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Parking ramp talks proceed


Allan

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A new ramp will be needed, and its good to see that the city administration is behind this. I doubt it will be street-friendly, though.

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Yeah, a ramp is needed. I know they won't think enough to put ground floor retail in it though.

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  • 3 weeks later...

And while I'm in this abandoned forum, I'll mention that downtown really needs this new parking ramp in order to support and attract more businesses downtown. And I truly pray that somebody with an urban planning degree will be involved to get some retail space on the ground level. There needs to be more businesses downtown that aren't on Saginaw Street for it to be somewhat successful.

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Abandoned? Haha. You aren't far off. This is the least viewed section on the entire website! I've contemplated dropping it, but at the same time it isn't hurting anything by being here.

Anyway, I quickly drove through downtown before I headed back to school. Things seem to be shaping up nicely. I hadn't been downtown since February! That does bring up another very important point though....

Currently there is no reason to go downtown unless you work there or are a student at UM-Flint. The city needs to attract unique businesses downtown. Festivals and parades could also help people to rediscover downtown.

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I agree. I guess that's why developers are trying to bring restuarants of the type that aren't common in Genesee County. If enough of them come downtown it'll attact a lot of people that usually go to Miller Rd. to eat. But while I like restaurants, other than seeing downtown reviving it won't attract me there any more than I'm attracted now.

A bookstore and another coffee shop is a nice start, but it needs more variety. There are talks of bringing a skate park downtown. Other than those and more bars and nighclubs I'm not sure exactly what else I'd like to see, though.

There are actually a lot of festivals in the downtown area during the summer. I think last year there was one almost every week. They just need better publicity, more businesses and a cleaner streetscape. There also needs to be more residents. People attract more people. Things aren't as interesting when you only see about 50 or so people walking around.

Not to keep ranting I'll just add that possibly converting the "main parking lot" downtown into a park or plaza would help. And getting some infill between the river and the businesses in Carriage Town along MLK would do great wonders (especially with the Durant filled with residents).

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That main parking lot needs to be filled. I'd like to see it filled with buildings, however. On the west half put a few 3-4 story buildings with ground floor retail and apartments and condos above. On the east half put a new parking garage with ground floor retail. Then demolish Genesee Towers and put a downtown park there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't care what they do to it - Demolish it or put a new skin on it. The fact is that it's a hideous piece of architecture, has not been properly maintained, and is literally falling apart because of a lack of maintenance and shoddy workmanship. They need to do something to it, because all it is right now is a gigantic eyesore. The city & DDA want it demolished; however, it is caught up in court right now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Does anyone got a pic of the J london building ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think I have one from my very first UrbanPlanet photo thread in September 2003. Those photos are not on this site anymore, so I will have to go through my old files to find it. I'll try to post it later tonight or tomorrow morning.

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I haven't heard that, but I miss quite a lot of news because I am so busy. It would only make sense to put a new ramp there though. Flint is going to need new parking ramps as the surface lots are filled with new development anyway, so it would be a smart move.

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  • 1 month later...

Just a random thought, but I hope there's no access to the restaurants and bars directly from the parking ramp. Otherwise it'll just be a stop & go that just happens to be downtown. It wouldn't really help downtown much if this is the case.

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With all the talk about investment, both public and private, in downtown why is it that there seems to be a general lack of coordination and planning? Would it not be the norm to have a box full of urban planners (wade-trim or whoever the city and DDA use) look over the proposals for a parking garage, in-fill dev, and the genesee tower? In my opinion, Flint should be a planner's dream come true considering the potential for redevelopment. Why is it that the city, the DDA, the land bank, and others do not seem to have a unified plan? I am missing something?

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Well, for one, they all handle different scopes of development - downtown, city, and county. Plus there were unforseen events that have hindered or changed plans:

There were setbacks with what the city is doing downtown and in the surrounding neighborhoods with the deficit, state takeover, and then the change of city administration. Many of these were started or in the planning stages when Stanley was mayor. After the takeover, just about everything was put on hold in order to straighten out finances. Then when Williamson took office, he had his own plans on how to improve the city and many things took a back seat. Now that he has settled down it looks like he is beginning to follow through on some of the former plans.

The DDA has sort of taken a back seat to Uptown Reinvestment, which has a number of DDA on its board. There were things they couldn't do as DDA members, so they took the initiative to form the Uptown Reinvestment Corporation. They seem to have taken the lead on brining investment to the downtown area, and I believe they helped create an overall development plan.

Now, the Lank Bank doesn't seem to really deal with downtown except for its new building. All the Land Bank can really do is take property from tax delinquents, and subsequently demolish or sell it (or in some rare cases, develop it themselves). The coming Land Bank Center was more than I though would come from them as far as improving downtown.

Besides, plans for downtown and its surrounding area have already been made by urban planners. Rowe Inc. and, I believe, an out of state planner have already been brought in and laid out long-term plans for the greater downtown area.

P.S. There used to be a downloadable PowerPoint presntation of the plan, but the link seems to have died. If I find it again I'll post it.

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Thats sheds some light on things. I guess what I was really asking is not whether on not there is a unified plan, but whether or not there was coordiantion among the different groups. It appears that some are more influential and/stable than others. Which firm does Uptown generally use for planning servcies? Is that REI as well?

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