[ERROR] PASS failed!
|
Phone Camera
|
Pic-a-day 12/21/2014  | Pic-a-day 12/20/2014  | Pic-a-day 12/19/2014 day 3  | Pic-a-day 12/18/2014 - day 2 sourdough starter  | Pic-a-day 12/12/2014 first pour of snot  | Pic-a-day 12/08/2014  | Pic-a-day 12/6/2014 nailed it  | Pic-a-day 12/1/2014 back in business  | Pic-a-day 11/29/2014  | Pic-a-day 11/25/2014  |
|
|
BizB
|
|
|
Toledo of the future?
2007-04-24 |
I've given a bit of thought to ways that the City of Toledo could improve the city's self image, encourage people to participate in things that they would normally not do, generate business opportunities and put Toledo on the map - so to speak. Here are my ideas:
North Toledo
The two event locations in North Toledo that set it apart from the rest of the city are not currently associated with each other in any way that I'm aware of. Yet, they're very similar. I'm speaking of Raceway Park and Toledo Speedway. These two very different entertainment venues probably draw totally disparate types of spectators; however, I think they could draw upon each other to increase attendance at both venues. Cooperation between these two businesses in conjunction with the City of Toledo could create a unique corridor on Alexis Road between Telegraph Rd and Benore Rd. See Map
On the south side of Alexis Rd between these two locations, there is (from west to east) a stand of trees, a mobile home park, and a factory of some type. Just to the east of Benore, there's a Wal-Mart store and some chain restaurants.
On the north side, there is a junk yard, a stand of trees, and a small business park.
Just beyond Benore Rd to the east is the I75 interchange. This is rather convenient for people who may want to travel down from Detroit or Monroe, or from parts south of Toledo for an entire day of racing events.
The city could assist with zoning changes, eminent domain to rid the area of the defunct junk yard and incentives for racing related stores to open in the area. NASCAR does have a chain of paraphernalia stores. They could also do some painting of the roads to make them look more race-related. For example, instead of the standard white line at an intersection, they could paint a checkered flag style line. They could re-name that stretch of road to something race related.
If the two businesses were able to come up with some type of schedule that would allow people to attend a race at the speedway in the afternoon and horse races in the evening (or visa versa,) the city could provide TARTA busses to transport people with tickets. The city could also build a path for bikes/walkers from the south side of Raceway Park (Terminal Rd) over to the Toledo Speedway. Or even better, they could build a new road that runs that length and create an altogether new corridor wherein businesses could open.
Currently, both of these businesses are dormant during the coldest months of the year, so there would be a need for some other activity to support the other businesses that depend upon The Race Corridor traffic for survival. I don't know... maybe they could flood the center of the speedway and make it an ice rink? I'm sure they can think of something.
South Toledo
COSI rests on the waterfront downtown and The Toledo Zoo rests just a few miles away in South Toledo. These two attractions are probably the two biggest draws to our fair city - for younger visitors. Schools make field trips to both locations on a regular basis. The Toledo Zoo is world class and it keeps getting better every year. COSI is the only science destination in the area aside from the NASA Glenn Research Center in Sandusky and that's not even a Toledo destination.
Between COSI and The Toledo Zoo, we have one of the nicest stretches of 6-lane divided road in the state. Hell, the lights are even timed to match the speed limit in that stretch of road. It's one of the few places in Toledo where that's the case. Among the businesses along this stretch of the Anthony Wayne Trail (AWT) are, a neon sign store; a cement factory, a lumber yard, a hole-in-the-wall convenience store, a union hall, a couple of run down warehouse looking buildings that house God only knows what and 2 or 3 fast food places. These are hardly what I would consider beautiful.
What I propose is a retail corridor between City Park and Glendale Rd. There is no need to make curb-cuts on the AWT and make traffic flow come to a crawl. I think that with some good planning, some access roads could be constructed between the cross streets (Western, South, Woodsdale, Glendale) that would lead to restaurants, shops and perhaps something as zany as a water park. Imagine a long stretch of retail outlets and restaurants connected via an access road, or a trolley that runs all the way from COSI downtown to the zoo - right down the center of the AWT - with stops along the route. Crosswalks leading to the stores would connect the trolley stops to the retail areas. The stores could all face the AWT with parking on the back side of the stores. Open air walkways every 3rd or 4th store connect the parking area with the store-fronts.
That's all I have for now. I just wanted to get these out of my head so that they are written down and i can add to them later. If you have any comments or things that you think would improve my ideas, please tell me. |
|
|
|
Betty Boop Wed Apr 25 12:36:46 PM 
BizB Wed Apr 25 12:08:54 PM 
BigBro Wed Apr 25 12:06:29 PM 
sopops Wed Apr 25 09:32:48 AM