Introduction

iJowntoHn Toledo now has the opportunity to cOMplete a comprehensive plan

\:llicll should give it the physical and environmental guide-lines for the next
iii'll f century. ilopefully, it will also have the opportunity to irr.plePlent these
plans over the course of the next several year!:>.

The Central City General i~eighborhood Renewal Plan (GNRP), whicll is the
prelude to rebuilding the central area, is now beinr prepared by some of the
Country'!:> finest consultants under the guidance of the Toledo urban Renewal
Agency. (1ver the past several weeks the Downtown Toledo Associates has arran?,ed
presentations of a "sketch plan" (3 broad-brush concept) of the central area to
several groups of businessmen vitally interested in the central business district.
T~le "sketch plan" is a first look at what city officials and the various con­
sultants on the planning team think should be done. This plan enabled tile City
Council to make certain immediate decisions on matters of vit::!l concern. such as
tlte placement of the Downtown Distributor and the choice of the Convention Cellter
site.

The next few \-leeks will be a period of great study and rev1sHm. based on
comT:1ents from those who vlill see the "sketch plan" and additional infonldtion
which comes to light during the ancillary studies. The final product ,.rill i)e ;)
plan of action, a blueprint of final development and revitalization of the
central business district (CBD).

The C13D is a complex organism--there are a myriad of variables with whicll

the ~'lanners must deal. In order for you to understand what the plallnin~ team is
seel\.in !~ to achieve, this brochure, illustrClting some of the applicable principles,
has been prepared. The goal sought is the balancin~ of the various principles to
permit the best overall plan for the redevelopment of Toledo's CbD.

DTA committees will be working in concert with the Toledo Urban R.enewa1
officials, the Plan Commission, and the GNRP consultants on the refiner.1ents and
su~gested improvements for the next several weeks. The DTA and the Urban Renewal
office llopes that this brochure will aid you in better understanding the tilinking
which is necessary to the development of the ultimate planning. Naturally, the
successful completion of this plan is in the hands of you, the citizens of Toledo.

Your comments and/or suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Call or

write the DTA or Urban Renewal Office.
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 ACCES S

Getting people and goods to the central area is one of the most important
goals which mus t be achieved to develop a s uccessful Central Business Dis trict.
The guiding principle which is used in planning the central area is to provide
eff icien t and direct vehicular access to the central ~ from all parts of the
re gi on . In developing t his proposal we will also try to (1) avOTO routing
t hrough-traf f ic ~ downtown streets, (2) develop ~ distribution ring route to
spread the vehicles entering the central ~ ~~ong ~ several entrances (3)
develop connections between the ring route and major thoroughfares ~ the corners
.!:.£ di s courage through-traffic !!.2!. driving into the center of the CliD.
It is desirable to separate the several different types of traffic present
in any system. The Key principles of cnD access planning are: Do not mix
diff erent types of traff ic; provide bypass routes for throug h traffic; provide
a CliD distributor sy"s-tem; provide corner access to the distributor system _ and,
provide connections to existing street pattern. There must always be connections
between major elements of the system.

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ACCESS
CONNECTIONS WITHH AND BETWEEN DISTRICTS

Groups of activities should be arranged and connected so as to promote

conveni ent movement of pedestrians and, where appropriate, goods and s ervi ces
wi t hin and between them.

Connections in the cent r al area are of f our types: (1) Between e stablishments,
(2) Between dif f erent functional elements in the area, as in the case \.;here employees
also become shoppers, (3) For many services requirin~ easy coverage of t he cent ral
area (professional activities, office equipment servicing, etc.), (4) Bet\.;een
central area activities and transportation terminals, including parking f acilities.

Important connections should be established by the arrangement of land uses.

~ coordinated system ~ pedestrianways at-and above-grade, an expanded system of
pedestrian arcades through blocks shou~d be developed. A third obj ective in
arranging connections· is the development of complementary activities in a vertical
direction, connected by elevators, escalators and ramps, to reduce time and dis­
tance. It is very important that not only persons and vehicles have good con­
nections but that there be a development of systems for distributing goods and
equipment, from a single loading area, if possible.

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 COHPACTNESS OF DEVELOPMENT

In line with the idea of physical continuity f or par ticular types of

busine ss is the idea of compactnes s of deve lopment. Funct ional dis trict s and
special gr oups .~.( a ctivi t i es s houl d be arranged ~ developed ~ comp act,
integral parts .£i the central ~.

To achie ve compactness in t he central area it is des i rable t o (1)

encourage ~ high overall density within the main retail and of fi ce districts.
This is the area in which the need for efficient communication and personal
contact is greatest, (2) hold the scale of the main retail district so t hat it
does not exceed desirable pedeStrian walking distances, (3) hold the s cale of
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the main office and service district to one-half mile on a side, (4) ~
substantially lower densities outside ~~ retail ~ office dis t r i cts ex­
cept in specific loca~.ions, (5) ~ compactness.!!!. .!. design technique to
highlight special open' spaces and (6) achieve control of compactness chie fl y
t hrough the use of permissive zoning and floor ~ ratio controls.

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 LAND US E ( COHPATIiH LlTY AN D CilllU LATlVE ATT RACTION )

Indivi du al land- us e activities s hou ld be grouped t og ether i n re lation !.Q.

t heir compatibi lity. The y wi l l f orm a number of r elate d but distinct districts ­
each with i ts own spe c ia l environmen tal and bui l di ng needs. In g rou pinp. the
uses o r ac t i vi ti es t he princi ple of cumulat ive att rac t ion is als o important.
Two a c ti viti es t h a t are compati ble wi l l do bet t er s i de £2 side, oth er t hings
being equal.

In developing a plan to organize the various land use acti vi t i es at le as t

three a rrangeme nt s are possible: (1) Re lated act ivities could be arran ged to­
'!etllcr in compact groups clearly separated fr om each other. (To a degree th is
i s a natural condition), (2) Activities could be mixed with little regard to
gro uping t hose with c ommon characteristics or (3) The distinction c an be made
be tween activities which function best when grouped and those which functi on
be s t when disp e rsed, an d a plan be devel oped to acconunodate each.

TIle devel opment of the "best" plan should be gui ded by the several s t ate­
ments which f ollow: .(1) dis tinction shoul;d be made between those a ctivit ie s
which function best when groupe d and those which f unction best whe n in dis­
pe rs e d locations , (2) broad groupings £f compatib le activities should ~
a chieved ~ controlled by some sort of permissive zoni ng or planne d area
development, ( f or example, the main retail district), (3) Smaller grouoings
wh ich cannot be directly controlled should E!:. encouraged through lan d ac­
qui sit i on, and coordinated de velopment. (4) Special attention should be
Given t o maintaining physica l continuity between mutually supporting act i vit i es
( fo r examp le , retail store f ronts should not be interrupted by office, chu rch,
parking or other non-sh op ping activities)-.--

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LAND liSE
 PA RKIN G

Once a pe r son has ent e r ed the CBD. parking be com~s a par t o f the overall
devel opment conce p t. Parking f aci l i t i e s in ~ central ~ shou l d be located.
designe d ~ price d .E!!. ~ f our dis t in ct ~ .£i daily ~. Each of these
types of parking has s everal cri t er i on whi ch guide the deve l opment of that , type
of parking . '

Long term parking: l oca ted at the perip he ry of the area. concentrated in
lar ge f acilities. in direct contact with maj or vehic l e en t ry poin t s ; dis­
tributed accordi n g to ma jor di rect ions of f l ow . and be e 6sential l y se lf
supporting at relatively low cost to the user.

Employee parkins for executi ves and others requiring the mid-day use of
their cars should be: convenient for the users even to the exten t o f being
within the building. limited in quanti t y. of sufficiently hi gh fee t o meet
the relatively high cost of deve l opmen t .

Short term or patron parking should ' be: ( 1) conveniently located in rela tion
to t he downtown areas they s e rve - even t o t he extent of ha vi n ~ di r e ct ac ce s s
to p laces of business. (2) moderate in ~ and related!£ the abi lit y Q[~­
hicles 1£ arrive ~ depart. (3) developed under ~ moderate fee s ch e du le wit h
subsidization as a possibility, (4) regulate d 1Q control the leng th .£i t i me
parked using the rate structure.

Errand parking or high turnover facilities ( especially to replace curb

parking) should: be widely distributed in the area. be sma ll in size an d , have
a rate structure which rigidly controls the length of stay (medium ini t ial
rate but high increments beyond initial time period).

Gene ral l y on-s t reet parking should not be permitted. All p arkinp. faci l ities
s hou l d be designed for self -parking. Parking &8 a land use should not con r lic t
with the con t i nuity of other lan d use patterns.

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PAR KING
 PUBLIC TRANSIT

As a part of the access and circulation systems public transit should play
an important role. The desire to drive an individual automobile to the central
area is great. However, to better achieve the goals of downtown development an
ef fi cient public transit sys'tem must be developed.

Efficient, convenient, and comfortable public transit must be maintained as

an essential element of the transportation system, providing access to and
circulation within the central area.

The suggested goals which will aid transit service and its use to and within
the central area include: maximum accommodation ~ employee trips by transit to
effectively reduce peak-hour vehicular traffic, special design features in streets
1£ accommodate surface transit vehiclesi (transit malls, transit lanes, special
ramps), transit facilities should serve '~ their own distributors ££ passengers
££ eliminate transfers, the focusing of all lines on a small, readily identi­
fiable area where access to all or most of the system can be readily and naturally
found (e.g. a transit mall on Superior Street a place where All lines move in
one direction or the other.) and land uses should be located to capitalize on
transit as well as maximize the market for transit.

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PU BLIC T~ANSPOIZ.TATIO
 CIRCULATION

The first principle enunciated was access. Companion to access is circu­

lation. I f the assumption is made that the vehicular traffic which finally
enters t he CBD is f ree of vehicles which only use the streets there 8S a
"short cut" we can then deal with the CBD destined vehicles as a part of the
cen tral area system. At this time we put into this system the other elements,
namely, pedestrians, service vehicles and transit vehicles. The basic principle
of central circulation is that the system should provide ~ of movement within
~ central !!!! and should minimize conflicts between different forms £i movement
s uch ~ pedestrians, automobiles, transit vehicles and service vehicles.

In developing a circulation system the following are also desirable attributes

and ~ be developed as a part of t he system. There should be in the circu­
lation system: directness to avoid round-about travel, ~ consistent pattern when
intermixing one and two-way streets, the ability to circulate around those blocks
which are high traffic generators, separation as much as possible of the routes
used by various types of traf f i c, e .g. second level walkways, transit streets,
underground delivery, ~ parking on any major transportation elements, and
emergency vehicle access to all parts of the central area.

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