URBAN MATTERS:  Downtown Petoskey; a Sense of Place.

Recently I visited Petoskey, Michigan and was impressed with its “sense of place”.  Petoskey has arguably the classic American downtown.  This “sense of place” downtown how did it happen?  What are some of the things that make downtown Petoskey so iconic, and that truly creates a “sense of place”?

1. A destination; not a drive-thru:  Petoskey, MI has Highway 31 skirt the downtown, just underneath, so there is no traffic pressure to go thru the downtown.  People driving to downtown are going there as a destination.  
   
   In our particular circumstance, Sault Ste. Marie downtown, a balance has to be made to prioritize downtown as a destination and not a drive-thru.  This is going to be difficult because there is no bypass, and many of the streets have been made one way.   It is unclear if the preferred City Planning design recommendation will solve this problem as it is presented. 
   
   
2. Unique Street Design:  I love the centre street boulevards of downtown Petoskey.  The Petoskey downtown streets have a central boulevard that is lined with trees.  The sidewalks on each side of the street are also lined with trees.  Walking the downtown streets feels like you are walking under a canopy of trees.  The centre boulevard with the trees, the narrow traffic lanes on each side and the reduced speed limit calm the traffic and traffic noise. 
   

This unique street design with the centre boulevards of trees, is by design, a creation of a “sense of place” that is unique to Petoskey and the area.  It also builds on the success of the “tunnel of trees” tourism route from Cross Village to Petoskey, on Highway 119. 

3. Building Architecture, Local Business and Artisanal Shops:  The downtown building architecture is maintained to a good standard.  There are no boarded, blighted houses and buildings; this would never be tolerated by Petoskey’s building standards.  There is a variety of businesses in the downtown core, with an abundance of artisanal shops, restaurants, bars, micro-breweries, and cafes all catering to a very successful tourism trade.
   

Our City has allowed boarded, blighted buildings downtown and boarded, blighted houses in the surrounding neighbourhood for decades.  This has created a negative “sense of place” where people do not want to go.  Removing all boarded-up, blighted buildings and houses downtown should have been priority number one. 

4. Sherman Park, downtown Petoskey, is a linear park of green space and mature trees.  It is a linear park that is highly people programmed with art in the park, physical fitness, kids programs, theatre, etc.  Sherman Park is flexible in its uses and serves as a great place to have that picnic, to go lunch or dinner. 
   
   I am having a very difficult time understanding why we asphalt paved an entire plaza and painted squiggly lines on it.  How is that going to create a “sense of place”?
   
   
5. Pedestrian-Friendly Street Design:  In downtown Petoskey every inch of sidewalk, storefront space is given up to on-street parking.  On-street parking is a priority over sidewalk and sidewalk patio space.  Sidewalk space is very tight and priority is given to the customers driving the Navigators and the Escalades; because they are the ones paying for the summer vacation rentals, restaurant cheques, bar and micro-brewery tabs, artisan shop gifts, etc. 
   
   No downtown bike or micro-mobility corridor here; nothing is perfect I guess.
   
   
6. Safety, Security and Social Issues:  In the thirty years that I have visited Petoskey, I have always felt safe.  For whatever reason, and I am sure there are many, the social issues that blight our downtown, are not visible in their downtown; at least I cannot see them. 
   
   We cannot allow this insane criminality to continue on our downtown streets; because it is devastating to the downtown and creates a negative “sense of place”.
   

After spending fifteen (15) million dollars on the downtown plaza project and a forecast expenditure of at least twenty (20) million dollars on the Queen Street redevelopment; will we accomplish that elusive “sense of place” for our downtown?

I would like to copy an urban planning design lesson from Petoskey, Michigan and suggest that we consider putting in a central tree boulevard.  This proposal will call for the creation of a centre boulevard of trees; and will require moving all north side on-street parking to the south side of Queen Street. 

Installing the tree boulevard on the north side of Queen Street will create linear tree canopy; a unique “sense of place” for customers to frequent Queen Street businesses, restaurants and micro-breweries.  It will serve as a linear park to incentivize the creation of downtown residential apartment buildings thru effective place-making programs and strategies.

I believe this “Centre Tree Boulevard” proposal is unique enough to create that “sense of place” for downtown Queen Street, get people living back downtown, and also meet the needs and wants of all Queen Street proponents.

Mark Menean URBAN MATTERS:

Thank you:   Downtown Petoskey