Just as Bradenton starts to shine as a city the current city council looks at ruining the waterfront with another oversized bland condo with empty retail space to match the parking garage empty spaces. Where is the vision for a unique, livable downtown? Where are the plans to fill and enhance the half-empty downtown retail space?
Why are we adding to the parking problem on the waterfront? Citizens can’t have a place to park to enjoy the Riverwalk.
Why have council members given up on trashing city hall?
The downtown in great cities clusters public buildings together. Council members in short
pants think spreading public development aids business attraction. Clustering things together is what research by Harvard shows.
The main city library in most cities is the center of community life. New libraries are architectural highlights in a town. The library on the water should offer citizens views of their river. Why spend all the money to fix and upgrade the library and then tear it down?
The city wants to increase its tax base while ruining the public nature of the waterfront space. Focus instead on getting the waterfront developed all along the new Riverwalk. Endless land is available there without costly destruction.
Ask yourself why Riverwalk development has been snail pace slow. Could the answer be the city's slowness with building permits? The answer is not super high-rise condos blocking the sun on the Riverwalk and more cars.
Finish getting tenants all down Main Street and around the courthouse before building more condos.
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