Two projects downtown move forward

Today at noon the Rochester Broadway Theater League made their announcement to move forward with plans for a new theater downtown. The theater will occupy a parcel of the midtown development block that once was home to McCurdy's department store. The project is expected to cost $70 million.

At this evening's city council meeting, city council approved the proposal to abandon Mortimer St. to make way for a new transit center. The new center will replace the open air bus terminal that stretches along Main St. from the Liberty Pole to St. Paul. The center will capitalize on $52 million in state and federal transportation funds slated for the defunct  Renaissance Square project.

Although both projects are not without drawbacks, I believe they will help spur further development along Main St. and will have significant effects on the Sibley building and the Midtown development block. The presence of cranes downtown will energize this city and demonstrate that we are moving forward.

Downtown Surface Parking

Surface parking lots are colored pink

A recent survey of downtown workers found inconvenient parking as a deterrent for spending leisure time downtown. This map shows the surface parking lots located in downtown not including parking garages. Given the vast acreage of parking lots that downtown already has, Rochester should look for an alternative solution to its parking problem. More parking garages will help with the quantity of parking spaces but are limited in their ability to help with parking convenience. Most of downtown's lots are on its periphery and most of the activity is in the center. A similar problem is faced by most college campuses; their solution is a shuttle bus system. Will this work for downtown? Maybe.