NUREMBERG, Germany — Let’s think way, way, way outside the box for a moment … or maybe two.
Amarillo is trying to redesign, reconfigure and reinvent its downtown business district. City political and civic leaders have this idea of turning it into something of an entertainment district keyed in part to a couple of venues: the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts and the to-be-built multipurpose event venue.
The thought occurred to me today while strolling through a much older city than Amarillo: Why not try something really radical, something that has met with some success in a place such as, oh, Nuremberg?
This city known as much for a series of trials that occurred here after World War II as it is for its astounding beauty and ambience has developed a pedestrian area that is full of people on foot.
No cars allowed along many city blocks within this area. It’s, um, pretty damn quiet during the peak business hours. The serenity is almost palpable.
I haven’t even begun to think how Amarillo might pull this off. How does the city cordon off, say, Polk Street from 11th Avenue to 5th Avenue, turning it into essentially a pedestrian mall? What kind of storefronts would be developed there? Eateries, craft shops, after-hours watering holes? Where would we allow people to park their vehicles?
Ideas pop into my noggin constantly. They have done so here as my wife and I are enjoying time with friends.
I know what many of you are thinking. How does Amarillo pull something like that off? How do we ask Texans who love their pickups, SUVs and assorted gas-guzzlers to park their vehicles outside this zone?
I must assure you that Germans love heir motor vehicles, too. Trust me when I tell you that traveling along the no-speed-limit autobahn is a unique kind of “thrill.” Yes, it’s an acquired taste to be zipping along at roughly 80 mph only to passed as though we’re standing still by motorcyclists and automobiles going — oh, I don’t know — 110 or 120 mph!
“You get used to it,” my friend Martin told us. I asked about the speed of motor traffic and he thought I was unnerved to the point f wanting off the autobahn. “Do you want me to get off?” he asked. “No, it’s OK,” I said.
Still, the Germans here manage to park their cars and ride the train into this shopping and eating district. They manage to enjoy themselves just fine.
Do we impose a never-drive zone that it’s in effect 24/7?
Do we make it an after-hours zone, say, from 5 p.m. until 2 a.m. daily?
I don’t know. I’m just tossing this one out there for you to consider.
If I’m all wet, full of buffalo bagels, living in a pipe-dream world, well, you are welcome to tell me so.
However, I am not yet willing to toss aside any ideas for what I believe can lead to an even better downtown district for Amarillo, a city I’ve grown to love.