Blog #6

When I hear the word "downtown", I immediately imagine a bustling cityscape full of people, restaurants, shops, and other urban settings. I imagine the loud roaring of buses, the beeping of car horns as people nearly wreck their cars driving like lunatics. I also imagine a place absolutely devoid of any kind of nature. From my relatively small amount of time spent in "downtown" settings, I would put it at the opposite end of the spectrum from nature. I believe that downtown fort myers is experiencing a sort of "renaissance" because more money is being pumped into it for renovation and advertising. I'm ashamed to admit it, but until about a year ago, I had never even been to the downtown area of fort myers, despite having lived here my entire life. Before the art walks and music festivals began, I had no reason to travel downtown. The only thing I knew that was in downtown was the prison. The most prominent architectural feature I've seen in downtown is the courthouse. It is styled with roman-style pillars and decorations. I believe all these design features are meant to rekindle the pedestrian spirit, meaning they want people to walk up to the buildings and enjoy them for their features. They are meant to be enjoyed up close, not at a distance while driving in a car. The economy of fort myers has definitely changed just in the last 20 years I've been alive and here. First of all, the thriving construction businesses have all but gone under. Also, small businesses have all but been replaced with larger businesses. This is not good from a sustainability standpoint because larger companies have terrible track records when it comes to sustainability.