I'm sure that many of you saw this either at the Downtown Stakeholders Meeting or on QCTimes.com, but if you haven't, its definitely worth seeing. I may post more of the images later for those of you who may have problems with the slideshow website. Its basically a collection of stuff like this before and after shot I made a couple years ago during one of the many battles over whether the Crescent Lofts are a good thing. When viewing the slideshow, keep in mind how many of the changes have happened just since 2000.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The downtown Davenport progress slideshow
Davenport Progress -a slideshow of before and after images
I'm sure that many of you saw this either at the Downtown Stakeholders Meeting or on QCTimes.com, but if you haven't, its definitely worth seeing. I may post more of the images later for those of you who may have problems with the slideshow website. Its basically a collection of stuff like this before and after shot I made a couple years ago during one of the many battles over whether the Crescent Lofts are a good thing. When viewing the slideshow, keep in mind how many of the changes have happened just since 2000.
I'm sure that many of you saw this either at the Downtown Stakeholders Meeting or on QCTimes.com, but if you haven't, its definitely worth seeing. I may post more of the images later for those of you who may have problems with the slideshow website. Its basically a collection of stuff like this before and after shot I made a couple years ago during one of the many battles over whether the Crescent Lofts are a good thing. When viewing the slideshow, keep in mind how many of the changes have happened just since 2000.
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24 comments:
Kind of keeps you encouraged when everything feels like one step forward two steps back when your in the thick of it
I'd like to thank QCImages for posting this too, as more people need to start remembering how bad it really was, and how far the Downtown has come. When you here people talking badly about the downtown, I garuntee you they aren't folks who have seen these changes for themself. How quickly we forget. We aren't done yet, but this sure is inspiring.
As the blight creeps up and up and up and up and up - without notice or care.
Anon 2:45 p.m. - what on earth are you talking about? I'm pretty sure this makes a compelling case that we're REDUCING blight downtown, not adding to it. Your comment has no context whatsoever to boot.
Clearly DavenportOne is just a bunch of greedy people trying to ruin Davenport for their own personal gain. Clearly. [rolleyes]
Conservative Demo here:
I, along with 3:26PM haven't the slightest idea to what the heck 2:45PM is referring, but he at least did use correct spelling in his senseless posting.
2:45...the post sounds like the former 3rd ward alderman.
"Mr. Positive" (cough, cough)
QCI makes a good point regarding how much of this happened just since 2000 too.
I saw Fran Riley taping in the Stab-A-Lot parking lot today at approx 11am. Maybe he's been reading the blogs and smells a story?
A shooting just up up up the hill from the great downtown. The blight is creeping up and up and up and up - oopps - NOLO - went too far. How shall we undo it. oops - can't. Too late.
Yes, the blight is moving from downtown but is changing from mostly blighted commercial buildings to mostly blighted residential buildings which require a different set of programs and since we are talking about Davenport a different set of tax incentives....
Alderman Meyer, quit yo jibber-jabber. I pity the fool.
You are correct - as long as the blight is residential in these area - that is fine because all of you live SOLO deserve the blight and the crime and the crap. If you don't like it move. I for one and satisfied that we are paying attention to the commerical buildings and not the residential, because one has no impact on the other. Just ask Tara and da board.
Wow. I was hoping for more from some of the posters on this board. Obviously, we need to improve ALL of our neighborhoods, including downtown and the surrounding area. We are clearly moving in the right direction, and it's completely idiotic and backwards logic to think that improvements downtown are somehow detrimental to the surrounding vicinity. The reason the Gold Coast went to shit in the first place was the fall of the downtown in the 70's, which affected their property vaule. The reverse will be true when we continue to improve both the commercial and residential components of downtown. It will eventually spread outward, improving value. This isn't rocket science, nor is it the first community to ever take place in. For God's sake people do a little research, and try using an argument that hold it's ground for more than 10 seconds.
The idea that there is a foreclosure crisis in Scott County and the "market is crashing" is simply inaccurate. While the median sale price of a home in Davenport is slightly down from last year ($115K from $116K) home sellers are getting 94% of their asking price. We all know that people ask "high" and settle for less. Also, the average number of days on the market is 47 days for a home in Davenport versus 62 in Bettendorf, 59 in PV/LeClaire and 64 days for the rest of Scott County. There are 570 homes in Davenport on the market, about 20 more than last year at this time.
The mortgage crisis is really on the coasts and is not a huge problem here in the midwest.
To those who are so negative, are there going to be fewer crime problems if we don't work on improving the downtown and start moving up the hill (as the city has with HAPPEN and 100 Homes)?
I not sure where some of you get your facts. The downtown has changed tremendously in the last few years. It has had an affect on the central city. Many new programs have started up to rehab houses and encourage a diverse population in the central city. We are only going to be limited by the negative, backward thinking of a few nay sayers. I think with a new council and Tara Barney at the helm of D1 we are going to see great things happen in Davenport in the next few years.
Programs like the 100 homes are nice starts targeted at certain areas. But the Davenport Promise is the only one I've heard so far that could have an impact on all neighborhoods, pretty much throughout the city. I know it has some risk involved, but there is very strong data from K-zoo that at least gives us a level of confidence of how it will work.
I'm not saying it is the solution to all of our problems. I'm also not saying it should be shouldered completely by taxpayers. I'm only saying that it is the best idea I've heard so far to help revitalize and strengthen neighborhoods.
I like 100 homes, but we don't seem to get it that the drug rentals have to be shut down too. No middle class family will ever move next to the Howards, not for 15K. I won't happen - ever!
People need to keep in mind that it's the long term development like that shown in the slides, plus 100 homes, plus Promise, plus every other betterment program working TOGETHER that is going to get us where we need to be.
It's complex, difficult, slow, and just not as simple as impatient people want it to be. It's still worth every ounce of effort, and we're just starting to see the fruits of our labor, with much yet to come.
I agree 3:58. It's more about staying dedicated to the effort for the long-term and making many, many small improvements than by doing some big sweeping project. The effort is never really going to be "done". In business, this is called "Continuous Improvement".
I finally actually watched the slideshow. I know it wasn't meant to be a definitive list of all the projects, but I thought they'd at least include the JOD renovation, among a couple others.
3rd street Mart liq. license has been revoked!!!!!!!!
I keep reading that Bill Clinton visited the QCA, Since when has Muscatine been considered part of the Quad Cities? Do they even consider themselves to be part of the area?
I agree folks and I am a bit of naysayer. But, What I don't understand is why we can't get rid of these slum properties. Seriously. It isn't that hard - a little cleansing would do us a world of good.
6:46 - I consider Clinton and Muscatine to be part of our area, if not part of the "Quad Cities". I know people who live in the QC's and commute to both Muscatine and Clinton. I also know folks who live in Clinton and commute to Davenport. Folks in Des Moines consider anything within an hour to be "Greater Des Moines".
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