Final Progress Advisory Panel Report - Knight Program in ...

The Progress Advisory Panel’s Recommendations:
The Duluth Creative Corridor
Duluth has done what too few communities do: Turn a plan (the
2005 charrette plan) into reality. That is all the more significant
because much of the progress occurred during tough economic
times – a testimony to strong public and private leadership and
a deep commitment to and faith in the city’s future. The catalyst
for the next push forward and new round of investments is the
creation of the Duluth Creative Corridor.
The corridor connects the institutional campuses and neighborhoods
to the downtown and waterfront areas physically, visually,
psychologically, economically, and from a branding/marketing
perspective. It focuses on:
“What has been accomplished in only
six years is amazing. That amount
of progress in many places takes 25
years. That is a testament to the strong
leadership and level of civic mindedness.
The foundation and momentum are in
place for moving forward.”
The Progress Advisory Panel
• Recognizing the many existing creative people, institutions, and
enterprises within the corridor, new ways to connect them, and
strategies to attract even more of them.
• Concentrating new growth and investment in key strategic
nodes at neighborhood centers and along key corridors, as
called for in Duluth’s 2006 Comprehensive Land Use Plan and
the new Unified Development Code, adopted in 2010
• Enhancing the public realm with art, Complete Streets, and
improved connectivity, including places where there are already
great walkable urban neighborhoods and the streets that connect
them.
The Duluth Creative Corridor (in yellow above) includes an
urban living area that connects the downtown and waterfront
with the Hillside campuses and arts and entertainment nodes
along the corridor. A branded, high quality transit line (denoted
in red, above) connects the District and major destinations
(yellow circles above) within it.
• Developing the strategies that will create a variety of urban living
options where owning and driving a car are convenient and affordable options rather than necessities.
That requires ensuring that a full range of multi-modal transit options are conveniently accessible and, beginning
in this district, designed and maintained to be reliable, safe, comfortable, dignified, and convenient.
The Duluth Creative Corridor concept builds on and furthers the exceptional progress to date and provides
the framework for addressing the next set of challenges while capitalizing on new opportunities. It also serves
as the context for the panel’s recommendations. The recommendations were the result of an advisory panel
process that involved considerable pre-visit homework, careful listening, and on-the-ground observation (described
below).
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