Quote:
Originally Posted by Cottonwood
Which is also a good analogy for Boise. Our downtown has maybe half the height of similar sized peer cities in the region but yet our downtown is far more vibrant and happening than those other city(s).
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agreed... the key is streetscape, and the relationship the first 2-3 levels of any developement have upon influencing pedestrian traffic, as well as gathering space and draw...
Washington DC is a very vibrant city, and there are NO skyscrapers really like other cities it's size.. and their skyline is really the national mall area and the capital building dome.
Towers make your city look and feel big, but as many have learned in a few cities, it contributes next to nothing in adding vibrancy.. Salt lake city has been this way for YEARS, as well as Bellevue washington...
They are working to create what cities like portland and boise already have...
unfortunately urban malls don't make it happen..by themselves mind you... bellevue square in bellevue wa, and riverpark square in spokane are prime examples.. they themselves didn't really contribute a damn thing... eventually both cities are now working on streetscapes in around the shopping centers... drawing people out of a shopping center is more difficult to do, when their entire purpose of being downtown in the first place is to just visit the shopping center...
dunno if that makes sense...
downtown should be the draw, and all the city has to offer, and the shopping center should be part of the experience...
if downtown is just full of office buildings and a few shopping centers, you still sit and promote car culture, and you don't get vibrancy.. the key is everything inbetween....
Personally I would be against having any large scale shopping center in a city center until it is past the critical mass point of residents living within the city center to support it... 15-20K...
if you don't have that critical mass yet.. it is crazy to even consider a large scale shopping center.. because you're forced to draw upon suburbanites to support it.... and then your city center follows suburban culture...