Myth #2: Zone for Vertical Mixed Use
This is "Silver Bullet, Part Two" of Brodeur's arguments. Think of "vertical mixed use" as the perhaps anachronistic retail on the ground floor and housing units on the upper floors.
Brodeur writes:
"A downtown without mixed used is not predetermined to die. There are several successful downtowns without mixed use zoning in place. This occurs primarily where there is single-story reail on Main Street, and housing is in close proximity. Typically, if residential uses are allowed close to Main Street, then introducing vertical muxed use for the sake of nostalgia can be a controversial forced effort. What's critical is to have a local residential populace within walking distance, say, within four or five blocks [emphasis added]."I'm aware of only one example of vertical mixed use in downtown Hayward -- the Green Shutter Hotel, with businesses (The Bistro, the Book Shop) on the first floor and the SRO hotel on the second.
A good characteristic of downtown Hayward is the "horizontal mixed use" with the nearby residential neighborhoods clustered around Hayward BART, and within the east four to five block walk lauded by Brodeur.
1 comment:
I'm not too sure about this being a "myth" for Hayward. The continued problems of B Street and even worse situation on A, C, and D streets tell me we are nowhere near to having enough people live in downtown.
I see the need for a lot of mixed use redevelopment that puts 4 to 5 story mixed use downtown. This is critical to "framing" Foothill and Mission and also getting enough people to live within three blocks of the A-second-D-Grand downtown square.
For pedestrian-driven retail to thrive studies estimate you need at least 100 homes and acres. We are so far from that in downtown Hayward it is not even funny. Those are the densities they are looking at for the South Hayward BART plan. Vertical mixed use is the only way I see to get anywhere near that density downtown.
Post a Comment