Downtown

1. Write a short evaluation of Downtown Kalamazoo's business area using specific examples from Friday’s observations.
It was Friday afternoon and the mall strip was deserted. There are things that downtown is doing right, and things that it is doing wrong. Street: Pattered and colored bricks, rounded curb edges, very wide sidewalks. Specifically tailored to the needs of pedestrians in looks and function. Has character. Signposts: Functional yet aesthetically pleasing. Foliage: Just enough. Yet, often the store signs are hidden from view by it. There is a really good mix of stores there: fine shoes, sports, boutique, co-op grocer, coffee, nice restaurants, pizza. A lot of the stores are closed at off hours and even when open, are dark and uninviting. However, there are the few like Gazelle sports, that project an image of success, therefore are usually successful.

2. Give at least three recommendations to improve the downtown.
-The signs for automotive traffic could be larger and clearer. Or they could just get rid of all the one way streets becuase they are so confusing. If I drove a car here, I would be dissuaded to drive downtown because of how confuing it is to cars.
-Some of the stores could use clearer signage to communicate eactly what it is they do. Also the indoor mall, though it includes attractions like the organic grocery store, doesn't pull people in. It needs a more appealing and better labeled entrance.
-A lot of the store are just dead, and there are just too many banks. The numerous banks are almost ironic, or mocking in these economic times. If the city could afford it, the town could use more stores to fill up the empty spots.

3. Select a brief passage from the article about Robert Gibbs (“What Main Street Can Learn from the Mall” by Steven Lagerfeld) or the reading on public spaces (from City by William Whyte) and relate it to Kalamazoo’s downtown. Use specific observations from Kalamazoo to illustrate the point.
Disclaimer: The point that I am about to make may not fully answer this question but I find it so interesting that I am going to talk about it anyway.
"Movement attracts. Day in, day out, the best drawing display on Lexington Avenue is a pet shop with a window full of puppies and kittens".
About a month ago at the art hop downtown outside of one of the stores, there was a group of girls in ballet outfits advertising a certain studio in the area and their upcoming performance. The interesting thing about them was not necessarily what they were selling but how they were doing it. Each was wearing a neutral mask that completely covered the face. They stood in a group on the sidewalk with their masks, struck a pose, held it, then moved again. They were brilliantly located because there was not a way to pass them without looking. I was caught by their scheme for three reasons 1. You couldn't see their faces! There was an element of mystery that drew people in. 2. They moved, which relates to the quote from Whyte's article. 3. Occasionally they didn't move. You knew there was the potential that they might, and it was the waiting that was intriguing.
This weekend I experienced something similar to the masked girls when a couple of us from the Rhinoceros cast went down to the art hop (in a warehouse building, I don't remember the name) and tromped around like rhinos. We moved! And that is what caught people's attention. They didn't have to come to us, we were in their face before they could make the decision. It was easier to listen to our plug than not to.