Complaining about not enough parking spaces and or biking racks is kind of strange.
Yogi Berra was once asked why he didn't go to a popular nightclub spot anymore. "No one goes there," he said. "It's too crowded."
Here's a thought experiment.
If we start with 10 parking places, and only 5 people using them, our goal would be to increase business until all 10 spaces are full. If we succeed in getting all ten spots filled, we can expand it to 15 parking spots.
But where does it end? At what point do we say, "Hey, we've succeeded. We've filled the available spots...."
How many times have you passed on going into a store or a restaurant because no one was there? How many times have you decided to go into a store or a restaurants because it looks busy?
When I worked in gas stations in high school and college, we often parked our own cars at the pumps just to draw people in.
I have a theory that there is a 'emptiness' multiplier. That is, 10% empty feels like twice that much. 25% empty feels like half empty. Just check out most downtown cores, which can often feel dead, even though if you count the shops more than half are full.
We shouldn't underestimate the importance of traffic -- car, bike, or feet. It's all part of the experience. God help downtown if the "mall" proponents ever get their way. These issues have popped up over and over again, over the years. You can't kill them. Newcomers are especially prone to thinking closing the streets would be a good idea.
How many times have you passed on going into a store or a restaurant because no one was there? How many times have you decided to go into a store or a restaurants because it looks busy?
When I worked in gas stations in high school and college, we often parked our own cars at the pumps just to draw people in.
I have a theory that there is a 'emptiness' multiplier. That is, 10% empty feels like twice that much. 25% empty feels like half empty. Just check out most downtown cores, which can often feel dead, even though if you count the shops more than half are full.
We shouldn't underestimate the importance of traffic -- car, bike, or feet. It's all part of the experience. God help downtown if the "mall" proponents ever get their way. These issues have popped up over and over again, over the years. You can't kill them. Newcomers are especially prone to thinking closing the streets would be a good idea.
If you take the same traffic that downtown Bend has, for instance, and transfer it to the downtown of Baker, which has streets that are twice as wide, it would look like half as many people. It will feel relatively empty.
If you take a 1000 sq. ft. store, and stock it with product that covers only 500 sq. ft., you will look empty. The same 500 sq. ft. of product will look full in a smaller store, or a store designed to block off the other half, or whatever.
Being busy and full and hopping is what we want.
But their very interest in downtown comes from the fact that they like it -- and yet they are willing to change the very downtown they say they like with very iffy and dangerous ideas.
Sometimes being busy is a good thing.
6 comments:
Regarding that quote, if it's too crowded, that means people are going there. That's the definition of being crowded. That seems pretty contradictory to me. And besides, people like feeling like they're where all of the cool kids are. If it's busy somewhere, they go in because they feel left out. Of course this only works to a certain extent as being packed up with other human beings can become a turn off at a point. But up until the point of being physically uncomfortable, people will always gravitate to the place that is the most popular, because they will feel like that's where they're supposed to be. It's the "all the cool kids are doing it" mentality.
"God help downtown if the "mall" proponents ever get their way."
Amen. One or two comments on my Wandering Eye blog have suggested this. But I think the experience of Eugene and other cities that have tried it will prevent it from ever happening here. Turning downtowns into "pedestrian malls" is always disastrous, at least in this country.
"Regarding that quote, if it's too crowded, that means people are going there. That's the definition of being crowded. That seems pretty contradictory to me."
Uhh, that's why Yogi's quote is funny.
I'm more likely to drop into a busy restaurant than one that's empty. But if there's a line out the door onto the sidewalk, I'll pass it up.
"If you take the same traffic that downtown Bend has, for instance, and transfer it to the downtown of Baker, which has streets that are twice as wide, it would look like half as many people. It will feel relatively empty."
The "New Urbanist" architects note that the ratio of street width to building height is critical to making a streetscape feel comfortable for pedestrians. If the street is too wide in relation to the height of the buildings, the area feels too empty and exposed. If the buildings are too high in relation to the width of the street, it feels claustrophobic. Downtown Bend has the ratio about right -- by lucky accident. But we need to avoid putting up any more "skyscrapers" like Franklin Crossing.
Just another piece, in a long line of logically inscrutable pieces, is the following snippet from Bend bank files to dismiss suit:
The notice was filed under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a), which says an action can be dismissed without a court order if the defendant hasn’t responded to the lawsuit, among other reasons. Since the suit was filed in July, the investment firm, Cohen & Co. Financial Management, has not responded.
So, we are led to believe that CACB filed to dismiss, BECAUSE Cohen has not responded.
Does anyone HONESTLY believe this is the case?
If this is NOT the case, then you can be left with some shred of hope that CACB is being run by some raft of number crunchers who are not 100% retarded.
If this actually IS the case, that CEO Patty Moss & Co, have filed a lawsuit whose plantiff has simply FAILED TO RESPOND, and that FAILURE is enough for them to COMPLETELY DISMISS THE LAWSUIT, then rest assured: You are dealing with complete IDIOTS.
Moss: Well folks, we filed, but I ain't heard nut'n on the horn from our lawyers down in ALABAMA. So I say that INSTEAD OF JUST WALKING AWAY, letting it lapse, letting JUSTICE TAKE IT'S COURSE, or what have you, let's actually GO TO THE TROUBLE OF FILING TO HAVE THE SUIT DISMISSED.
This piece is one of the most ridiculous snippets of SHAM JOURNALISM I've seen from the Bully in awhile. 100% about guarding the STELLAR REP of PATTY MOSS, COUNTRY BUMPKIN DUMBASS.
And what's great, is it FAILS MISERABLY.
homer bring back a blog for old times sake? pleese its been almost a year ...
now me live in singapore, and all of Bend is what I get from dp, and its quite boring,
would really like to hear some shit about bend, ... pleeeze
fairly common to respond, just waiting for the thing to go to court, .. whats the point of 'resonding'? Nuttin, ... most likely this party wants some money out of cacb before it goes black-hole, and until they see their day in court or some cash on table they don't respond, ... normal strategy ...
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