You can create the downtown you want—(Fiction: We can't control the future)—downtowns whose leaders believe that the future is beyond their control are doomed; business and public leaders that take a ¢wait and see¢ attitude put themselves forever in a reactionary mode. Identify the best and what must be changed—build the first and improve the second.
• Fact: The business sector and the public sector must both revitalize downtown—(Fiction: The business sector is solely responsible for downtown's decline/rebirth; or, the public sector is ....)—business and public leaders of successful downtowns have agreed that the status quo was not acceptable, that they needed to come together to enhance downtown, which actions were to be taken by each, and that each carried their own weight to implement the agreed-upon actions.
• Fact: A revitalized downtown benefits the entire community—(Fiction: Downtown enhancement only benefits a handful of downtown business and property owners)—an enhanced downtown benefits the entire community, such as increased ratings from companies that determine the city's bond rating. [While I agree with the overall statement of benefit to the entire community, I haven't verified the accuracy of the bonding statement.]
• Fact: You need the tools that every business needs to succeed—(Fiction: We can wing it)—These tools include: a clear vision of the downtown's preferred future, market opportunities, course of action, committed business and public sectors, and a stable source of funds.

This post has been mostly background that I carried into the workshop. A future post will deal more specifically with recommendations made during the workshop.