(Note: This image is not my dream downtown, but a whimsical conversation starter)The recent discussions about the possibility of an indoor water park next to the Blackhawk got me thinking, what things would I really love to see downtown? I have a few ideas that I may share in the upcoming days, but I figured I'd throw it out there for the blog readers to make suggestions.
For the purpose of this exercise, lets assume that none of these buildings or ideas will involve any taxpayer money, or block anyone's views. I know that both of those are improbable bordering on impossible, but pretend they aren't for the sake of argument.
What things would you folks most like to see built, installed, or added to downtown Davenport?
10 comments:
gotta love the pushpin. . . .
great pic gotta love this stinking town!!!!
Some things I'd like to see:
1. Spin-off development near JOD. Maybe some places to hang out before/after games. Another idea might be to put a Quad City Sports Hall of Fame, or some other kind of sports museum near it. The two attractions combined might make more of a regional draw.
2. Development across River Drive from the new Centennial Park. Maybe riverfront condos like they have in Moline?
3. Public transportation: the bus setup for the Grand Excursion back in '04 made so much sense it was scary: have one route in a continuous loop going from River Dr. to I-74 to the Illinois side, then down and back across the Centennial Bridge. The suburban routes would come off this loop like spokes on a wheel. Some kind of light rail system would be neat, too.
An amusement park near the river.
Been wanting that for years. Now they don't even have a carnival down there. :(
A performing arts center that is usable by local theater as well as touring companies/symphonies/etc.
A pedestrian bridge over the river or a skyride thingy over the river.
A low cost apt/restaraunt/arts district. Little plazas and sculpture parks.
Outdoor, river cafes with local entertainment.
The problem with our current system is it relies on bringing outside acts in, and bringing tours here. This is great, but a true arts center supports it's local artists as well. That is what the QCs haven't been quite so good about.
I know this is off-topic. Feel free to ignore.
This is from a news story online about the armed intruder subdued by civilians at the Capitol today. "Schneider praised the "valiant efforts" of the civilians but said police still recommend that people call them rather than getting involved in security threats."
Apply that kind of thinking to Flight 93 and there'd have been more than a hole in the ground in Pennsylvania. That's what you get from nanny state thinking. Face it, we do best when we're all on guard and we're all free to act. And there's nothing new about that, just too many of us have stopped believing it and living it. Too many have swallowed the nanny state lie.
I want to see less homeless vagrants downtown attracted and kept here by John Lewis. I want to see less drug dealers and thugs downtown too. More police and less trash.
Why don't we all get it? Until we get our crime and vagrant problem under control, we will never have a prosperous downtown.
That's not always true though.
Sometimes its downtown success that chases out the crime and vagrants. Criminals and drug dealers don't want to hang out where there are a lot of people willing to call the police on them. If we bring people downtown, the criminal element will find somewhere out of the spotlight.
The Crescent warehouse district used to be a crime hangout area. The police haven't changed their enforcement, but bringing in 73 apartments worth of people has made the area a little too busy for the criminal's tastes.
On the other hand, reducing crime is always good, but I was asking what things you would like to see downtown.
Model LeClaire Park after Navy Pier in Chicago. We are about a quarter of the way there already.
Renovate the Capital Theatre so it's SAFE and usable for local arts groups to use. It's a beautiful building that has been ignored/abused too long. It's a great size for those groups that can't fill the cavernous seating area of the Adler.
I think we need more homeless people...
talented homeless people.
Any big city you go to has guy playing the gutair or saxaphone on every corner. Acrobats and Artists. Think San Francisco.
How much more cool would the skybridge be if it was filled with live music. A soulful dude playing the blues...
Homeless guys take turns performing for long lines at the cable cars in SF.
Maybe we dont have our homeless just need to learn a good hustle. Then I would much rather pass a buck.
Maybe we need to pay them with our boar of tourism money...
Most important when you are thinking about downtown rivitalization is ITS ABOUT PEOPLE STUPID
Thats what breeds exitement in the big cities you envy. Not buildings.... people on the street
We have people on the street -they are the JLCS vagrants brought here to make that agency some money.
No one will want to come downtown en mass, if these folks continue the panhandling.
In th epast wee (yes - one week period) I was approached three times by people asking me for money. It gets pretty tiring. It is obvious the homeless agency either can't keep up or isn't trying to keep up.
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