Urban Land Institute Trends

Suburban centers have lost a sense of pride. Many people moved to the metro outskirts to escape the crime, poverty, traffic, etc. However, in many ways expanding suburban sprawl is simply extending these negative downtown affiliates. People tend to venture to the "city" to shop, attend sporting events or concerts, work, or just enjoy a night on the town. Though, for some unexplainable reason, many people want to associate their "home" with a different location than their "work." People move to the suburbs to rid themselves from the hassle of what busy downtown centers bring, but usually end up short-changed in many aspects of life. Suburbs are now filled with predictable chain restaurants and obsolete shopping centers, yet a more affordable way of life. For every negative aspect of suburbia, however, there seems to be a positive.

Studies have shown that attitudes towards suburbia are changing, but a shift in city planning is not following accordingly. The Urban Land Institute has highlighted 7 factors as to why this is occurring and I am going to discuss McDonough's status amongst these:

1. The suburbs are no longer dominated by white, middle-class families but house a diverse array of people coming from different cultural and economic backgrounds.
-This is becoming increasingly more applicable to McDonough as the years go by. The white population in McDonough is 15% below the national average, while the minority population is about 20% above the national average. This means that shopping and housing accommodations need to change in order to best serve the entire population. Besides, differing cultures, McDonough also hosts are multiple age groups that would benefit from a great downtown center.

2. The problems associated with downtowns have deteriorated and are slowly becoming "cool" again.
-Crime in McDonough has been gradually decreasing for 6 years now, despite the demographic changes that would suggest otherwise. Or perhaps it is the fact that the majority of the people are sitting in traffic instead of vandalizing the high school gym. Nevertheless, the city is ready for a trendy city center, one that is not solely dominated by traffic, and the actions of its citizens are displaying a desire for some sort of economically and mentally stimulating gathering point to exist.

3. The need for a car to travel everywhere is becoming an unsustainable (didn't even know that was a word) solution.
-While this may not only be unsustainable, but also inconvenient, time-consuming, and expensive for the weary traveler, McDonough does not have the capacity for public transportation as of yet. That does not mean that the concept needs to be dismissed because I am all for planning for growth, but McDonough is not in the financial position to bring some sort of mass transit to the city center. Though, I have been contemplating proposing some sort of awesome ski-like lift or underground train to enter the square, but I am afraid that idea would be lost in its hilarity. Besides, I am curious as to how much revenue Atlanta is making from the gas tax. I have no knowledge of any information pertaining to the tax (even whether or not it is a federal or state tax, I have no clue) and am just speculating that it might be an anchor, revenue generator in the big city. Though I could be very wrong about this, which I probably am. One thing I do know is that everything revolves around money, a fact that can neither be dismissed or denied no matter how idealistic you may be.

4. There is a powerful desire to create a sense of community amongst downtown areas once again
-Now, I am not sure if every McDonoughian feels a sense of pride for the beloved town, but McDonough is just far enough away from Atlanta to highlight to strangers that we are not necessarily big city people. One thing for sure is that it is not necessarily convenient to travel to Atlanta spontaneously for a nice dinner, movie, or museum event in the evening and having those in a much more accessible location is something McDonough needs. Besides, I can say with a fair amount of certainty that McDonough will never be a legitimate tourist attraction so staying in Atlanta for the evening at one of the many 5-star hotels it possesses will always be a nice get-away instead of staying in one of the (though pretty underrated) Holiday Inn's in Henry County. Still, unless McDonough is graced with a Ritz Carlton or St. Regis in the near future, those romantic anniversary over-night stays will not be taking place within the McDonough city limits. No matter if people deny it or not, being from McDonough will always hold a place in their hearts and nobody would refuse a better city center.

5. Suburbanites harbor more convenience in their lives
-This is an entirely true statement for people in McDonough but, honestly, is a true statement for everyone. Who wants to be inconvenienced? That would be preposterous! McDonough already hosts, what I endearingly call, the JoBo Road strip which contains an anchor Super Target (probably the greatest Target ever built and that is not an exaggeration), Home Depot, Belk, Starbucks and other chain companies and restaurants. This is an entire corporate shopping center, though, with no redeeming qualities to bolster the local entrepreneur but is, nevertheless, convenient. In fact, this shopping center has attracted people from counties south of us to come and do their everyday shopping when they would otherwise travel to Macon. The fact that people in McDonough no longer travel north to Morrow, GA for this somewhat specialty shopping and dining and that others are relying on McDonough as a supplier of everyday goods indicates that it is slowly becoming a nucleus as a south metro shopping district. It, therefore, needs to do more to attract visitors to multiple parts of the city and not just a 3/4 of a mile corporate strip. The square definitely needs to remain dominated by local stores, but there is nothing wrong with placing a corporate anchor in it to get the ball rolling.

6. Voters are beginning to notice the "hidden" costs of suburban development practices.
-I apostrophized hidden because I do not think that it is a very inconspicuous fact that it is cheaper to live in the suburbs than the city. In fact, with Screengems moving into Atlanta soon property values in the suburbs, especially the south metro areas, are going to boom. At least, that is my hope, and if I had $20,000 to spare I would definitely invest in a house in East Point or Lakewood because those up-and-coming areas are going to grow drastically within the next 10 years. Assuming this prediction is correct, McDonough needs to be able to offer its citizens and visitors more in order to keep up with the successful downtown suburban centers of Decatur or Roswell that are definitely models to reference.

7. Though people may want the sophistications of an urban lifestyle, they may not want to live downtown.
-This is a statement that I do not think is too generalized. One could argue that they live in the suburbs because it is ultimately cheaper and it has better school districts, but I believe that may not always be the case. I have heard others argue that no nice things can be built in McDonough because the people who live there are not "classy" enough to keep those businesses alive. But I want to give my fellow citizens the benefit of the doubt. So far there has not been a model company (besides Bliss) in McDonough for other companies to want to stand by or help sustain and that is why there has not been a truly successful restaurant on the square. Honestly, and I hope I am not betraying any McDonough patriots out there, but Seasons Bistro, Pasta Max, and PJ's are mediocre at best. Who wants to pay a lot for mediocre? There is a reason why chains are successful and that does not need to be undermined. But, I am just praying that someone comes along who has a great business model for an awesome, trendy, new restaurant and I will be their biggest advocate.

Hopefully, I will be able to move out of the programming phase of the project and into the schematic design and development phases soon and I cannot wait to being posting initial site plans and would greatly appreciate any comments and even criticism.

The Importance of City Planning

Ancient civilizations remained isolated for generations, relying only upon the vast expanse of what was above them for spiritual guidance and a subconscious knowledge that they were not alone. Global monumental construction became commonplace, and erecting megaliths became a statement by many technologically advanced peoples; that is, that they were here and that they had a purpose. Since the beginning of time, people have utilized construction methods as a means of communication. Whether it is for religious, ceremonial, or astronomical objectives, leaving physical legacies for future generations has been a central goal for humanity and a means of allowing connections through communication, thereby dissolving their social isolation.


Ruins of Sacsayhuaman

Urban design and city planning are not recent concepts. They have advanced over thousands of years into organized thought-processes that can lead to purpose-driven development and sustainable economic and social communities. There are many facets to this field and even encompass the realms of ecology, sociology, economics, urban geography, and law. City planning programs at universities are so vast and students must specialize in such fields as economic development, environmental planning and systems, geographic information systems, land and community development, land use planning, transportation, and urban design.

As I have begun to research for the McDonough Square, concepts of different forms of transportation in cities have caught my attention. The south metro area of Atlanta is growing too fast for the department of transportation to maintain roads and by the time new roads are built, construction takes so long that they simultaneously become obsolete. Typically thought of as having the worst traffic in the country, a recent study has found that Atlanta traffic is the 10th worst. Seeing as it took me 2 and a half hours to get to work yesterday, I cannot imagine a more worse commute. A blog I have been reading focuses on transportation around the country though he has not had a post about Atlanta traffic which I am kind of surprised about.




McDonough Square

In order to be successful, a commercial, business, and residential center needs to have some sort of anchor store such as a Starbucks in order to attract people in the first place. Ultimately, placing local McDonough or other Georgia-based businesses on the square would be ideal, but people are not extremely trusting of and confident in new stores initially. Attending school in Athens at UGA for the past 4 years has provided me with a great example of how a downtown can thrive. In fact, Athens has one of the oldest, economically sustainable downtown areas in the country and it most certainly has the University to thank for that. Now, since there is not a major University in McDonough it cannot rely on just people in their late teens and early twenties for profit. But since the majority of people living in McDonough are 24 to 45 it has good potential for a classy nightlife scene. Opening up a small theatre music venue, and cinema much like Cine in Athens would be a good option to extend the hours by which the McDonough Square is profitable.

Restaurants are another big factor when planning a downtown area and since exits off the interstate have their fair share of chain restaurants, choosing restaurants that offer unique dining is key. One such restaurant is Mirko which has locations in Athens, Watkinsville, Monroe, Buford, Peachtree City, and Macon. This is a counter service pasta restaurant where customers choose their pasta and sauce a la carte. It is interactive, priced well, has a great atmosphere, and is very good quality with a menu that changes seasonally. I believe that it would be a great addition to any downtown area. Figo in metro and downtown parts of Atlanta is very similar, though I believe that Mirko one ups it.


Bliss Cupcakes

The McDonough Square is not all bad, however. An awesome cupcake shop called Bliss opened about a year ago and is doing great! It began as just a wedding cake bakery and then began serving cupcakes and other baked goods at the front of the store in order to attract customers shopping for the day. The interior is very well-designed, completely executed by the owner who is a business major passionate about baking, with a French boutique look split into three sections: the bakery front with seating, a small shop in the middle where you can buy baking products and unique accessories to make cakes look like how you see them on tv, and the bakery in the back. Though it closes at 5 and is not open on the weekends, the shop is definitely the hero of the square. Hopefully more local businesses can open up and thrive, but as Bliss displays it needs an owner who has an economic and business background who knows what he/she is doing.

Next to it, however, is another cupcake bakery. That zoning conclusion astounds me, but that is for another post on a less cynical day.