Reinventing the Downtown One More Time

It's THURSDAY, June 23, 2011.

Last night was the second of the Downtown Matters series at the Campbell Theater. This series is a city-funded effort to describe the methods and mindset by which downtowns such as ours can change, what kinds of things have worked in other communities, and to get input from residents about what they want to see downtown.

More than 50 people attended last night's event, which featured primary consultant Susan Moeller, who told the crowd that the process was "about how to create a place that people want to be at."

Redwood City's downtown development coordinator, Dan Zack, described the process that his city used to bring life back to a decaying downtown, including tearing down an 80-year-old courthouse annex and recreating the historic courthouse behind it to develop what is now Courthouse Square, popular scene of daily outdoor entertainment events. Millions of dollars of redevelopment money was spent on street design and other improvements as well.

Greg Tung, a principal of Freeman, Tung and Sasaki, a design group, told the crowd that "you need to make downtown relevant to everyday activity." His lengthy presentation included slides from Livermore, Lodi, and Redwood City, demonstrating how broadening sidewalks, adding street trees and using design elements on buildings can enhance an area to make it seem more liveable.

At the end, Igor Skaredoff noted that there was frustration with some of the attendees because "we have been through this process before, and we seem to always be stuck in the loop, we keep doing this over and over again. Maybe the way out of this is for local government to honor the public process. When vision comes up against expediency, expediency always wins."

There will be more in this series -- keep an eye on Martinez Patch for future presentations and another tour -- this time of Lodi and Livermore.

Weather:
Today - Sunny, with a high near 75. Southwest wind between 11 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Tonight - Mostly clear, with a low around 53. Southwest wind between 11 and 17 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.

Events:

Today in History:
1926 -- The College Board administers the first SAT exam.
1972 -- Title IX of the Civil Rights Act is amended to prohibit sexual discrimination to any educational program receiving federal funds.
1991 -- Sonic the Hedgehog was unveiled by the Sega Corporation in a game played on the Sega Mega Drive.