Mission
The mission of Destination Midtown is to create a premier urban environment where people want to live, work, shop and play.
Vision
The vision of Destination Midtown is to establish a nationally-known, vibrant and distinct urban environment that promotes economic development activities, advances neighborhood goals and forges unique partnerships.
Initiatives
From the fall of 2001 through the spring of 2004, participants in the Destination Midtown Study volunteered scores of ideas and recommendations. These were carefully refined by the steering committee into 101 programs for action categorized by neighborhood issues, transportation enhancements and central corridor design programs and parks and open space opportunities.
Each of the programs within these categories holds special importance for the future of Midtown. However, the steering committee believed that several were worth emphasizing and identified the following as the top priorities:
Economic Development
- Enhance the mixed-use neighborhood business districts within Midtown
- Enhance the corridors connecting the neighborhood business districts and adjacent neighborhoods
- Encourage rehabilitation and redevelopment by initiating appropriate discussions to encourage favorable tax treatment for significant investments
- Establish corridor and district design guidelines
Neighborhood Development
- Strengthen and enhance the Midtown Neighborhood Alliance
- Initiate “down zoning” within appropriate neighborhood settings
- Continue establishing community policing within the area
- Enhance code enforcement within Midtown
Transportation/Corridor Improvement
- Explore the feasibility of relocating the Dodge Street to Douglas Street “S” curve to the east and converting Farnam Street and Harney Street back to two-way traffic
- Explore the feasibility of major reconstruction to Dodge Street and Saddle Creek Road
- Initiate discussions about enhancing the public transit system to include extension of the retro bus circulator routes into Midtown and/or establishing a streetcar line linking Midtown with adjacent areas.
Put into Action/Realize the Vision
- Establish a Midtown Development Corporation to coordinate development activities within Midtown. This aspect was deemed of utmost importance to the Destination Midtown Steering Committee. It represents the future and how this plan will continue once the initial process has been completed.
In the fall of 2004, the Destination Midtown Board was formed and a fund was created to support the operational costs of formalizing the organization and hiring an executive director to implement the vision.
Today, Destination Midtown is advancing the goals and objectives of the plan and supporting private and nonprofit development in the area to revitalize Midtown.
Download Destination Midtown's Master Plan. (note: file size is 80mb)
