Downtown‘s Upswing

April 27, 2005

The controversy over a proposed $50 million development in downtown Petoskey poses a question: What will the cities of Northern Michigan look like in the future?
No one’s imagining any skyscrapers or subways at present, but it’s easy to see the future of our cities and small towns unfolding before our eyes during this period of rapid growth.
What will our cities look like? More people living close to the heart of downtown in a sort of small-scale Manhattan.
The New Urbanist school of city planning hit the nail on the head in the ‘90s when it predicted that America’s cities would be revived by an influx of people moving back downtown, just as they did in the 1800s and early 20th century in places such as New York and Chicago.
You can see that quite clearly in Traverse City where new condos and townhouses are popping up around the downtown area like spring mushrooms. Large residential developments at Midtown Centre, F Park, Traditions at Ashland Park, River‘s Edge and along Boardman Lake, to name a few, are bringing hundreds of new residents within easy walking distance of downtown.