Just after Christmas this year, I drove from Tallahassee to my hometown, Gallatin. I was surprised to see that the small square had been renovated. Huge Bradford pear trees that had obscured the art deco style courthouse had been replaced with Eastern Redbud trees and (what appeared to be) East Palatka Holly. In addition, the streetscape had been significantly altered to provide widened sidewalks, mid-block crossings, improved parallel parking, etc. I was able to meet with Jim Svoboda, the Community Development Coordinator for Gallatin to find out more. In a time when these types of changes to downtowns may be seen as just more government social engineering, it looks like this town got it right from the beginning.
There are a lot of great designers out there offering workable ideas for stormwater treatment and control. Parking lot bioswales (depressed areas to treat and/or control storomwater runoff are a great example of their thinking. This is only one example: With anything, once it's built, it requires maintenance to function properly. The permitted facility shown below is rather new (around a year old) and it's intended function is already significantly impaired. Here' is what sometimes happens: Outlet structure blocked by debris and dead plant material. Landscaping/sod has died and sides are eroded.
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