Downtown Oxnard and Pink Zones:
At a recent DITF meeting, Able Magana mentioned that the owner of the Vogue theater building had been approached by a City employee. The owner claims he was told that, as the 20-year agreement had expired, “would you please tear down those 6 spaces facing west on B Street”. That conversation was quickly squashed, without the opportunity for a creative conversation on the economic development potential of those 6 little spaces.
In the spirit of a “Pink Zone” and improved economic development in the downtown.
Why not – get creative?
Why not – use the opportunity of this “crisis” to explore the concept of a downtown “Pink Zone”.
Why not – think like an Economic Development professional instead of make it a code enforcement public relations problem?
Why not – give those spaces a new or at least an extended lease on life?
Why not – build a “Parklet” in front of those unique spaces? (“A parklet is a sidewalk extension that provides more space and amenities for people using the street. Usually, parklets are installed on parking lanes and use several parking spaces. Parklets typically extend out from the sidewalk at the level of the sidewalk to the width of the adjacent parking space.”)
Why not – explore “Pink Zone” ideas for this and similar Oxnard locations?
Why not?
What is a “Pink Zone”?
“The Pink Zone is a powerful tool for concentrating resources on the task of enabling small-scale, community-centered development and revitalization. It defines an area of focus, leverages a suite of available tools, and provides a platform for the community to gather resources, make commitments, and work together on projects that enhance community character and allow existing businesses and residents to remain and profit from the improved quality of life. The Pink Zone tool will be developed and refined in a series of pilot projects, and then released to the public.”
https://leanurbanism.org/publications/the-pink-zone-where-small-is-possible/
What can we learn from the NIMBY’s?
They were and are more or less right. The auto-centric un-walkable planning of the last 50+ years has failed to make places that people love – and people are saying “no more”, and thus today we have NIMBY’s. We must build beautiful, walkable, and lovable places and neighborhoods in our “Ped Sheds”. When we build walkable equitable places that people love the NIMBY’s will become YIMBY’s (Yes in my backyard).
What is a Ped Shed?
“A ped shed is the area encompassed by the walking distance from a town or neighborhood center. Ped sheds are often defined as the area covered by a 5-minute walk (about 0.25 miles, 1,320 feet, or 400 meters).”
Want to grok downtown economic development? Watch this 4-minute video:
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