1. Interested in the future of downtowns & central business districts. Let's take a little time machine back to 1958 and see what Jane Jacobs had to say on the subject in her seminal essay, "Downtown Is for People."
innovationecosystem.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/6…
innovationecosystem.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/6…
2. "We are accustomed to thinking of downtowns as divided into functional districts – financial, shopping, theatre – and so they are, but only to a degree."
3. "As soon as an area gets too exclusively devoted to one
type of activity and its direct convenience services,
it gets into trouble; it loses its appeal to the users
of downtown and it is in danger of becoming a
has-been."
type of activity and its direct convenience services,
it gets into trouble; it loses its appeal to the users
of downtown and it is in danger of becoming a
has-been."
4. "Where you find the liveliest downtown you
will find one with the basic activities to support two
shifts of foot traffic."
will find one with the basic activities to support two
shifts of foot traffic."
5. "By night it is just as busy as it
is by day. .. A two-shift operation like this is very
stimulating to restaurants, because they get both
lunch and dinner trade. But it also encourages
every kind of shop or service that is specialized ..."
is by day. .. A two-shift operation like this is very
stimulating to restaurants, because they get both
lunch and dinner trade. But it also encourages
every kind of shop or service that is specialized ..."
6. And the punch line, we'd do well to remember today:
"Downtown has had the capability of
providing something for everybody only because
it has been created by everybody."
"Downtown has had the capability of
providing something for everybody only because
it has been created by everybody."
7. "Let the citizens decide what end results they
want, and they can adapt the rebuilding machinery to suit them. If new laws are needed, they can
agitate to get them. "
want, and they can adapt the rebuilding machinery to suit them. If new laws are needed, they can
agitate to get them. "
8. "What a wonderful challenge there is! Rarely
before has the citizen had such a chance to
reshape the city, and to make it the kind of city that
he likes and that others will too. "
before has the citizen had such a chance to
reshape the city, and to make it the kind of city that
he likes and that others will too. "
9. "If this means leaving room for the incongruous, or the vulgar or the strange, that is part of the challenge, not the
problem."
problem."
10. "Designing a dream city is easy; rebuilding a
living one takes imagination."
living one takes imagination."
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