Editor’s note: This is the second in a three-part series examining selected topics of General Growth Properties Inc.’s plan to redevelop downtown Columbia. Next week, The Examiner will explore the plan’s effort to create a sustainable environment using green technology, nature, a central park and outdoor spaces.
Few would argue the benefits of General Growth Properties Inc.’s plans to create a more vibrant Town Center: more businesses, exciting entertainment options and better food choices.
However, some have been concerned that automobile traffic will increase as more people come to use the pathways and sidewalks that connect the five proposed neighborhoods to reach the new amenities in downtown Columbia.
GGP responded to these concerns with a plan to balance traffic, pedestrians, transit and parking.
The developer plans to push for a “connected network of local, collector and arterial streets; existing, new and improved transit facilities and services; a network of sidewalks, on-street bike lanes; and off-street pedestrian/bike paths and trails,” according to the proposal.
Sharonlee Vogel, a member of the county’s Transportation Board and president of Transportation Advocates, a community group, praised this initiative but cautioned that it was only that — a plan.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen in five years, let along five months,” she said.
If Columbia is going to be more than a suburb of Baltimore and Washington, D.C., it needs to be a city and destination, and that, consequently, means more activity, Vogel said.
Columbia’s car-centric culture ingrained in many residents’ minds needs to change if Town Center is to become more vibrant, said Jud Malone, president of Columbia Tomorrow, a new group advocating for change in Columbia.
“You have to treat the pedestrian as if they’re just as important as the automobile,” he said.
“Density is a great amenity, because it enables more business and more entertainment. And if you allow people to live downtown, then you further reduce the need for someone to drive.”
GGP proposed about 5,500 new residential units in Town Center.
GGP supports constructing multilevel parking garages, instead of large open surface parking lots.
Malone said the plan exceeded expectations.
“At the beginning, many of us just hoped for more attention to walkability, something more than a mall for downtown activity, and something better than gray parking lots,” he said.
