Here's another take on the 10 year vision plan from the Downtown Ithaca Alliance (From the online Ithaca Times):
A view of what the Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services planned project at the location of the Women's Community Building, on the corner of Cayuga and Seneca streets across from the DeWitt Mall, could look like, according to an image from the Downtown Ithaca Alliance's 2020 Strategic Plan. (Image Provided)
Downtown Ithaca's 2020 Vision Plan looking for eclectic, integrated community
Rob Montana
Managing Editor
Building community.
That's the best way to describe what the Downtown Ithaca Alliance's 2020 vision plan is trying to do for Ithaca. It's apparent in the way each component of the plan needs the others to work well, and achieve what is being sought - a thriving downtown that includes plenty of residential, employment, commerce and entertainment options.
Getting that vision out to the public and in front of those who can make it happen - government and school officials, the institutions of higher learning, business leaders and the general public - was the purpose behind drafting a strategic plan for the next 10 years. That's also why the Downtown Ithaca Alliance set up public information sessions - two have already taken place, more are coming in the future - to disseminate the plan highlights and hear back from the people.
DIA Executive Director Gary Ferguson said that now the draft document has been compiled, they are trying to get feedback from the community.
"We've gotten some interesting feedback so far," he said. "Based on the success of the first two meetings, we're going to be doing some more.
"We want to do enough to reach out to the public to get some serious feedback on the draft," Ferguson added. "Then it will come back to the (DIA) Board of Directors, who've already gone through it, and then we will redraft it and they will look at it again."
While some of the items called for in the draft - things like a trolley system that Ferguson particularly likes and could be one of the items people point to as pie-in-the-sky - seem like they may not be feasible, the DIA executive director thinks anything is possible. And that's why the introductory section of the plan - it's most substantial portion - talks about the history of downtown and the successes it has had both in investment and growth during the last decade.
"We're trying to help people understand how possible this is and what the previous decade meant to downtown," Ferguson said. "It's easy for people so look at this and say, 'Are you kidding me? Is that real'
"But, if you look at what happened over the last decade when there was $110 million spent on downtown investment, that is a lot," he added. "There are a whole lot of things here now that weren't here 10 years ago. There's been a whole lot of positive change."
Ferguson feels that a community effort will make leaps and bounds toward putting what is currently on paper into reality in Ithaca's downtown.
"If you look at any one of these goals, they are attainable," he said, with a caveat, "if we, as a community, decide we want to do it.
"Some will be hard, some will be easier," Ferguson added. "If there are issues the community is not going to buy into, let's hear it now."
The Commons
The Commons is a unique entity in Ithaca, and one currently undergoing a design -Êas well as, and perhaps more importantly, a infrastructure upgrade - phase. That's why the DIA chose not to delve into the details of what it would like to see happen on the Commons, Ferguson said.
"We didn't want to step all over that," he said about the process being undertaken by the city's Department of Planning & Development in conjunction with Sasaki Associates for the Commons redesign.
Instead, the DIA put forth some general ideas for the Commons, such as ensuring a long-term plan is in place for capital replacement, repair and maintenance; identifying and working out the functional and visual shortcomings that currently exist; and noting that any update or modernization plan for the Commons should include specific implementations for needed infrastructure improvements.
"How do we maintain the Commons? We need to think better of how to do that," Ferguson said. "And we need to look at potential expansion of the Commons."
He said other communities with thriving downtown pedestrian malls often have them linked with transportation, something Ithaca's space does well. It could do better, Ferguson said.
"The notion that the Commons is a hub for transportation, I believe that is something that will pay dividends down the road," he said. "It opens up the opportunity to link other parts of the community with downtown."
Retail development
Attracting national tenants is a high priority for the DIA, and something they feel should be a priority for the future of downtown.
"In terms of nationals, we spend a lot of time doing research of who has a track record of locating in urban areas," Ferguson said, adding the businesses also must be interested in locating in a market the size of Ithaca and Tompkins County. "Urban Outfitters fit the profile.
"Any national that wants to come in here has to deal with a market of 110,000 people in the county and 30,000 in the city," he added. "We have to look for businesses that are willing to deal with that. Nordstom's isn't coming here; Neiman Marcus isn't coming here."
Other goals include aiming for a 5-percent turnover and a 5-percent vacancy rate for downtown storefronts; redesigning Commons and pedestrian links for better shopping experiences; creating an incentive program that encourages diversity in downtown business ownership; creating better compatibility between commercial districts; locating food and beverage operations to complement retail; and ensuring that key street level locations remain open for retail use.
Housing units
Downtown could use up to 500 units of housing, according to the plan, something Ferguson said would help build a thriving community.
"Housing is really important to us downtown and for the community," he said.
The 500-unit number could be a little high, Ferguson noted, as it is based on a couple-year-old Tompkins County study that 4,000 new units would be needed in the county within 10 years. Nonetheless, he said, housing would help create community.
"It would create a whole new neighborhood," said Ferguson. "It's also very green and sustainable."
It would be important the housing projects be mixed use and - when financially feasible - mixed income, while using the street level spaces for other needs. That's where cooperation and working together come in, Ferguson said, as incentive programs could help pave the way for projects as developers would likely have to shell out a little more in expenses when building mixed-income living spaces. It also would be important to design well-thought-out transition zones so probably larger buildings would phase into the lower levels of the surrounding neighborhoods in a more visually pleasing manner.
"This would provide a 24/7 environment downtown," Ferguson said of adding housing stock. "It helps create a constituency that is active and supportive."
Office space
The DIA plan calls for an increase of the downtown office space supply by 200,000 square feet and adding 600 more employees to the downtown workforce by 2020. It also opines that downtown could absorb one or two more major office buildings, and that it should be a goal to have at least 50 percent of the region's commercial office space downtown.
Blending of office with retail and other commercial/foot traffic generating operations, working with Cornell and other stakeholders to create a downtown business incubator project for start-up businesses, cooperating with the three institutions of higher education to attract additional offices downtown, and investigating the feasibility of a new, joint city-county administrative office building are the other high points of the plans look at downtown office space.
"By clustering jobs and job growth in a central urban area, it helps build a solid downtown," Ferguson said. "People also like to live close to their jobs, and by creating more office space would help do that."
Entertainment and culture
A larger emphasis on family opportunities is the highlight of the plan's section on entertainment and culture arts. Among the ideas are increasing family entertainment venues and adding family-friendly events, adding and marketing downtown Ithaca entertainment opportunities to and for students, adding iconic art pieces to the entrances to the Commons, financially stabilizing and completing the restoration of the State Theatre, and adding more restaurants, a music club, a brew pub, and 10 new artist studios.
"We need to have a downtown that is reaching out more to all ages," Ferguson said, "and we have a ways to go to really reach out to the students in our colleges.
"We need to have things here that engage all ages," he added. "And, the more you can blend and mix them, the better."
Adding a more comprehensive array of entertainment options for people would help attract them to live and work downtown as well, Ferguson said, which continues the strategic plan's theme of building a real downtown community.
"Good things happen when people interact closely each day," he said.
Non-Commons infrastructure
Expanding the Commons has to be on the radar when looking forward, Ferguson said, especially in light of the fact that State Street's offerings are growing in the non-Commons section. He said extending it into the 300 E. State and 100 W. State street blocks would enhance what is currently in existence.
"It wouldn't necessarily have to mirror the existing Commons, where it's pedestrian-only all of the time," Ferguson said. "It could be open to traffic all the time or pedestrian-only some of the time, but we should think about expansion."
Other items called for include the development of capital repair and replacement plans for all existing downtown parking garages, the secondary Commons, DeWitt Park and creek walk areas; improving crosswalks and curb cuts throughout downtown to better pedestrian access, and completing the Six Mile Creek river walk into the gorge.
"The sidewalks on Seneca and Green streets would benefit from improvements," Ferguson said, "if we want them to be more pedestrian friendly."
Tourism and visitors
Signage is one of the first things Ferguson had to say about what would help visitors in downtown Ithaca.
"Getting around the city and finding your way around the city can be difficult," he said. "That's true not only downtown, but regionally."
Signage that would help connect downtown with areas such as the West End or for people coming in on the highways would be beneficial for those visiting the city. In the same vein, creating and maintaining downtown information kiosks for key visitor destinations would be helpful.
Other ideas include bringing one or more additional hotels to downtown Ithaca to further enhance the idea it's an overnight visitor destination, create a downtown conference/meeting center and promote it as a place for conferences, connect downtown to Collegetown and Cornell University with more frequent shuttles and/or - one of Ferguson's favorites - fixed rail trolleys, connect downtown with Ithaca College for easier accessibility, and create a joint community/Cornell University/Ithaca College/TC3 downtown welcome and visitor center.
"Tourism is really important to us and we need to maintain that," Ferguson said. "What people like about downtown is its uniqueness, it's different shops and restaurants.
"We need to balance that with places to stay and other draws to bring people into the community," he added.
Transportation
This is a major part of the plan, Ferguson said, adding that it ties everything together.
"We need to have a plan to reinvest in our own facilities, to make sure the garages are well kept and that we have a good supply of parking," he said. "As a group, this is the part (of the plan) that was talked about the most."
The plan calls for increasing the number of downtown employees that use alternative, non-automotive means of transportation, exploring the feasibility of different ride programs - park and ride, ride home, shuttles - and incentives for those who use alternative forms of transportation; and contracting for private municipal parking management or create a new parking department/authority to maintain the public parking system.
"It's important to get people out of their cars and into alternative transportation," Ferguson said. "We're only scratching the surface of what can be done and we need to do a whole lot more.
"Wouldn't it be great to have people park in one area and then brought into downtown through another mode of transportation," he added. "But, it has to be convenient and it has to be interesting."
Common threads
Among other ideas spelled out in the plan would be the creation of youth and senior citizen councils to help make downtown a more attractive place for those age groups, fostering greater partnerships with the higher education institutions in town and greater cooperation with other governmental organizations to create a larger community investment in downtown.
All of the ideas put forth are being done with the idea that it would not only strengthen downtown, but strengthen the bond of the community. Living, working, eating, relaxing in close proximity to one another builds the ties that build community. And only through looking ahead can that be done.
"Only a few places do this level of strategic planning," Ferguson said. "This is a great opportunity for Ithaca, and this plan provides a great tool for us.
"When you don't do it at all, you really run the risk of letting the market drive your future," he added. "I'm a diehard capitalist, but you have to manage the market for it to grow."
For more information, or to view the entire draft 2020 Downtown Strategic Plan, visit the Downtown Ithaca Alliance's Web site at
www.downtownithaca.com.