I was in Madison, Wisconsin last weekend. Oh my. I had heard great things about it but was still surprised at just how good it is. We stayed right on State Street which runs past the Capitol building on one end and the University of Wisconsin on the other. A little closer to the university than our downtown, it's a lively, diverse, and beautiful area of the city. There are grocery stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, doctors offices, pharmacies, and other basics, as well as galleries, museums, book stores, and my favorite - a lovely store selling locally handcrafted and recycled goods. It's classic "mixed-use" with homes above the shops and dotted among the adjacent streets. Walking and cycling downtown are a healthy mix of elders, families, and students. This is partly because State Street is closed to through traffic which makes it immeasurably safer and more pleasant for these activities.
Why is State Street like this? Or rather, why is Gainesville not? While we've had some visionary city commissioners in the past who have encouraged more mixed use of the downtown area, it's still predominated by bars and restaurants. Businesses are constantly coming and going - local bookstores being the saddest case; in the last five years nearly all of our local booksellers around town have closed down, while Madison is dotted with them. Unlike other areas of town, downtown Gainesville is a terrible place to bicycle through due to the lack of bike lanes. And the noise from the bars is so outrageous at 2am Thursday through Saturday night, that few families (or anyone who has to wake up before 10 in the morning) are likely to want to live in the area.
A friend who has been involved in city politics says this about what makes Madison different - and what is holding Gainesville back:
"Fundamentally it's about getting people on the street, which comes from a multiplicity of factors:
- Infrastructure design - wide sidewalks, building density and design up to the sidewalk, public transit, bicycles and calm auto traffic, proper lighting, street trees, all integrated.
- Housing and employment centers mixed into the urban content (mixed-use design)
- Many people of all ages and demographics living within the area, therefore apartments and condos above ground-floor retail business
- Entertainment, art, culture - and excitement and energy from alternative culture.
"It takes a population sophisticated enough to know how to nurture all these factors over time. It can be done here in Gainesville, but we don't have the critical mass at this time from our residents. Interstate 75 and open space to the west continue to draw development into the patterns of past decades. There's money to be made and, well, it's a safe distance from 'them'."
This sounds sadly true and makes me wonder again at how racism continues to influence our southern cities. But we're part of the mass that needs to get critical. And things are happening. I am so encouraged by the development going on down South Main Street - a visionary park, a food co-op, the hopes of a kitchen incubator, and other rehab projects - all very close to and inclusive of some of our poorer neighborhoods. How wonderful if this could be the leap that will finally drag Gainesville into being what it can be - an inspirational town that energizes and motivates the best in all its residents.
[Photo: from a restaurant window along State Street]
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