Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Council Supports Banks

All Nine voted in a joint subcommittee meeting to support the Banks plan. An assumed formality vote in a full council session is expected later in the week.

It appears like something is going to happen. I'm still foggy on the details. If they are out there, I've not seen them blanketed around for all to read. I'm worried about its success. It still appears to me that all of the political leaders are missing something about development of any area in and around Downtown: you need people to live there. Residency is the key to the Banks, to Fountain Square and to OTR. If you don't make it easy and attractive to live in Downtown, then these new projects will not make it.

I also see the double edge of the Banks. I hope everyone understand what the Banks is going to be: a play ground for the suburbanites. What they want is a place to play before and after the game. That is what is driving the Banks. Sure, it exists now in Downtown or over in Covington/Newport, but people are actually that lazy as to want it within yards of the stadium.

I think the Banks in concept is good idea, what I hope people don't do is see it as anything more than a loss leader. It is the way to give people a taste of the City, but what will make everything work is having thousands of new residents in Downtown and OTR. That will bring the retail everyone clamors for. It takes people to build a city, not an ESPN Zone. When I hear John Cranley joking about drinking beer in a big national chain restaurant, all I can think of is McMain Street.

What the city needs to attract now are two thing: residents and employers who like having residents live near by.

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