Fixing Autocentric Development
This first episode in a new Street Films series called "Fixing the Great Mistake", examines what was lost when our cities began catering exclusively to the automobile.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
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So what are we going to do about it?
Stamford's big mistake was plopping the Landmark/Town Center plaza right in the heart of downtown, literally crushing Main Street and ruining a number of neighboring streets. The open-air plaza on the south side of the STC was a good first step, and hopefully, the city's planning people and the STC's owners are working on more remedies for this place-killing monolith.
I think one major step is the expansion of residential space downtown. That way, more people can live amidst or even above the stores that they now have to drive to. Unfortunately, the current economic situation is not conducive to this (and even when times were better, the few projects that actually got off the ground were overpriced luxury isolation bubbles).
Additionally, more people living downtown means more demand for goods and services, which would (hopefully) mean that all those empty storefronts would fill up.
I like this quote from the video: "...vibrant, business-friendly, happy urban life is really about streets that are inviting to people on foot and on bike, and that give all residents a decent transit alternative..." Stamford really needs more bus service or, if it turns out to be feasible, light rail. It's so hard to get around town without a car. I don't mean from North Stamford down to Bedford Street; I mean it's hard to get from Bedford or Summer Street down to the train station, a distance of less than two miles! Even if you know where to catch the bus, you never know when the next one is coming unless you've memorized all the schedules!
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