Elements of Urbanism: Montgomery, AL
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/2642895207_sMPpL5k-M.jpg)
Metro Jacksonville takes a look at the downtown of Alabama's capitol city to see if there's something we can learn from their experience that could be applicable to our own efforts to revitalize downtown Jacksonville.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-jul-elements-of-urbanism-montgomery-al
I visited Montgomery once in the late '90's. It was relatively clean and safe appearing, but not a lot of pedestrian traffic after 5pm. There was a warehouse area on the edge of DT, that had some nightlife. I assume that was the Alley/Ballpark area.
Seems like the area is progressing.
Looks great for a mid sized city. Why are railroad tracks an obstacle between downtown and the riverfront? Memphis has the same thing and never saw them as an obstacle. You just walk over them.
The last trip that took me through Montgomery was around 2005/06. I found the area to be pretty dead and felt like a zombie myself wondering the empty streets for a victim to eat. Overall, this time around, the downtown area was still pretty void of major pedestrian activity. However, the couple of blocks where the convention center, the bars/restaurants in the Alley project and the ballpark are located where active. There also seemed to be two or three more large hotels in the area than what I remember from the earlier visit. On the way back to Jax, I went south towards Dothan. That route took me through a pretty nice late 19th century residential district that was architecturally similar to Springfield. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to stop and explore it.
Quote from: fsquid on July 24, 2013, 09:32:53 AM
Looks great for a mid sized city. Why are railroad tracks an obstacle between downtown and the riverfront? Memphis has the same thing and never saw them as an obstacle. You just walk over them.
In Memphis, they tend to be at grade. In Montgomery, from my memory it seemed like they were not. So that, combined with a few structures along the riverfront, limited access between it and downtown to a street corridor or two.
Looks impressive for "Montgomery AL"...definitely something there that can be taken away and applied to Jax.