UpTown/Warehouse District Community Planning
Notes From Meeting with Doug Farr - June 21, 2005
Q. How do UpTown and Toledo Warehouse District work together and the relationship with Downtown?
- Depreciated areas, but areas that could attract urban living. Vacant spaces in UpTown — buildings in TWDA. Should work together all wt same kinds of things to happen.
- Difference UpTown heavy with 501(C)(3) organizations. Saturate with social agencies.
- UpTown can’t get its own funding.
- Planning process scheduled for fall this meeting is to kick off the process. Could flow together with TWDA. UpTown rich with institutions and businesses.
- Need to change the perception that Adams Street is all of UpTown.
- UpTown and TWDA should keep their identities distinct and not become homogeneous.
- Trolley system / light rail could provide synergy.
- Possible arena location??? Crucial decision — fill in the areas, not place new developments next to each other. UpTown good location — has parking.
Q. Does each neighborhood have everything it needs to be sustainable? Does it have a center? Does it have identifiable boundaries? Does it have sub-districts?
- Need more residents. Both affordable and market-rate.
- Services that residents need:
- Grocery store
- Pizza
- Video
- Book store
- Movie theater
- Provide incentives for re-utilizing vacant buildings.
- UpTown has Toledo School for the Arts, needs more K-12 education.
- Areas need well thought out security plan. (Perception vs. reality)
- Need city to help Toledo Edison think more creatively about lighting options.
- TIF districts are used to raise money for special purposes.
- Private dollars won’t come unless infrastructure in place. TIF districts provide psychological impetus.
- City needs to provide environment that will attract investment (i.e. streets, sidewalks, sewers)
- TWDA center is St. Clair Village
- UpTown center is Manhattans
- Sub-districts — TWDA under bridge and Erie Street Market
- Concentrate synergistic businesses: Galleries — So St. Clair; Restaurants — Huron Street
Q. What is residential market for each neighborhood?
- Option not available for families with children in TWDA
- No city parks
- Where / how is the marketing going that was promised for UpTown?
- Haven’t approached developers yet
- Need zoning changes
- Want to target some areas
- New developments (NPI) building residential against community plan. Perception that having more homeless shelters will not attract market rate purchasers
- Community needs to work together to develop a plan
- Schools are built where population is — won’t see any in downtown
- Toledo Edison — not conducive to design, costs all passed on
Q. What can city do from a regulatory enforcement side?
- Outside eating
- More flower pots creates an impression of safety
- Erase graffiti immediately
Q. How does development happen? Is anyone discouraged from doing something?
- Relax city safety requirements and build up over time (Building codes)
- Article 34. Allows for relaxation of building codes. Board of Appeals could over ride or do administratively. AIA working with city to change bureaucracy. New Jersey leader in this area.
- Could be a tool as part of a bigger plan.
- Need a "real" one–stop shop for building inspection.
- Unless you go through the experience of permitting you don’t understand how problematic it is.
- Need to determine general guidelines to encourage “like” plans that will encourage good decision-making:
- Urging
- Attracting
- Common vision
- UpTown and TWDA are emerging neighborhoods doesn’t take much to overwhelm an area.
- Requirement to successful neighborhood:
- Density
- Diversity of uses
- Short blocks
- Variety of aged buildings
- What is proper public sector role???
- Art-Space, non-profit specializing in artist housing
Q. Do people bike, walk, use public transportation?
- Start bike co-op
- Activity beyond boarded-up buildings
- Fund creation of storefronts made to look like something is happening there — so doesn’t look boarded up and abandoned.
- Need neighborhood commercial /corridor to become walkable.
- Market the 1st floor of buildings then work up.
Q. Are we missing tools to encourage development?
- Higher tax on parking lots
- Storm water collector / park
- Build on momentum. People invest where they think its picking up.
- TWDA and UpTown could present a united front.
- TWDA popping but not UpTown
- UpTown should pack development around Manhattans — make more intense and move out in rings from that
- Concentrate liquor in specific neighborhood areas — planning is important — be clear on expectations.
- Life–style areas — spell out where things are to be located. Be comprehensive:
- jogging
- dogs
- groceries
- Arts theme in UpTown, galleries, schools, TMA, arts district. Use local artists to design signs, lights, etc. Show art.
- One –way streets bad for business, change Madison and Jefferson. Traffic doesn’t justify need for one way. Slow down traffic on 17th.
- On street parking — share revenue from meters with businesses. Prevents employee parking, 20-25% always available if priced right.
- Art glass in Toledo? How would you know? Banners, commission artists — lanterns
- Park land (whole block) done well creates real estate value increases. Park Trusts purchase land but paid back eventually.
- Benches and parks for grandparents — place to take visiting kids. Bike lanes
- Neighborhood markers, edges and gateways
- Distinct character of neighborhood — design, overlays, gateway markers, do vital areas first.
- PLAN — INCLUSIVENESS — THINK LONG-TERM!!
Final Thoughts From Group:
- Design plans are needed
- Nodes of improvement
- Needs more market-rate less subsidized housing
- Small incremental steps have made UpTown better
- Shared vision is key to success — be the “coolest” place south of Ann Arbor\
- Focused, intensify and compression — build on parking lots sites
- Momentum
- Identify and embrace uniqueness
- Cherish our historic buildings
- Focuses story on UpTown and TWDA and cohesiveness and differences — focus on centers
- Wonderful ideas, catalysts, need leaders to make it happen
- Opportunities are available
- Active districts where everything is walkable
- Implementation of plans
- Portland great example of smart-growth. City / county need to shut off water to suburbs.
- Vibrant cities have good leadership
- Strategery! (Toledo’s low self esteem)
- Change comes from people with passion who work from the bottom up to make change.
Notes in italics are comments from Farr Associates.
Present:
- Ken Reichart
- Jeff Williams
- Doug Shelton
- Ang Gangas
- Paul Clark
- Kathy Steingraber
- Keith Wilkowski
- Ford Weber
- Richard Rideout
- Bob Seyfang
- Joseph McCaffery
- Steve Shrake
- Michael McWhorter
- JP Smith
- Paul Sullivan
- John Henry Fullen
- Sue Wuest
- Kathleen Kovacs
- Doug Farr and Carolee Kokola — Farr Associates
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