This month's edition of the California Chapter, American Planning Association's newsletter, Cal Planner, has a thoughtful piece by Mark Brodeur, a private consultant based in San Juan Capistrano, California. I will quote & paraphrase some of Brodeur's observations, with my thoughts regarding downtown Hayward. Perhaps this is a twelve-part series?
Myth #1: What We Need is a Film Festival
Brodeur also terms this the Silver Bullet approach to downtown revitalization, hanging hopes on the big anchor tenant/attraction: the department store, a baseball team, a library, or a major event like a film festival. He warns that communities have a problem when they believe that after they attract the Silver Bullet, that their work is done. "The lesson to be learned is that a Silver Bullet only works when it's in conjunction with economic, design and other promotional elements to support revitalization."
The obvious Silver Bullet (candidate) in downtown Hayward is the Cinema Place multiplex / retail complex, scheduled for completion by Fall 2007. The big question we should ask is: what are the complementary activities that the City, the community and the business owners need to work at in order to make downtown Hayward thrive?
No comments:
Post a Comment