6.4 Consider Adoption of Downtown Plan Update

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In the historical parts of Pequot Lakes,the public realm was scaled and the buildings placed with the intention of creating this sense-of-place.This would not have been a special design criteria—it was simply the standard approach for the period. Pequot Lakes was still a very small town as the transition was made to a design based on _ accommodating the automobile.This . vir cut short the maturing process of ORUC STORE Pequot's original development u �- pattern. If we are to reactivate these I areas, it is important to understand �' " how a historical neighborhood grows and evolves over time. sim 114 res t:P\\-.\ . QE_..0 C^\\\\. \L1 Evolution of an Historical Neighborhood The underlying economics of the development pattern of most small towns today differs greatly from the assumptions of the traditional development pattern they were founded upon. As opposed to horizontal growth—which is very expensive to maintain—the underlying economics of the traditional small town was based on the concepts of infill and vertical growth.This was how capital investments were paid for and major infrastructure was maintained over time. A neighborhood established on a traditional grid would initially have modest private-sector investments. Originally these would not even be served by public utilities. Over time, new development would fill in between these modest investments.With each new building, the public realm would become more complete and, based on the established pattern, more valuable. In successful neighborhoods—those that attracted more private-sector investment demand than could be sustained with infill—there would begin to be redevelopment pressure. Over time, structures would be torn down and replaced with structures of higher value. The neighborhood would continue to mature on the same grid framework.While a small town context would preclude the construction of skyscrapers and other very intense development, mature small-town neighborhoods have a mix of uses(residential and commercial)that together create places of high value.These neighborhoods would surround a central core whose value was based on its proximity and access to the surrounding neighborhoods. In Pequot Lakes,as in most small towns in the United States that were founded in the railroad era,the natural evolution of places on the traditional development pattern has been disrupted by the great American experiment of suburbanization. Financially,this has left both the traditional neighborhoods Pequot Lakes Downtown Plan—Updated July, 2022 5