A Downtown with Human Scale?

An excellent letter to the editor in the SHT today. The author talks about "human scale" development. Examples in St Pete and West Palm Beach are cited. Sarasota, on the other hand keeps planning higher and higher structures such as the newly announced 15 story building at 1740 Main.

Sarasota has always been a city with a small town look and feel. True, we have our hi-rise condos along a portion of the bayfront. But in general the small town atmosphere has been retained and that is the what draws us here.

What will be lost if we keep listening to the pitch of the developers for higher and higher buildings? Is a view of concrete and steel and glass what we want? Stretching to a faint glimpse of blue sky? Do we want to see sunshine for 15 minutes a day as the sun passes from the back of one skyscraper to the back of the one across the street? Do we want a downtown devoid of trees, plants and flowers (except under grow lights)?

Without a vision of what downtown Sarasota could be, without a vision of an excellent, walkable, human scale dowtown Sarasota, we are left with the pitches of the developers. The developers package their pitch in fantasy looking drawings designed to sway the viewer to buy into their vision. Lacking a vision of our own, the elected officials then make a decision, yea or nay, on the proposal. Since no developer will come to us with a human scale design that attempts to relate to our sense of place, we never get the chance to move in this direction.

A solution? Our elected officials must work hard to determine what the residents want in our city. Yes, we have determined that a walkable downtown is what we want (Duany Master Plan and Code) and that we want some growth so that downtown is a lively place. Save Our Sarasota believes that we also want excellent streetscape, human scale, light, air, open spaces and unique shops and restaurants - like we now have.

This starts with the vision. Do our elected officials share this vision? Will we save what is unique and special about Sarasota or will we rapidly become a city of hi-rise canyons from curb to curb? We hope that all of Sarasota's residents make their views known.

If you would like to become part of our organization, send an e-mail to saveoursarasota-info@verizon.net Help us develop a vision for Sarasota that we can all live with.