CFW, take a trip down to Indianapolis and ask the residents on the near eastside how the feel about having a large interstate/barrier between them and downtown. Yes, the interstate IS a benefit in that it provides quick access to DT Indy. But it's also a barrier to downtown for the surrounding areas. Much like sprawl, redevelopment can "creep" out away from the core but it becomes difficult when the downtown area is contained the way that it is.
I think downtown FW is a lot better off by not having an interstate running through it. It really doesn't take that long to get from I-69 to downtown anyway.
Elevating the tracks is what spurred growth on the north side. Having a highway cut through downtown would have greatly increased access the downtown and spurred even more growth for the city and not have left Fort Wayne so hollowed out downtown.
We can see how Indy has became a ghost town because they have a highway downtown. For goodness sake never change!!! Don't build a stadium or add new condos. Just leave everything exactly the way it is, if it was good enough for my great great grandfather, it's good enough for my great great grandkids?
The interstate system was a contributing factor to the decline of downtown areas that occured on a national level. The availability of greenfield sites, now easily accessible via the interstates and other major highways, resulted with development moving farther and farther away from the core.
Parson, downtown Indianapolis was not insulated from urban blight and decay. Downtown Indy today is A LOT different than it was in the 80's and 90's. It's even a lot different than it was 5 years ago when I moved.
Can and should downtown Fort Wayne be improved? Always. Is it the "hollowed out downtown" as depicted by others? That answer will vary from person to person. I think downtown has potential and a lot of strengths.
Milwaukee, Portland, and San Francisco, and Seattle are all investing billions to remove interstate highways that cut off their downtowns from either their waterfronts or their adjacent neighborhoods.
The historic neighbborhoods around downtown Fort Wayne are much more intact than similar neighborhoods in most cities in large part because downtown Fort Wayne did not build the interstate through the city.
May of the nearby neighborhoods are very fragile. If we want to save them, projects like Harrison Square are imperative.
Downtown is the closest concentration of jobs for residents of those neighborhoods.
Those neighborhoods are the closest source of customers for the storefront businesses we need to make downtown more vibrant.
Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods are one economic unit. They are inextricably linked.
Opinons
The lack of perceived "accessibility" continues to haunt the core of Fort Wayne as indicated by the recent decision of Parkview to make its northern frontier site its regional headquarters.
Continuing to hone aerterial streets through the metro area is important to improve accessiblility without the dislocation caused by interstate highway construction.
Two examples 1) the reallignment of Jefferson and Washington Blvds so they don't run smack dab throught the heart of West Central and 2) enhancement of Goshen Road as an entryway to the core in conjunction with Wells/State/River North planning and redevelopment.
Strong connections between downtown and adjacent (healthy)neighborhoods is one of our greatest potential future assets.
Harrison Square will help with the eventual redevelopment of the GE complex and improve linkage to the south.
Realigning roads thru West Central will improve linkage to the West.
River North redevelopment and some sort of Spring Street east/west road connection will improve northern connectivity.
To the east our most depopulated downtown neighborhood awaits rebuilding.
For the past sixty years it may have been an advantage to have had the expressway thru town but as the era of cheap energy comes to an end we are probably better served without one.
Let's focus on saving and leveraging the asset created by not building the interstate thru the core - our fragile older neighborhoods.
That means facing the issues of poverty and race that along with low cost transport encouraged our exodus despite not having an interstate.
Very informative post Dan. This city is lucky to have your guidance and expertise at such a crucial point in time. Thanks for all of the hard work and dedication you have put into making our downtown a better place. The idea of building HS would not be where it is today, if you hadn't come to Fort Wayne.
I believe that Fort Wayne's downtown has alot of strengths and potential and I definitely agree with some of your points but a below ground freeway would have increased access to downtown. I think that it is possible that this may have led to more business and commerce taking place in the CBD. I may be mistaken but I believe that Fort Wayne is the only top 100 city, in population, to not have freeway access to its downtown. Interstate access has not stopped other cities from rejuvenating their downtown areas and this would be no different. Luckily for Fort Wayne it is still easy to access downtown. A worry of mine is that interstate access may be necessary in the future as Fort Wayne grows, higher energy cost may slow expansion out but it will not stop it and freeways can hold many more cars than surface streets. It is probably too late for anything like that to happen but it would have been nice if it had been done.
Judging by the current state of Fort Wayne's downtown, I do not think that the urban exodus was caused by the interstates but rather a socio-economic shift in the US. I agree that the focus now should be on improving accessibility to downtown through the improvement in the main streets into the CBD since this was not done earlier but I still have worries about future growth. Hopefully with the passage of HS more of the CBD and surrounding neighborhoods will be redeveloped and improved.
13 comments:
Gee, that would have displaced a lot of minority residents and created large barriers cutting downtown off from the neighborhoods surrounding it.
Glad to know that you think, oh, say, Mansfield, Ohio's current state is what you would have wished for Fort Wayne.
um, ok.
CFW, take a trip down to Indianapolis and ask the residents on the near eastside how the feel about having a large interstate/barrier between them and downtown. Yes, the interstate IS a benefit in that it provides quick access to DT Indy. But it's also a barrier to downtown for the surrounding areas. Much like sprawl, redevelopment can "creep" out away from the core but it becomes difficult when the downtown area is contained the way that it is.
I think downtown FW is a lot better off by not having an interstate running through it. It really doesn't take that long to get from I-69 to downtown anyway.
Yeah, and it'd be outdated sixty-one years later, anyway, good thing they didn't build it, after all, it's obvious they didn't need it.
Wonder whose lamebrained idea it was to elevate the railroads on either side of downtown?
Didn't need it? or how about - by not doing it created the 8-5 downtown that we have now?
Elevating the tracks is what spurred growth on the north side. Having a highway cut through downtown would have greatly increased access the downtown and spurred even more growth for the city and not have left Fort Wayne so hollowed out downtown.
We can see how Indy has became a ghost town because they have a highway downtown. For goodness sake never change!!! Don't build a stadium or add new condos. Just leave everything exactly the way it is, if it was good enough for my great great grandfather, it's good enough for my great great grandkids?
The interstate system was a contributing factor to the decline of downtown areas that occured on a national level. The availability of greenfield sites, now easily accessible via the interstates and other major highways, resulted with development moving farther and farther away from the core.
Parson, downtown Indianapolis was not insulated from urban blight and decay. Downtown Indy today is A LOT different than it was in the 80's and 90's. It's even a lot different than it was 5 years ago when I moved.
Can and should downtown Fort Wayne be improved? Always. Is it the "hollowed out downtown" as depicted by others? That answer will vary from person to person. I think downtown has potential and a lot of strengths.
OMG, a freeway in downtown Fort Wayne? Come on, seriously, how can these guys really be for downtown?
Facts:
Milwaukee, Portland, and San Francisco, and Seattle are all investing billions to remove interstate highways that cut off their downtowns from either their waterfronts or their adjacent neighborhoods.
The historic neighbborhoods around downtown Fort Wayne are much more intact than similar neighborhoods in most cities in large part because downtown Fort Wayne did not build the interstate through the city.
May of the nearby neighborhoods are very fragile. If we want to save them, projects like Harrison Square are imperative.
Downtown is the closest concentration of jobs for residents of those neighborhoods.
Those neighborhoods are the closest source of customers for the storefront businesses we need to make downtown more vibrant.
Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods are one economic unit. They are inextricably linked.
Opinons
The lack of perceived "accessibility" continues to haunt the core of Fort Wayne as indicated by the recent decision of Parkview to make its northern frontier site its regional headquarters.
Continuing to hone aerterial streets through the metro area is important to improve accessiblility without the dislocation caused by interstate highway construction.
Two examples 1) the reallignment of Jefferson and Washington Blvds so they don't run smack dab throught the heart of West Central and 2) enhancement of Goshen Road as an entryway to the core in conjunction with Wells/State/River North planning and redevelopment.
Strong connections between downtown and adjacent (healthy)neighborhoods is one of our greatest potential future assets.
Harrison Square will help with the eventual redevelopment of the GE complex and improve linkage to the south.
Realigning roads thru West Central will improve linkage to the West.
River North redevelopment and some sort of Spring Street east/west road connection will improve northern connectivity.
To the east our most depopulated downtown neighborhood awaits rebuilding.
For the past sixty years it may have been an advantage to have had the expressway thru town but as the era of cheap energy comes to an end we are probably better served without one.
Let's focus on saving and leveraging the asset created by not building the interstate thru the core - our fragile older neighborhoods.
That means facing the issues of poverty and race that along with low cost transport encouraged our exodus despite not having an interstate.
Very informative post Dan. This city is lucky to have your guidance and expertise at such a crucial point in time. Thanks for all of the hard work and dedication you have put into making our downtown a better place. The idea of building HS would not be where it is today, if you hadn't come to Fort Wayne.
I believe that Fort Wayne's downtown has alot of strengths and potential and I definitely agree with some of your points but a below ground freeway would have increased access to downtown. I think that it is possible that this may have led to more business and commerce taking place in the CBD. I may be mistaken but I believe that Fort Wayne is the only top 100 city, in population, to not have freeway access to its downtown. Interstate access has not stopped other cities from rejuvenating their downtown areas and this would be no different. Luckily for Fort Wayne it is still easy to access downtown. A worry of mine is that interstate access may be necessary in the future as Fort Wayne grows, higher energy cost may slow expansion out but it will not stop it and freeways can hold many more cars than surface streets. It is probably too late for anything like that to happen but it would have been nice if it had been done.
Judging by the current state of Fort Wayne's downtown, I do not think that the urban exodus was caused by the interstates but rather a socio-economic shift in the US. I agree that the focus now should be on improving accessibility to downtown through the improvement in the main streets into the CBD since this was not done earlier but I still have worries about future growth. Hopefully with the passage of HS more of the CBD and surrounding neighborhoods will be redeveloped and improved.
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