Creating Great Spaces in Elizabethton

What makes a great public space? Some might say that a great place can only be found in the eye of the beholder. But a professor at the University of Denver has studied American and European models of public spaces and has drawn some interesting conclusions about what makes a public space great.

The first component to a great public space is centrality. A great public space must be central to the people which are intended to utilize the space. Popular right now in the Planning world is the concept that citizens should be able to reach about 90 percent of their daily activities within a 20 minute walk time. This serves to identify a central area in a neighborhood which would be ideal for a great public space.

Secondly, a great public space must be connected. By this I mean a great public space should be well connected by transportation networks. This specifically doesn’t mean cars either. A great public space should be well connected to other street networks, trail networks, transit routes, and sidewalk networks. It needs to be easy for citizens to access on multiple levels from walking to driving and should be an area hard to avoid when leaving your neighborhood or community.

Lastly, having cachet is a vital component of a great public space. Cachet, in this context, means having a distinction or a uniqueness about the public space. Think about what would make one public space different from any other. It may be a fountain, a statue, a mural, unique architectural facades, or other elements. In many European cities civic buildings or churches surround the public space creating beautiful, unique “walls” to the public space each uniquely different from the other. In New York City, the “walls” of Times Square are animated with fluorescent and flashing lights displaying larger-than-life advertisements providing something unique to to Times Square visitors.

Great public spaces don’t only have to be squares in the middle of a city, but can be specific, tight areas that incorporate these elements, such as our downtown or the West G Street commercial district near Kiwanis Park. We need to think about how we can incorporate centrality, connectivity, and cachet into areas in our communities to take them from public spaces to great public spaces. Let’s talk about it

City and County Must Work Together for Economic Development

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development in Nashville. It was a very exciting conference and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TN-ECD) unveiled a series of new programs in order to help Tennessee communities and counties. Some were simply technical assistance while others were lucrative grant programs.

There are three big programs I want to discuss. The first is the Drive to 55 program. This program is a part of TN-ECD and the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development and is associated with programs such at Tennessee Promise, Tennessee Reconnect, and Tennessee LEAP. The overarching goal of this program is the large need for the Tennessee workforce to attain higher levels of education either in the form of college or job certifications. The point of this program is that by 2025 it is estimated 50 percent of the workforce must have some type of college or vocational training in order to be an attractive place for businesses to locate. For ages 25+ years, Carter County currently stands at 41 percent so over the next ten years we need to increase this number to 50 or preferably 55.

Another program is the Main Street program. This is a popular program used around the nation with the purpose of helping small businesses on “Main Street” in every community prosper. This program was originally started to help communities revitalize their downtowns and served as a model to help make downtowns a destination and attractive in a community. The model and techniques used have proven to be highly successful in a range of communities. This program also comes with additional grant funding opportunities. Elizabethton does not currently participate in the Main Street program, but city staff have encouraged Main Street program guidelines to various downtown organizations.

The last program for today is the Select Tennessee program. This program helps counties in Tennessee identify and prepare properties prime for industrial development. These properties must then be provided with utilities, have environmental studies completed, be provided with transportation options, and owned or optioned by a governmental entity. The state will then certify such a site and help market the site to potential industries. Grant funding can also be provided to counties wishing to help pay for these expensive process.

This is just a glimpse of the programs the state has to help and encourage cities and counties in the state. The key, though, is that we must work together to accomplish these things. Many are expensive or require a combined effort at the state level. The city cannot do it without the county, and the county cannot do it without the city, but together we can make our county economy better. Let’s talk about it!

High Density Residential Could Breath New Life into Downtown

The last few weeks I’ve talked about transportation options for Elizabethton’s future, but one major element of the conversation has been left out -- land use. Land use is a term used in the planning community which tells us how specific pieces of property are being used by our citizens and businesses. For example, I would categorize most of the Blackbottom neighborhood as a single-family residential land use or the West Elk Avenue area as a retail commercial land use.

Land use gives us an idea of what types of uses the property currently is and commonly a descriptor lets us know what the density or category it is being used as. Land use is critical to transportation. If there is a high density residential land-use, for example, cities need to create wider streets for more cars, wider sidewalks for more pedestrians, and bike lanes for people to bike.

As we look to the coming year, the Planning Commission has shown interest in moving forward with creating higher densities in and around the downtown area. This type of density would allow for small condo buildings, townhomes, and apartments. Unlike other parts of residential we’re encouraging in downtown, this area will be strictly residential. With higher densities of people come the need for more and better sidewalks, the installation of bike lanes, and the need to make our streets more user friendly for multiple people, not just cars. Even golf carts can have a role to play in helping create this higher density residential district.

This type of land use will impact the types of transportation infrastructure we, as a city, offer and could result in narrower roads with different parking arrangements for Elk Avenue and E Street, the addition of bike lanes to Sycamore Street and Main Street, one or two transit bus stops in downtown, and don’t forget the addition of golf carts.

Now, all of this will certainly not happen at once and it may even take a decade to put all of the infrastructure in place. But higher density residential areas can bring a lot of positives to our community. The more people who live here, the more ways the city taxes are split, the more ways utility infrastructure costs are split, and it can help bring life back to our downtown buildings and businesses. Let’s talk about it!