Mine is the minority opinion around here on the Marion Street mall. I’m opposed to restreeting on several levels-not least of which is the word itself, which sounds as if it came from the Pentagon (restreeting with extreme prejudice).
First and foremost, a lot of people in town (me included) like the mall and think it adds to what little charm exists in downtown Oak Park. The number one rule in my municipal governance handbook (I haven’t, admittedly, gotten around to writing it yet) is when a lot of people like something, you should have a very good reason-no, a compelling reason-to change it. Most of the reasons for restreeting are weak. They range from well, we have to do something downtown to relieving traffic congestion to-and I still haven’t quite digested this one yet-attracting more customers by the excitement of seeing parked cars in front of shops.
This isn’t exactly what I would call “visionary.”
The reasoning seems backward. We’re tearing up the Marion Street mall in order to improve the rest of downtown development. Instead, the development of downtown should benefit the Marion Street mall. Rather than spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to “restreet” it, think how that funding could be used to upgrade the mall.
Well, that’s the problem. The people driving development around here since the late 1990s are not creative thinkers. Here’s the best they could come up with after all the consultants and all the community input: Put in two lanes of traffic and cars parked on either side.
Not exactly what you’d call “innovative.”
So let’s say we go along with the apparent groundswell and agree that we have to shake everything up downtown in order to make it work. Why not start with mauling the mall? OK, but there are alternatives to two-way traffic with parking lanes on either side. Since whatever traffic relief might result from adding a one-block-long street is bound to be minimal at best, why not make the street one-way, which at least preserves a little more sidewalk for pedestrians-who are, after all, the big losers in all this.
Or, if you’re just trying to give cars another entry point to the still-hypothetical North Boulevard parking garage, why not open the southern half of the mall, turning west onto Westgate, and leave the north half of the mall “unstreeted” as a community gathering place? You’ve got two restaurants flanking that end of the mall at Lake Street and a nice little village green where the Sawyer Business College used to be. With a little creativity (that word again) who knows what a decent planner might devise?
It’s hard to escape the conclusion that those making this decision are acting a little desperately, and that in turn they’re being pressured by commercial interests who are excessively jittery. That’s how bad decisions are made in towns like ours. What we’re settling for is a “solution” devoid of creativity promising limited benefits.
And the bottom line is: Oak Park loses more charm. Well, charm obviously isn’t the bottom line for those making or supporting this decision. The ultimate irony is that the Marion Street merchant who pushed hardest for this change (Spaulding’s for Men) has already closed shop.
It’s reassuring that the defenders of the mall are beginning to make themselves heard even though it’s probably too little, too late. But late is better than never. With the sitdown portion of Petersen’s closing, we’re on a charm losing streak. The least we can do is howl a little.
I wonder how many years it will be before village hall proposes “remalling” Marion Street.