Believe it or not, a river -- or waterfront of some sort -- made it into a draft of a 1991 Strategic Action Plan for Downtown Amarillo.
I dusted off the copy I had from covering that revitalization effort (kindly referred to around here as decades of "instutional memory") and realized the ideas that a consultant and residents here came up with back then aren't too far from what wound up in the 2008 Downtown Strategic Action Plan being pursued now.
A different consultant with a different resident committee also sees the need to connect our downtown entertainment corridor, Polk Street, with Amarillo City Hall and the Amarillo Civic Center complex.
Both plans proposed to do that with greenspace and sidewalks that will attract pedestrians.
There's no river in the 2008 plan, but there's the idea that the connector should be inviting.
So, before I give you a recap of the wish list developed in our Facebook discussion two weeks ago, I'll ask you to answer this:
Do you work downtown? Do you walk between appointments and to lunch? What would it take to turn you into a more willing pedestrian?
Here's the wish list -- add to it if you want.
- Outdoor tejano music festival
- A baseball stadium/NOT a baseball stadium (comments mixed for and against)
- Better shopping area
- Jack in the Box, Five Guys Burgers & Fries, Dave & Buster's
- Night life
- More sidewalk cafes, coffee houses, bakeries
- A river
- More entertainment options "especially for the older crowd who has outgrown the 'club scene'"
- Drive-up coffee shop
- Regular movie theaters, dinner movie theaters, live dinner theater
- Comedy clubs
- A water fountain/feature where kids can play
- Jazz or piano bars
- A place to buy fuel
- A convenience store
- More neon
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2 comments:
The only thing that I think would work better is not only a Tejano Music Festival because this does not address the entire Hispanic Community, but rather a mix of different Spanish Music. Not many people understand the different genres of music that the local Hispanic community listen to. A good source would be to contact the local Spanish Radio Stations such as La Ley and La Mejor. All the other ideas sound really good. I work downtown on Polk and I am looking forward to more businesses within walking distance to provide more shopping, entertainment and eating.
Sounds kinda like Bricktown in
OKC.
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