Downtown Kalamazoo

Overall, I would give downtown Kalamazoo's business area a "C" in terms of design. One of the most noticeable aspects of the design was sidewalks on Burdick Street, which were wider than any sidewalks I have ever seen. It was easy to walk shoulder to shoulder with at least five other people. In addition, there were many trees and other plants in planters on the sidewalks, as well as numerous umbrella-covered tables with chairs. In fact, there were so many plants and tables that it was slightly overwhelming and drew my attention away from the stores. At the beginning of the evaluation, I didn't even look at the stores I was passing because my eyes were drawn more toward the street than the shops. While the tables and chairs looked very welcoming during the day, they also invited loitering and street people. At one point in the evaluation, our group stopped outside a store to write down several observations. Some of us sat at a table, one of us used a trashcan as a writing surface, and one of us kneeled down on the ledge of a planter to write. I noticed that the owner of the shop we were stopped in front of was staring at us from the window, and he seemed uneasy. Passing pedestrians would likely react the same way, which would make them unlikely to go into a store or even notice advertisements and displays. The most evident problem I noticed was that the streets were extremely narrow and difficult to drive on. The section of Burdick Street that we walked on was one way and one lane, with parallel parking on either side of the street. The driving lane was so narrow that if a someone opened the door of a parked car while a moving car was passing by, the car would probably not be able to avoid the opening door. It was very difficult for pedestrians to see cars coming from behind the lane of parked cars, and i was relatively close to being hit by a car on one occasion while crossing the street. The problems with street design do not end here, however. It was extremely unclear which streets were one way or two way. On Burdick Street, I noticed "Do not enter," "one way," or "no right turn" signs that seemed completely arbitrary in placement. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the street layout, and a visitor to the city would probably be extremely confused by the roads. Cars driving along Burdick Street were moving very slowly, which is usually a good sign since it allows them to notice window advertisements and gives pedestrians the impression that the street is busy. However, other areas of downtown Kalamazoo, like Haymarket, had one way streets that were three lanes wide and had very fast moving traffic. Another design aspect that I noticed was second story design. On Burdick Street, most buildings were two stories tall with many windows on the upper level. While the height helped give the city a true "downtown" feel, many of the upper story rooms had closed blinds or curtains, and were probably apartments. The city could really take advantage of its height by putting businesses on the second story of buildings and advertising down to the street. This would help give the city an extra boost of life and energy. In general, the city seemed to be relatively crowded, especially for a very cold weekday afternoon. I felt very safe and comfortable on Burdick Street because I was always in sight of other people. As I moved into the Haymarket area and toward the Rave movie theater, I felt less safe. There were not nearly as many people in this area, and more of the buildings were vacant. Other miscellaneous observations included the fact that the sidewalks on Burdick Street were paved in a slightly distracting pattern. The sidewalks were not simple like Gibbs suggested, but instead were paved with colored brick that was organized in a diagonal pattern. I also noticed that the trashcans were designed very interestingly, and served multiple purposes, including a writing surface. The city was also very festive. It seemed to be decorated for the winter holidays, and many flags were hung from light posts on Burdick Street. Overall, I thought the city's design was very viscerally appealing, but that it was a behavioral failure and did not help businesses attract attention and sales.

To improve the design of downtown Kalamazoo, the first thing I would do is get rid of the current road system, and make all streets two way. Two way streets are easy to understand and navigate, and would take the uncertainty out of driving through downtown Kalamazoo. The roads were so confusing that I think I would deliberately avoid the downtown area when driving. Main Street should attract pedestrians and drivers alike, not repel them. My second suggestion is to redesign the sidewalks along Burdick Street. Instead of going for the prize-winning design, the sidewalks should be simple and unnoticeable. The sidewalks should also be slightly less wide to increase the sense of crowdedness. About half of the trees and tables should also be removed. Because these elements were so excessive, they were very distracting and blocked visibility from across the street. Another recommendation to improve city design is to refigure the parking situation. All of the parking along Burdick Street was parallel, and I observed several drivers having difficulty parking. Personally, I am a horrible parallel parker, and often will drive right by a parallel parking spot because I don't want to go through the trouble. In addition, the parallel parking was almost like a brick wall in that it blocked the view of the other side of the street. Over the weekend, I noticed that downtown Birmingham has a much better parking solution that Kalamazoo should consider. All parking along the Main Street is diagonal, which allows drivers to park quickly and easily. The diagonal solution also makes it much easier to see across to the other side of the street.

The following passage from "What Main Street Can Learn from the Mall" is very pertinent to downtown Kalamazoo: "The shade trees and planter boxes? Lovely, [Gibbs] says, but they block shoppers' view of shop windows and signs. Those handsome groupings of benches and tables? They seem inviting until Gibbs points out that they often attract teenagers and other loiterers, who scare off shoppers. The elegant Victorian street lamps, the expensive trash cans, and the distinctive granite paving stones-- 'so beautiful that people will stare at them as they walk by the storefronts,' Gibbs says--are little more than money down the drain." When reading this section, it almost sounded like Gibbs was talking about downtown Kalamazoo, because everything he said relates exactly to the city. There were far too many trees and plants in Kalamazoo that blocked the view of the stores. As mentioned earlier, the excessive tables and chairs present the problem of loitering. Kalamazoo also seems to have wasted a great deal of money on superfluous design details, including colored bricks for the sidewalks, old-fashioned lamp posts, and beautifully designed trash cans. Not using these three elements would have saved a great deal of money, and would also have helped stores draw more attention.