Tag: downtown

Plethora of pumpkins on the plaza!

It took just 20 minutes for 300 free pumpkins to be distributed to children at the Pumpkin Festival on the Plaza in downtown Rochester.

Families galore enjoyed pumpkin crafts.
Families galore enjoyed pumpkin crafts.
Sekapp Orchard brought 800 pumpkins to the plaza in downtown Rochester.
Sekapp Orchard brought 800 pumpkins to the plaza in downtown Rochester.

The family-friendly event, on Saturday, Oct. 12, drew thousands who enjoyed arts, crafts, pop-up restaurants and yes, pumpkins. There were impromptu meet and greets with Captain Jack Sparrow, Cinderella, Cruella de Vil and Miss Pumpkin.

Thank you to Destination Medical Center Ambassador (and high school student) Gabriel Yeager. The Pumpkin Festival was his brainchild, and he was involved in the groundwork to make it happen.

Next year, he says, more pumpkins!

 

 

Rochester: One of America’s most livable cities?

6Z8C4133This week’s DMC blog content focused on “Livable City” – one of 7 areas of focus for DMC.

For many Rochester residents, high speed rail connecting Rochester and the Twin Cities, more street markets and performing arts venues are key components to a livable downtown. In this featured article, Freiburg, Germany has been named the world’s most livable city. The article highlights the city’s components of a livable city:

1. Development of Pedestrian Zone
2. Transportation Planning
3. Farmers’ Market
4. Festivals and Street Entertainers
5. Renewable energy, solar industry, photo-voltaics, and water quality
6. Design of a new urban neighborhood

In this article, Travel and Leisure highlights America’s greatest main streets. They all have things in common. They’re smaller communities – no major metropolitan areas. They place emphasis and value on features such as walkability, community-based businesses, architecture and vibrancy.

Clicking through both articles inspires many ideas for Rochester’s future. What are your thoughts? Share some of the ways you feel Rochester could become a more livable city in the comments section below.

Creativity and collaboration will help transform Rochester

Melissa
Melissa Schmid, Blog Author

Ever since I moved to Rochester three years ago, I have thought that this city is a livable city with great potential to evolve. Rochester has so much to offer in terms of outdoor recreational activities along our bike trails and at our parks, shopping, dining, and a wide array of arts and cultural programs. I especially enjoy the downtown atmosphere – a hub of creativity where enthusiastic minds come together every day to innovate and infuse positive energy into our city. The downtown has become a community gathering place through events and festivals, work places, the care-giving of Mayo Clinic and a bustling economy that defines the vibrant personality of our livable city.

I spend a lot of time watching people interact in Rochester and tend to notice a genuine openness and generous spirit, which in my opinion are two characteristics a city must portray in order to be an inviting livable city. As we continue to build our city, embracing our core characteristics of creativity, collaboration, openness and generosity, we will transform Rochester into a more radiant gem for its residents to proudly call “home.”

Melissa Schmid is the events director for the Rochester Downtown Alliance.

What additions to Rochester do you feel would make it a more vibrant, livable city? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The dirty words of urban design

 

Adam Ferrari, Blog Author
Adam Ferrari, Blog Author

Previously in this blog I described the inherent qualities of urbanity.  So if you are trying to reinforce or perhaps create from scratch that essence of being urban–what typifies the essence of a livable city–where should you begin? 

I believe that to truly begin to embrace urban is to accept two rudimentary principles.  Two vilified, egregious, “dirty” words of urban design.  The first, simply stated, is that to achieve a rich urban fabric requires density. Now before you close this webpage or tear up this paper in disgust because I mentioned that dastardly “d” word, stop and think for a second about how population density leads to many other attributes of urban life that are desired. Why do you think a farmer’s market works?  Furthermore, density can apply to much more than population (e.g. street widths, tree spacing, etc.) and I would argue that embracing the concept of density can help design the majority of component parts of the city system and produce results that far surpass expectations.

The second principle, and one that may be more difficult to explain, is diversity. A vague and catchall term, diversity ensures that everyone is represented, that one demographic is neither isolated nor compartmentalized, and that everyone has choice. Diversification and integration in all forms serve to achieve the larger goals of urban vitality. What I am not intending is to simply address ethnic diversity, which often is the first thing to come to mind. While that is a part of population diversity, it is far too specific.  Rather it means having a Rochester Symphony Orchestra & Chorale concert on the same night as the Americana Showcase. Different strokes, for different folks.

Ultimately, our pursuit of the great city experience that exists in the pages of the Rochester Downtown Master Plan as well as the illustrations found on countless webpages and blogs is not difficult to achieve. What it takes is a fierce determination; a vigilant battle against the outdated planning doctrine of the latter 20th Century and promotion of the settlement style growth patterns that are inherent in cultures all across the globe. It is about making a public place out of empty space. It is about overcoming fear of the word density because it evokes images of slums and high-rises and understanding the word diversity without picturing scary people lurking in the shadows.

We all can do a better job of embracing urban, and if DMC desires to increase the vitality and livability of downtown Rochester, then get ready to drop a whole lot more “d” words in public.

What is it about density that is so scary?  Why does diversity connote societal ills? Join the conversation by commenting below.

Adam Ferrari is an architect and the Director of the non-profit Design Rochester. Podcasts of the radio show “Design with a Capital D” can be found on www.thecobbradio.com

What it means to be urban

“Cities resemble lovers, offering allure, annoyance, and late-night availability.” -Emilie Buchwald

Adam Ferrari, Blog Author
Adam Ferrari, Blog Author

I am a self-described urbanist.

I grew up in a city, I have lived near city centers, and I have relished in the urban renaissance being experienced across the United States. Here in Rochester I have been a passionate advocate for grassroots long-range planning in its urban neighborhoods surrounding downtown. And I see latent potential for an extremely livable city actualized by Destination Medical Center.

But before the pendulum swings back in the opposite direction, one must remember that other urban byproducts accompany the positive attributes. Increased noise, increased hardscapes, decreased efficiency, decreased personal space are to be expected. You must not expect to enjoy the good parts of urban life without these other realities. The fact is urban life is not for everyone.

That being said, higher percentages of people are seeking out urban living. The globalization of information, business, and economies has put intense pressure on cities to attract people to live in them. Density is not a given, and lack of diversity acts as a deterrent to attracting the creative class. It is precisely because you can choose to live anywhere that now cities are in fierce competition to attract the new workforce and tax base of the next generation. 

Therefore it is not just the ability to build a custom house in a convenient subdivision near a P.F. Chang’s, but a unique sense of place along with the amenities and enrichments of the urban environment that is required. And each of the communities that I visit and the neighborhoods that I work with has the same desires to enhance and preserve; to increase vibrancy and ensure sustainability. If that means learning to wait an extra 10 minutes to catch a bus to work as opposed to driving door to door, then we should be patient. If it means welcoming people of all ages and income levels into our neighborhoods, then we should introduce ourselves. If it means advocating for a mix of land uses over segregation of residential and commercial, then we can start writing letters to City Council.

And quite frankly Rochester has both. It has sleepy bedroom suburbs (55th Street NW) and a vibrant city center (1st Avenue SW). So if urban living is not something you crave, take a pass, and allow those who desire a dose of urbanity to situate themselves proximate to our downtown.

Adam Ferrari is an architect and the Director of the non-profit Design Rochester. Podcasts of the radio show “Design with a Capital D” can be found on www.thecobbradio.com