Category — CapDist Blog

Last weekend 300 registered Topeka voters were polled to gather opinions regarding downtown redevelopment in Topeka. When asked, “do you favor or oppose downtown redevelopment?” 72% said they either strongly favor (46.3%) or somewhat favor (25.7%). Compared to 18% who somewhat oppose (8.3%) or strongly oppose (9.7%). Ten percent didn’t know or had no opinion.

This poll was conducted by phone and was funded by WIBW-TV.

Congrats to Capital District Team members Mike Morse, Neil Dobler & Scott Gales for being named Greater Topeka Chamber of Commerce/GO Topeka’s Volunteers of the Year!

Thanks to Berkeley Square for the awesome video!!

One of the things we hope to do this year is better publicize what we talk about in our various meetings. We’ve got a lot of tasks ahead of us and we hope this would make it easer to keep everyone up to speed on how we are progressing!! Let us know what you think in the comments!

Meeting Notes for 1-13-2011

Meeting was held at Downtown Topeka, Inc.  Brendan Jensen gave a report as to how leveraging PHProjekt might be able to help keep us organised as we diversify our group and start addressing many of the other points on our “buckshot” list. One of the major concerns with using a tool like this is that it’s not designed to make everything contained within it public. One of the goals of the Capital District Project is to be open and forthcoming about the topics and ideas we discuss. So we’re working on a plan to extract information from the project management software and load it out to the website on a regular bases to address this.

Michelle De La Isla talked about business recruitment  for downtown and has done a lot of work to lay the groundwork for a team to start working on this important step to a vibrant downtown. A future meeting is planned to invite other members of the community interested in helping with this project (keep an eye on our Facebook Page). The main points this team will try to address are:

• 1. Policy – what sort of polices need to be changed or put in place to make it easer for business to prosper
• 2. Economic Development – What needs to be done to encourage business to want to be downtown?
• 3. Space & Availability – What out there and ready to go, what needs work, and the like.
• 4. Business Research – Discover what works, what doesn’t in other places. How can we use these lessons to make downtown a huge success

Next General Meeting we will start talking about housing!

The Topeka Capital-Journal set up a survey to see what folks thought about the City Council’s decision to allocate $5 Million for revitalizing downtown Topeka. We were pleased to see more than 60% of participants supported the decision!

to sta the process of

I am a lifelong Topekan and I have been a downtown business owner for nearly a decade.  While I am incredibly grateful to those who have been loyal customers throughout the years, I feel that I can no longer sit quietly and accept that there are certain residents in our city who will never have a positive thing to say about the quality of life here without realizing that their negative attitude is what is holding the rest of us back.  Potholes, Phelps, dead hippos, blah blah blah… There… I said it… We have all heard about it, now please allow us to move on.  Attitudes like this are screaming for something that will give them a little pride in their community.  And we all need this pride and a great quality of life to draw businesses and visitors to our city.

Our city is a business and leaders should run it accordingly.  I am personally in the restaurant business.  In my line of work, I could provide the most minimal food quality and service to my customers and they would still have to eat in order to live.  If this were my business model, the customers would get no excitement from their visit and would certainly never have a craving for anything I provided them.  The only satisfaction they could take is that it was cheap for them.  Eventually they would tire of my business and move on to the next place up the road.  This seems to be the kind of business model that many in our city expect with their government.  Wouldn’t you rather pay a few extra cents for something that fills your tummy AND makes you feel good at the same time?  Eventually, I have to ask the question, “What will keep them coming back?”

My family and I have put ourselves on the line and personally invested everything we could in downtown to make it great.  And we are happy to be here.  But some people seem to miss the point that downtown’s infrastructure needs a lot of maintenance.  Inadequate storm drains run directly in to the sewer lines which cause many downtown basements to be flooded with sewage water through their floor drains when it rains heavily.  Sometimes the street lamps work and sometimes they don’t.  It depends if the gods of electrical shorts are in our favor or not that night.

The Capitol District Project and its volunteers should be commended for identifying that these problems exist and putting a cohesive business plan together to maximize the inevitable tax dollars that we will be spending on these issues.  Their main goal will maximize our investment in a crumbling infrastructure AND provide investment that will grow the tax base.  Isn’t that the way our city should operate?

Downtown is the heart of our city.  We can all agree that, as a city, we need to hit the treadmill and do a little cardio because our heart has certainly seen better days.  If the north, west, south, and east side of town are the legs and arms of Topeka, they are all useless without a strong heart.  Topeka, like all of us, would die without a heart.

Sincerely,
Chris Schultz

During the Wrap-up Workshop, participants broke into groups to discuss and plot out their visions for the future of downtown Topeka. Each group included a professional architect or engineer to help assist with laying out plans. Below are several maps of ideas that were created at the forth community workshop.

Group One favored closing part of 9th street and making it public green space while preserving access to the parking garage. This space shows off the splendor of our State Capitol and provides a gateway to Kansas Avenue.

Group Two focused on a gently curving roadway. This idea slows traffic and creates more space for public green space and water features. The gentle curves also mimic the rolling hills this part of Kansas is known for.

Group Three A narrowed the road to create wider sidewalks for cafes, water features, and green space all while preserving on-street parking.

Group Three B looked to create a more festive atmosphere on 9th street with overhead lights. This leads in to a large park by Quincy.

Group Four removed the center islands and narrowed the street. This provides for more sidewalk space without affecting on-street parking. They have also added center overhead lighting.

Group Five adds additional center street parking by narrowing Kansas Avenue. The intersections would feature median with towers that could be used to support sound and lighting equipment for events.

Over the course of the three Kansas Avenue Design Workshops, six major areas of consideration were identified by the participants: public space, housing, events, transportation, destination and unique/green/other initiatives.

During the wrap-up workshop, attendees were asked to vote for their top three priorities for each initiative. Here’s how the votes came in:

Public Space:

Housing:

Events:

Transportation:

Destination:

Unique/Green/Other Initiatives:

After the first round of surveys were complete, the top three priorities from each initiative were compiled for a final vote. Results were as follows:

You can download PDFs with all of the results from the first round of surveys or second survey from the wrap-up workshop.

Did you realize there’s been more than $101 million dollars invested in downtown improvements in Topeka since 2001? Downtown Topeka, Inc. (DTI) compiled these estimated investment figures as each project was announced. While some of these projects received funds from the DTI Grant Program, those monies were spent for infrastructure improvement only. In some instances there was actually more private funds invested not tied to the grant program.

Please note, this investment total does not include investments made by the Ramada Inn. It does include a line item for Topeka Ice, although they are currently in a fundraising mode in anticipation of construction.

Check it out by downloading this PDF for more information.

John James participated in two of the three Kansas Avenue Design Workshops and wasn’t done contributing to the revitalization effort. This morning he shared a PowerPoint that he’d assembled with examples of success downtown and riverfront areas in a few of the communities that he’s visited. Check out the photos he’s compiled from Paducah, KY; Chattanooga, TN and Savannah, GA. Also see what attracts people to those areas including water features, paths and trails, dining, parking and accessibility.

You can check it out by downloading it here.

Do you have ideas about what you’d like to see done downtown? Maybe add a water feature or some green space? Or some thoughts about the types of businesses you’d like to see and where you think they should be located? Be part of the revitalization of downtown Topeka by downloading the PDF maps offered below and marking your ideas for the future. Each map has an outline of the streets and buildings currently located in downtown Topeka. Once you’ve completed your vision, scan and email them to Info@HeartlandVisioning.com or post it on our Facebook Page.

• Downtown Topeka Street/Building Plans – Full color aerial photo (PDF download)

• Downtown Topeka Street/Building Plans – Black & white line drawing (PDF download)