A redesign costing a mere $12 million transformed the main street of the desert city of Lancaster, Calif., from an ordinary retail strip to a genuine place. If Lancaster can do it, any city can.
The BLVD, which is the brand name that refers to a nine-block stretch of Lancaster Boulevard, began life as a 1950s-style one-story retail strip in the heart of Lancaster, near the city's Southern Pacific (now Metrolink) station. It was and is the type where storefronts, rather than parking stalls, abut the sidewalk and where curb cuts don't cut through every single block. Even in its early heyday, it was surely nothing special, but vastly preferable to a bunch of strip malls.
I don't want to presume that The BLVD has solved all of Lancaster's problems or made the desert bloom. I also don't want to presume that, as much as progressive planners (myself included) might tout density and walkabilty, that residents of Lancaster don't like their single-family homes and multilane boulevards. But I have to believe that they appreciate an alternative. The BLVD might occupy just a few short blocks–and the average Lancaster resident might not go there more than a few times a year–but it provides at least one place that's special and pleasant in a place that is spectacular but also bleak.
FULL STORY: Lancaster's BLVD Delivers
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