Anyone have an idea of the occupancy rates at the Esplanade at the Town Center?
With that and the two new places going up right in the parking lot, it seems like you'd have a decent number of pedestrians in that area (obviously, most would be commuters for work, but there isn't much else they'd need that they can't walk to). However, it seems the density of traffic and the absurdness of vehicle accessibility requires that something has to change. Most people I know abhor driving around the TC. These aren't urban advocates or anything, it can just be a fairly miserable place to go, especially if you are a Costco member. Just seems to me that a place that people would rather avoid but go to because it has all the shops will not be sustainable. For example, I believe a Target located right off Butler, perhaps at Butler and Kernan, would be preferred by customers over slogging through the TC. I don't see Target benefiting from its location now, as if you were going to the Apple store and Target, you'd probably get in your car between the two anyway, and they're not even that far apart for the TC.
Does the TC need a better way of getting around to stay competitive? Would centralizing parking (trading parking structures for surface parking) and introducing shuttles or even a short trolley make it easier and less stressful to get around? Or will it be just fine the way it is?
And is it me or are there just too many damn trees on the Southside?
