Planning for a Vibrant Downtown
As we celebrate the 100 year anniversary of arguably the most well known and successful master plans (Plan of Chicago by Burnham and Bennet), Rochester is kicking-off its own downtown planning process. The growth of Rochester’s downtown core in the past four years has been significant and well documented. New restaurants, businesses and of course the new Peace Plaza are highlights of a concerted effort to revitalize the urban center. The Rochester Downtown Alliance was formed out of a recommendation from the PUMA plan presented in 2004. The PUMA plan was the genesis for the accepted quadrants of downtown Rochester: Medical District, Arts and Entertainment Disctrict, Urban Village, and Central Business District. Spurred by the Rochester Downtown Alliance, Thursdays on First, Rochesterfest, and the Urban Village concept have all received increased attendance and press. This district diagram has been supported for years, but recently a new wrinkle was introduced.
Last year, the University of Minnesota Rochester began its own planning process to locate an area for the future campus. With the help of Sasaki and Associates, the UMR has decided that a downtown campus is ideal for their purposes as an institution with a synergistic approach to health care and the allied sciences. The master planning process will be wrapping up in the next few months as an actual location, size and shape of the campus will be prescribed. However, while a specific location is not indicated, it is clear that the presence of a major education institution in close proximity to the core of downtown (2nd St SW and 1st Ave SW) will be a game changer. The need for a comprehensive plan that integrates the PUMA conceptual diagram, the Mayo Campus expansion, and the UMR master plan has reached the point of no return. In response, the City of Rochester has stepped up and announced the start of a downtown master plan.
The details of the structure of the plan, the amount of public input, and the priority given to each of the institutions has not been made public, but Livable Rochester recognizes that this is a major step in the right direction. A comprehensive plan that includes: land use, zoning regulations, transportation strategies, pedestrian scale design elements, coordinated beautification, green space, parking, and diversity of housing stock is paramount. With such a plan, developers can begin to locate projects for housing, mixed use structures, and infrastructure investments. With such a plan, students who begin school at the University will have access to amenities required to make a 4-year college thrive. With such a plan, the expansion and sprawling growth of Rochester might be stemmed by allowing greater incentives to build infill projects and avoid increased infrastructure demands.
As an educated public, you should be aware of this process and make it clear to your elected officials that you feel it important to be included in the conversation. The planning process will be short in the grand scheme of future development, now is the time to make a difference. If successful, the citizens of Rochester may celebrate in 2109 the anniversary of the historic moment when this community made planning a priority and took its development into their own hands.