The term "Urban Village" has been used recently to describe the vision of Downtown Lakeland in the future. Is the term appropriate to describe a successful model for Downtown and, if so, why? What in your opinion are the characteristics of this Urban Village? Does the term apply to the entire Downtown study area or only to certain parts of Downtown? If "Urban Village" doesn't work, can you suggest an alternative name?
[Click here to see a map of the Downtown study area.]
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While the term has an interesting ring to it, I'm not 100% on the meaning. If it means medium densities and a walkable, transit friendly community as described on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_village) then I think the concept is appropriate for Lakeland, but maybe not all of downtown. Their needs to be an area were there is more work than play and perhaps an area where there is more play than live. I guess what I am saying is that working off of your study area map why can't downtown have an urban village, an entertainment district (for the young professional/creative class) and a predominately business and retail district. Your study area looks big enough to accommodate all three. LEE
ReplyDeleteAlthough it's a nice thought, I don't think the term "Urban Village" applies to Downtown Lakeland yet for the reasons below:
ReplyDelete1)Downtown Lakeland is not self-sustaining.
2)Although Downtown Lakeland exists, it is not the epicenter of Lakeland (which any good downtown should be).
3)There's nothing about Downtown Lakeland that says "Hey, I want or need to be there" on a regular basis.
All of the above are related but #3 is the icing on the cake. If most of your residents only see Downtown Lakeland by driving through it to get to the other side of town, how effective is the appeal of Downtown Lakeland?
To the anonymous person above me, imagine a successful model of an Urban Village as your refrigerator and the surrounding areas as various fields of produce, cattle and other food products. A refrigerator (Urban Village) generally has everything you need (or would want at the time) in a relatively compact area without having to go from one field (side of town) to another to gather everything you want. Your refrigerator (Urban Village) doesn't have to be humongous in stature but effective and convenient. Now imagine having a partially filled refrigerator. You have a little of this and a little of that but not everything that you want and thus you are forced to go outside and gather what you don't have. That's Downtown Lakeland.
One of the main reasons why this has not happened or never will happen can be summed up in two words: Tampa, Orlando. City leaders have been extremely careful stave off the effects of what can happen in the big city like their east/west neighbors but in the same breath strive for some of the amenities.
Something has to give. In order for progressive thinking to take place, regressive leadership must first fall by the wayside.