Most of us know the cozy strip of downtown Auburn to be the core of this city. College Street and Magnolia Avenue mirror the University with the city.
Thousands of Auburn students, residents and visitors walk the sidewalks and drive the streets of the downtown area. It's home to most of us, whether it be where we go for dinner, out for entertainment, to get to school or to the stadium. Auburn's downtown epitomizes the approachable, yet exciting, environment all Tigers know and love.
This is a fact the city of Auburn understands completely, and only hopes to improve.
The city held a public meeting in the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center Wednesday, Aug. 28 at 6 p.m. so Auburn residents were able to give input on what is referred to as the "Downtown Master Plan."
The city of Auburn realizes the best and most fitting people to make the decisions regarding what should be renovated downtown, and what it should look like, are the people who frequent our downtown area in their everyday lives.
The plan aims to revitalize the downtown area. The area's proximity has not expanded since the 1940s, so the city is aiming to adequately utilize the space by renovating some of the more dilapidated buildings and structures.
"What we're trying to zero in on is some things aesthetically that we can do better," said Forrest Cotton, Auburn's planning director. "I think streetscape and talking about expanding into some of these areas and making some actual infrastructure improvements to really show people that we aren't just on paper expanding downtown, this is what we want downtown to feel like."
The presentation included an explanation of the issues and potential developments, allowed for community input and held workshops for more personal communication.
Residents in attendance ranged from those who have been living in Auburn for 30 years to those living here for less than two years.
"It shows how interested and in-tune the Auburn citizens are," City Manager Charles Duggan said. "They care about what the future is going to be. They want to have a hand in shaping that and we're welcoming it. We want people to come tell us what they like and don't like. Their input is going to be vital to what the final recommendations are going to be."
Bob Begle of Urban Collage conducted the meeting as principal designer. Urban Collage is a planning and design company based in Atlanta and established in 1997.
Urban Collage's research in Auburn began in June, and with the first phase nearly complete, it intends to move into the second phase of designing and drafting, which will include another public meeting.
The last phase will accept community feedback and focus on implementation.
"This is a downtown that doesn't have a lot of vacant lots, doesn't have a lot of vacant store fronts, but it still could be an even better version of itself," Begle said. "That's what we are interested to hear what people think that better version could be."
Urban Collage suggested the new downtown feature a modern grocery store, more fine dining, family-oriented retail and more entertainment such as nightlife options and a movie theater.
"At the end of the day we want to make sure we get the quality the citizens of Auburn want to see in their downtown," Duggan said. "We want a welcoming destination. We don't want just a place people drive through. We want people to come, have a great time, bring their families and when they leave think, 'I want to go back there.'"
The city has yet to assign a budget, but Duggan said the process would need to be completed before they can make an estimate. At this point, puts completion at 2030.
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