Coffee and Conversation News - Downtown Forum

On Saturday, May 12, over 100 people showed up to share in coffee and conversation on what their vision of Downtown Rochester is.

The morning started off with Doug Knott, City of Rochester Downtown Development Administrator, giving an overview of the current downtown plans. The presentation included plans both in the works and proposed.

Several documents were referenced to during the morning and can be read on this website. Documents include a three-part study done for the city by Brad Segal, from Puma (Part I, Part II, and Part III).

A panel of representatives from separate groups, each with invested interests in downtown then were given an opportunity to share their roles and visions for downtown.

Panelists included:

• Sandy Keith
  RDA (Rochester Downtown Alliance)
• Brad Jones
  Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau - Arts Council
• Sean Allen
  Rochester Area Foundation, First Homes/Heritage Homes
• Mike LaPlante
  Eastside Pioneers Neighborhood Association
• Gail Sauter
  University of Minnesota Rochester
• Mary Gorfine
  Olmsted County Youth Commission
  Olmsted County Vital Aging Commission
• Christina D. Tatting
  Mayo Clinic

Audiance members were then split up into six different discussion groups. City Council members and board members from the Rochester Downtown Alliance were present in each group, listening and participating in the conversations.

Citizens’ Comments from Group Conversations

Question 1: What is your personal vision for downtown?
Note: Many of the responses to question 1 also apply to question 2.

Group 1

• Vital downtown to serve both the aging and the youth
• More local use of the civic center
• Need more ‘senior’ focus, such as benches downtown
• More variety of restaurants
• Improve walkways and bike paths, improved sidewalks, so residents of downtown neighborhoods can easily walk to/from the downtown area
• Should be a reason for everyone to come downtown – not true today. Many do not even know what is downtown. Schools should include a program to bring kids downtown and show them what is there.
• Strong interest in skating rink at Peace Plaza
• Connection with local neighborhoods
• Specialty grocery stores
• There’s no place to go after a play (or event); everything closes up
• There’s nothing for youth to do downtown. We bring in sports tournaments, but there’s nothing else for the youth to do after their participation in the tournament
• Prohibit vehicular traffic on Sundays to make it more pleasant and appealing to walkers and bikers

Group 2

• Would like to see "green" and a grocery store
• Concerned about traffic, environmental effects, public transportation
• Downtown should be fun, a place to come to eat, shop (bookstore), etc.
• Some concern about losing the site of the Rep Theater
• Park like, concerned that it will be bland;
• Concerned about a lack of planning,
• How about a 1% development fee for the arts
• Would like a "real" downtown, real stores, a concert hall
• Transportation is an issue
• Need high density to support a "real" downtown
• Needs to be affordable - or have things for all levels of affordability
• Mayo campus is really the "golden goose" -- can't forget that
• Concerns about sporting events, and the resulting conflict – teenagers running through the halls and skyways, keeping patients awake
• A place to gather - visit, talk, have discussions, shops
• Safety - for walkers, bikers
• Green, grocery store, a place to read, a way to get in/out, need parking, but not blocks and blocks of ramps
• Move Mayo's street level office space
• Conventions, more life at night
• Inclusive - ethnic groups, different ages - something for everyone

Group 3

• Public needs education on a variety of uses possible; just making changes without this will not bring people downtown
• “Urban Village” is a good concept—will take education and marketing; businesses that open need to be potentially viable and not just “knick-knack” types b/c empty business buildings will hurt sales of the living space.
• Vitality of the downtown needs to be inclusive not hinged on one employer

Group 4

• Like the idea of making downtown a year round venue
• We need a process similar to Coffee and Conversations where we get input from many people in the community
• Downtown needs to be vibrant, both to the eye and the economy
• For developers who want to develop good downtown projects, it is very difficult to get funding and work with government, regulations, and zoning
• We need to widen the area that we consider downtown - it needs to include the river and nearby neighborhoods
• We need to celebrate the river - open up the view, develop eateries and businesses along the river. We also need to keep the river plaza that is/was in plan
• Would like downtown businesses and shopping to expand so it is worthwhile for banks to be open on Saturdays.
• Neighborhood associations are important
• We need to develop different types of housing. There are a lot of problems when developers split houses and housing is owned by out of town land owners who are not interested in the community.
• There were concerns that downtown is too concerned with doctors, is too upper-class, only 9-5 with very few late night opportunities and few things for young people to do.
• We need a downtown with things to do for all income levels and age groups. We need some cheaper eateries such as McDonalds.
• We need bike centric transportation and a walker friendly downtown. Downtown needs to be safe for bicycles and pedestrians. We can't use all the downtown space for parking ramps.
• Kutzy Park and other neighborhoods need to be considered downtown
• We need a fun downtown
• There is actually a lot to do downtown but people are not aware of
• The options. We need better marketing and family nights.
• In the new plaza we need a shelter for the band (comment submitted by a musician)
• We need parking downtown
• We need to prioritize the projects and may need to subsidize some of the projects.

Question 2: What do you want planners to pay attention to?
Note: Many of the responses to question 1 also apply to question 2.

Group 1

• To the youth and to the aging.
• Do we need a Target downtown (like downtown Minneapolis), especially with the University coming in? In Mpls, it’s extremely popular with college students.
• Outdoor restaurants
• Movie theater, especially Landmark brand
• Do we need to subsidize ground floor retail shops (everyone expressed the opinion that the draw would be ‘unique’ retail shops)
• Use the riverfront to our advantage – it’s seems to be ignored in development plans.

Group 2

• Concern about safety - what about the people who hang out and make people feel uncomfortable
• Transportation, traffic (this was mentioned by multiple people)
• Mixed housing levels - low income as well as high income
• Density and diversity - don't forget the edges of downtown -- can't abandon them while trying to work on the downtown
• Stores open from noon til 10:00 pm to encourage use of downtown after business close
• The ambience -- parks, green space, something unique to Rochester – how about a medical museum
• Build for people -- foot traffic
• Pollution, including noise pollution
• Experiences of other similar sized communities - don't make the same mistakes they made
• The law of "unintended consequences" -- try to think ahead about results

Group 3

• Peace Plaza renovation as drawn looks inviting but who will police the area—issues like skateboarding, vagrants, loitering need consideration. Also, multiple uses need to be pre-planned so people are interested to begin coming there immediately after completion.
• Strike a balance between economy and community; too heavy on one will weaken the purpose
• Important to remember large number of Mayo employees leave town at the end of their shifts and don’t participate in Rochester activities
• Plan for surrounding neighbors to feel comfortable participating; easy access from homes walking or biking on lighted streets with no “road blocks” to get around or across

Group 4

• Like the idea of making downtown a year round venue
• We need a process similar to Coffee and Conversations where we get input from many people in the community
• Downtown needs to be vibrant, both to the eye and the economy
• For developers who want to develop good downtown projects, it is very difficult to get funding and work with government, regulations, and zoning
• We need to widen the area that we consider downtown - it needs to include the river and nearby neighborhoods
• We need to celebrate the river - open up the view, develop eateries and businesses along the river. We also need to keep the river plaza that is/was in plan
• Would like downtown businesses and shopping to expand so it is worthwhile for banks to be open on Saturdays.
• Neighborhood associations are important
• We need to develop different types of housing. There are a lot of problems when developers split houses and housing is owned by out of town land owners who are not interested in the community.
• There were concerns that downtown is too concerned with doctors, is too upper-class, only 9-5 with very few late night opportunities and few things for young people to do.
• We need a downtown with things to do for all income levels and age groups. We need some cheaper eateries such as McDonalds.
• We need bike centric transportation and a walker friendly downtown. Downtown needs to be safe for bicycles and pedestrians. We can't use all the downtown space for parking ramps.
• Kutzy Park and other neighborhoods need to be considered downtown
• We need a fun downtown
• There is actually a lot to do downtown but people are not aware of
• The options. We need better marketing and family nights.
• In the new plaza we need a shelter for the band (comment submitted by a musician)
• We need parking downtown
• We need to prioritize the projects and may need to subsidize some of the projects.

Question 3: What are your worries about downtown?

Group 1

• Parking – availability/visibility – where should I park?
• Don’t want to see development spread into single-family residential areas
• Safety, crime, accessibility
• There’s a finite capacity to the number of cars that can be accommodated downtown; there needs to be viable, alternative forms of transportation
• Too many ground level parking lots; e.g., taking down houses to put in parking lots
• It doesn’t sound like planners are listening to requests for retail establishments on the ground floor.
• Afraid there will not be enough money left over for the ‘people places’ (after economic development concerns)
• Rochester appears to ignore the arts; e.g., no coffee cafes
• Concern: Is downtown a real downtown or the Mayo campus?
• We’re so concerned with our ‘image’ that we don’t allow any ‘fun’ or ‘whimsy’ into the picture

Group 2

• Loss of people -- people stop coming
• Route 63 -- a highway right through the middle of it all
• DM&E -- temporarily not a major concern, but may become important again
• Planning groups are not working closely enough together -- Mayo doing their thing, government doing their thing, etc.
• Build it and no one comes
• Urban village is a flop
• Funding isn't there to "do it right" -- will economize to the point of having something not worth having

Group 3

• Safety of residents is a priority. Empty business buildings don’t make people feel safe.
• Some people need to move in directly upon completion.
• Traffic is a problem b/c of people running lights and cars turning late

Group 4

• Safety was probably the number 1 concern (pedestrian, traffic, parking ramp safety, crime, bar safety, gangs, skyways)
• Some bars handle safety better than others. We may need some safety education for downtown businesses
• Concerns about gangs and violence around 3rd Avenue near Super America
• Need more police on bike patrol
• We should start a volunteer skyway host program that could answer questions from people out of town and call the police if there are suspicious circumstances.
• Don't turn our back on the river
• Too little green space. Don't use green space in front of Mayo Civic Center.
• We can't let the urban village concept die.

big thanks to all who came out early on a Saturday morning to learn and converse about downtown. We hope to see you at future Coffee and Conversation gatherings.

Be on the lookout this fall for a follow up forum focused on downtown and the progress that has been made.

Attachment	Size
PartIINicheDevelopment2.04.pdf	242.28 KB
PARTIIIRecommend.pdf	75.68 KB
PARTCompetitAnalysis2.04.pdf	483.95 KB