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

• Duluth City Council adoption of a Complete Streets resolution
in 2010 and establishment of a City Complete Street Task
Force.
• The growing understanding of the value and benefits of creating
stronger connections between campuses, downtown, and
the waterfront.
• The proposed development of a transportation multi-modal
center by the Duluth Transit Authority.
• Improved connections to the DECC because of the Clean and
Safe Team’s park patrol.
• UMD’s steps to promote transit among students include providing
them with free bus passes (paid for by tuition/fees).
• City staff and civic volunteer recognition of the importance of
transit and the fact that reducing the costs related to owning a
car translates into more dollars for housing and living.
The Progress Advisory Panel noted that Duluth is wellpositioned
as a desirable vacation location. That included
Canal Park.
Strategic Challenges and Opportunities
Recognizing that the progress to date has been substantial, thereby
putting the city well on its way to achieving the charrette goals, the
panel also pointed to several issues that need to be addressed in order
to maintain momentum and move to the next level of success.
The panel organized its observations about progress around the
same topics as in the prior section (Progress Observed): Sustained Leadership, Arts and Economic Development,
Housing, Institutional Partnerships, Marketing, and Planning, Urban Design, and Connectivity.
Sustained Leadership and Momentum
The panel offered a number of observations about current challenges and opportunities, emphasizing the
need to better measure and document the progress that has been made in order to tell the Duluth story and
understand the steps that are needed to achieve charrette plan goals. The issues related to the need to reenergize
charrette vision leadership and maximize impacts, work across silos to most effectively use resources and
achieve vision goals, evaluate and document progress, and understand and capitalize on the lifestyle needs and
interests of growing niche populations.
Challenges to address include the need to:
Re-energize leadership: A normal decrease in energy has occurred with regard to the shared vision articulated
through the charrette and documented in the original plan and report – a decrease that has been exacerbated
by the economic downturn. However, at the same time, new energy is emerging regarding the arts, university
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