Downtown Kalamazoo

1.The downtown area of Kalamazoo gave me a feeling of  a small town atmoshpere, which differs tremendously from large cities like Atlanta.Downtown Kalamazoo is car-friendly, in that the traffic signs are located on each block to inform the drivers of one way streets and it also provides parrallel parking and parking lots/garages(parking is limited). The area is also pedestrian friendly, with sidewalks on every street, cross walks and cross signals. However,like most urban areas,there were streets that gave off a sense that there was little to no security. Burdick Street is the "Main Street" of downtown Kalamazoo.The area had a good mix of retail stores,some of them were clothing and shoes store, restaurants,art galleries, and furniture stores. Burdick Street's design was overwhelming but effective. There was lots of plants, landscaping and decorative patterned sidewalks. The sidewalks and landscaping were both distracting but the landscape actually served a good purpose. The sidewalks were big so the city used plants took up space and pushed the pedestrians close to the window displays.The area was also filled with benches and tables which served its purpose and also took up space like the plants.The boutique style shops were attractive and they gave off a sense of a small town atmosphere.Also, there were generators like the movie theatre called  The Rave and a rock climbing place called Climb Kalamazoo that attract people to the area.

2.To make the Downtown area of Kalamazoo better, I would recommend the city buy more simple items. For example, the lamp post could be a little less decorative.Also, I would recommend the city add more attractions to the area to draw more people. Lastly, I would recommend the city revamp some of the areas that look older.

3."One of the virtues of street trees is the way they channel the walkway and moderate the scale of the right-of-way. A very wide sidewalk without treee is not a comfortable space. This proved the case walks with Chicago's North Michigan Avenue. Along one stretch  the sidewalks were made thirty feet wide. This proved such a surfeit of space that it was decided to fill it up a bit.They put in trees and grassy plots with chain around them.They did this so expansively that the walkway width was narrow to about ten feet."

The above passage is from William H. Whyte's  "City" .In the downtown area of Kalamazoo, they basically used the same method on Burdick Street as Chicago's North Michigan Avenue. Burdick Street has the large sidewalks so they used grassy plots with tree and plants to cover most of the walkway as well as tables and benches to make the sidewalks narrow.