What do you think about Gainesville's downtown development plan?
Gainesville shouldn’t need consultants, or a glossy plan, to improve its downtown.
But the City Commission and the University of Florida have already paid consultants $150,000 to develop such a plan, a draft of which was released last week. Our community should make the best ideas reality rather than letting the plan gather dust on a shelf, as has happened with too many good proposals in the past.
The best ideas in the Downtown Gainesville Strategic Development Plan involve Sweetwater Park, the underutilized green space next to such downtown institutions as the Alachua County Headquarters Library and the Matheson History Museum.
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The plan calls for turning the park into a “downtown jewel” by orienting nearby buildings to the park and having accessible entrances from bordering neighborhoods. It also calls for capitalizing on the Sweetwater Branch creek corridor by turning it into a network of urban parks, green spaces, trails and recreation areas spanning from Depot Park to Sweetwater Park to past the historic Thomas Center.
The Sweetwater Branch Greenway is an idea that Sun columnist Ron Cunningham has championed and has now organized a Facebook group to promote. Part of the plan is “daylighting” a long-buried portion of Sweetwater Branch creek, which runs beneath old Gainesville Regional Utilities properties south of downtown that are being redeveloped as part of the Power District.
Hopefully, residents will rally around the greenway idea. Other parts of the plan will likely be more divisive, given disagreements in the community over housing and other development.
The plan suggests that Gainesville needs more housing downtown and a greater variety of it. A map of housing complexes built in recent years shows that nearly all of them have been built outside of downtown and most cater to college students.
A multi-story building that includes condominiums and a grocery store is slated to be built on Lot 10, across from Loosey's Downtown bar and restaurant. But more housing — especially of the affordable variety — is needed.
The plan also identified a need for readily accessible parking. The construction of the Lot 10 building will make finding downtown parking a bigger problem as its tenants take up spaces in the garage across the street.
Visit www.cityofgainesville.org/downtownstrategicplan to find out more about the Downtown Gainesville Strategic Development Plan and contribute ideas. More than 700 people have already provided ideas, but that shouldn’t spell the end of community input. The plan is just a draft right now, with the final version due to be presented to the City Commission this summer.
Readers should also use The Sun’s pages as a place to air your views about the plan. Email a 200-word letter to the editor to letters@gainesville.com with your full name and city of residence, describing your thoughts on the plan and any ideas you have for downtown that aren’t included.
Take an active part in shaping the plan now, rather than complaining after it is completed. Our goal as a community should be coming to a consensus on the best ideas for downtown and making sure they happen, rather than allowing the plan to be another missed opportunity.
Nathan Crabbe is The Sun's opinion and engagement editor. Follow him on social media at twitter.com/nathancrabbe and www.facebook.com/nathancrabbe.
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Nathan Crabbe: Provide ideas for Gainesville downtown development
