We are learning so much about Central Avenue. It helps to get an outside perspective.
ReZone Albany and the City of Albany Planning Department is hosting a three-day visioning, zoning and form-based code workshop that focuses on the area around Central Avenue and Manning Square. The city has hired Dover, Kohl & Partners to help guide the process. This Central Avenue / Manning Sq. Design Workshop is a follow-up to the Warehouse District Design Workshop that took place in May. Ultimately feedback from these workshops will be used to inform the city's rezoning process.
The Central Avenue design workshop sessions included public meetings, tours of the area, meetings with property and business owners and stakeholders. The series will culminate in a presentation tonight at 6pm at The Linda, WAMC's Performing Arts Studio. The Central Avenue Business Improvement District is co-sponsoring the design workshop.
Over the course of the last two days, we've heard from residents, business owners, and stakeholders. Here are some of the big ideas that are coming out of these sessions, and some of the surprising takeaways:
"I was impressed with the focus on transit and the vision for a more attractive and sustainable cityscape for Albany's midtown area," says Seth Rosenblum, CEO of the Rosenblum Companies.
The sessions revealed that Central Avenue is one of Albany's busiest transit corridors, hosting 25% of CDTA's 17 million riders. Another surprising fact? The significant investments that have been made in CDTA's Bus Rapid Transit system on Central Avenue have served to boost ridership significantly--which means that dollars invested are paying off!
"I was surprised at how much synergy exists at Manning Square. It is the convergence of several neighborhoods, a business district, and a major park -- all along a mass transit route," says Darren Scott, Director of Planning and Development at Albany Housing Authority. "The possibilities for placemaking are endless and would bring cohesion, a sense of identity and purposeful investment to that part of the city."
Scott went on to say that the Albany Housing Authority is "willing to partner with anyone interested in making a common vision for Manning Square a reality."
Manning Square is right on the edge of Swinburne Park, and just down the street from Bleecker Stadium. It's commuting distance from several major employers, and right in the middle of the Albany community. The consultants are exploring what the addition of mixed use development could do here, and what some connectivity to the park might bring.
"I was most surprised by all of the amenities that are so easily accessible from Central and how beneficial the CDTA line is to the area," says Lisa Crompton, Architectural Warehouse Marketing Specialist & Technical Services Coordinator at Historic Albany Foundation. "It was great to see how different parts of the neighborhood relate laid out on map. Central is very linear but it has a lot of offshoots that represent numerous neighborhoods throughout the city."
- Road Diet on Central Avenue
- Enhance park visibility and access -- better sightlines to two big parks
- Centralize parking -- eliminate some of the surface lots
- Get the Delaware Avenue treatment for the street ( lights, trees, pedestrian amenities)
- Break up blocks - extend Erie north through the big block to the park
- Redesign the triangle at Manning and Central to create more of a gateway and green space
- Build additional housing for working class people in place of parking lots and vacant space
- Fix facades and plant trees
- Calm traffic and make this area safer for pedestrians
For more information, please attend tonight's final presentation at 6pm at The Linda, 339 Central Avenue, Albany. www.rezonealbany.com
