Downtown Kalamazoo is fairly modern looking, for the most part. It doesn't have the downtown feel that other cities have, like Chicago, New York, LA, etc. The area is clean, little trash lying on the ground, which is a great way to get people to want to walk through town. On Burdick Street, there was a combination of retail stores and restaurants and it gave the area a good mix. There was a lot of greenery (trees, flowers) and benches for people to sit on. However, it didn't seem like these things would be distracting when people walk by; someone's main focus would most likely be on the stores. The retail stores in the area were diverse; there was "Climb Kalamazoo," which looked from the outside like something akin to a sports goods store. One bad design aspect of the area is that one of the stores didn't have its store name on the exterior of the building. If someone were to walk by, they would only know something about the store if they looked through the window (however, that might be this store's strategy, who knows). Other stores had similar problems; they would have the store name on the outside, but it was hard to read (often it was because the font was too small). There are several generators in the area like the state theatre, the art hop, the Kalamazoo Public Library, and the Radisson. These are important business that keep the area busy. In regards to the transportation in Kalamazoo, I would understand how people driving would get frustrated having to navigate through the one-way streets. While it seems safe for pedestrians to cross the street, there aren't any walk or don't walk buttons that you find in other cities. The area feels safe, especially in the day time, and at night, there are definitely areas that are dark but many areas are well lit. Another positive design aspect is parking-they seemed to have a good amount of parking (compared to cities like Chicago who don't offer much street parking).
2. Give at least three recommendations to improve the downtown.
1. I think something that would make the area more appealing, viscerally, is more greenery. On the sidewalks, along the main street (I think it was Michigan Ave), I didn't see many trees, flowers, things like that. It would make the area look nicer, and therefore make the shopping experience more enjoyable, but not distracting.
2. They didn't have many benches on the main street, and I don't think I saw any drinking fountains. Some sidewalks are less spacious than others, so I don't think the area can afford to put benches in these small spaces. However, in the areas that do have the space, more seating would benefit the area and probably bring more people in and keep them there.
3. Something that surprised me when I was looking at the crosswalks is that Kalamazoo doesn't have any of those buttons that pedestrians can press for the "walk" or "don't walk" across the street. Since the area wasn't as hectic and crowded as a larger city, it didn't seem like crossing the streets safely was an issue. However, it's always good to be extra safe, and I think this would be a good addition. I also think these buttons would give the area a more modern feel and progressive feel, because of the new technology they would be bringing to the area.
3. Select a brief passage from the article about Robert Gibbs ("What Main Street Can Learn from the Mall" by Steven Langerfeld) or the reading on public spaces (from City by William Whyte) and relate it to Kalamazoo's downtown. Use specific observations from Kalamazoo to illustrate the point.
The shade trees and planter boxes? Lovely, he says, but they block shoppers' view of shop windows and signs. Those handsome groupings of benches and tables? They seem inviting until Gibbs points out that they often attract teenagers and other loiterers, who scare off shoppers. The elegant Victorian street lamps, the expensive trash cans, and the distinctive granite paving stones--"so beautiful that people will stare at them as they walk by the storefronts.
My first impression of Downtown Kalamazoo, way back in May, was that it's a fairly busy area. It didn't have that really "downtowny" feel that other cities have. However, for the size of the city, and the population, it seems to be a good-sized downtown. I think the one thing I liked least about the area is that on Michigan Ave, the main street that draws the most traffic, there really wasn't much greenery along the sidewalks. I saw few tress, no flowers, there weren't a lot of places with benches or water fountains. In a place like Chicago, on Lake Shore Drive, the sidewalks are full of greenery. Along the lake there's grass, trees, everything. It's certainly distracting because it's so beautiful, but at that point there aren't any storefronts to ignore. Once you get into the real downtown with all of the retail stores, there's obviously less of this because you're not alongside the lake anymore. But there's still a fair amount of trees which makes the area feel more fresh and clean. In Kalamazoo, while the area is pretty clean, the absence of things like this make the area seem old and outdated, there's no life going on in the city other than the cars that are driving by. Gibbs says that groupings of benches and tables will attract lots of teenagers and other loiterers, but Kalamazoo doesn't seem to attract any at all, and it might be because it doesn't offer a lot of seating in all parts of the area. I wouldn't call the area elegant, but I think adding little things here at there would benefit the area without creating too many distractions that keep people out of the stores.
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