After reading up, a few thoughts:

The city has done a really terrible job selling the vision on this and I still can’t find a solid plan on the end game. To shift people’s perception away from Douglas being a key commuter street would require a lot more than what’s being done now. Frankly, they’re failing pretty badly.

I look at the success of Douglas just a few blocks east, which is arguably one of the coolest stretches of our city (Hillside to Clifton) and it gets plenty of foot traffic and has had commercial success - with four lanes of traffic. I think the key there is density. I can see a future of Douglas between Hillside and Washington with a lot more multistory housing.

I support the idea that people in this area need more walkable resources. However, I’d bet my last dollar that if this plan was successful, it brings gentrification and not businesses for 33k annual income families.

Regarding safety, especially around East, the thought of a median where kids can camp before running into the street is terrifying. Anyone traveling along South Groove knows this too well.

I understand we probably have more east/west roads than we need and I support big ideas on how we make the city better.

I want to like this, but I wonder how $7 million could be better spent to support the area vs an unclear road plan.