Any adult who says our youth aren’t paying attention to anything
going on around them in the so-called real world should probably
talk to Lanette Lanning.
Any adult who says our youth aren’t paying attention to anything going on around them in the so-called real world should probably talk to Lanette Lanning.
A 21-year -fornia Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, Lanning took it upon herself to form a vision of downtown Hollister’s future.
Granted, it was for her thesis, a mandatory item for graduation. But such an extensive undertaking must still contain elements of the Labor of Love.
“I was born and raised here,” she said. “I think Hollister has a lot of potential and hopefully this project will show people that we can achieve that potential.”
These words, coming from a 21-year-old, must be music to the ears of the Chamber of Commerce and the Hollister Downtown Association. Someone cares about the downtown. Someone young. Wouldn’t it be something if more young people had a vision of downtown as a place to meet and mingle? A place that wasn’t a mall, or a manufactured downtown like Santana Row in San Jose.
Well, Lanning at least has that vision. And while some of Lanning’s ideas probably will be labeled unrealistic by some, there is plenty of material that should be considered. She focused on the area of San Benito Street between South and Fourth streets. She tried to work within the current physical structure of the city.
Lanning concluded that this downtown area needs better pedestrian access and informality. This takes into account that crossing San Benito Street in some spots is an extremely exciting and dangerous undertaking. In her project Lanning proposed a Farmers Market Plaza, a Civic Plaza and a mixed-use complex with shopping on the ground level and apartments on the upper levels.
That’s a lot of good stuff. Food for thought, in a civic-minded sort of way. Whether any of it is realistic depends upon who you are. For now, the simple fact that people are interested in the downtown and are preparing their own vision of it is exciting. So far Lanning has been working on computer designs in modeling her vision and will eventually be able to present her own downtown, in miniature.
Hopefully she’ll let us all take a look at it. We all want a vibrant downtown. Being able to consider a youthful vision for it is something we all could probably learn from.
