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0 • The Minnesota Transfer Railroad is and will continue to be an important feature of the City of New Brighton. However, not all of the existing railroad system will need to be operable in the future, in particular that area lying north of the CP Railroad track. This rail line has relatively little service on it currently and unless rail dependent industrial development occurs on the Arsenal property or the line is used for commuter rail, there may be no need for it to fimction as a rail line in the future. It is the City's vision that the rail line ultimately be converted to a transit way and/or trail. Create places for the community to gather and interact If a city is to become a community it must consciously create places for people to gather and interact. If there is no place to interact, no place to gather, there is no sense of community or shared interest. Community gathering places are those where people come together to work, shop, and play; where they are seen and can be seen, where they interact and enjoy the sense that they are part of a social and civic place. Create neighborhood activity centers During the course of the process, and in particular, during Neighborhood Night, it became evident that parks are the City's primary neighborhood activity centers and those parts of the urban fabric that people most identify with. Neighborhood activity centers tend mostly to focus on the city's parks and are places to play, interact, and meet with neighbors. These are not, however, intended to be exclusively recreation facilities. These centers are intended to serve all members of the community no matter their socio- economic or housing status. These are places that serve the needs of all residents, helping them be active and healthy members of the community rather than disenfranchised by it. Create a sense of place and the "feeling" of community City Center. Not much evidence remains of the rich history that was New Brighton. Originally, however, what is now the confluence of two major freeways was historic downtown New Brighton which served a much larger geographic area than the City of New Brighton. Front Street was main street and the City has been able to rebuild some of its original downtown character by creating a main street character along Old Highway 8. A major clement of the City's vision is the expansion of the old downtown or what this plan refers to as the "City Center", to areas north of I-694 and to reestablish this area as a center for an area much larger than the City of New Brighton. Mainstreet. The City has already begun to develop a main street character along Old Highway 8 in the vicinity of the City Center. Main street is an important part of the City's vision and a concept that is intended to be extended all the way from I lighway 96 on the north to County Road E on the south. This is a concept that is intended to create a pedestrian street environment that encourages people to walk and interact as well as drive. It is a concept that makes buildings and people the focus of the district, not automobiles; a concept that sets buildings nearer the street and parking at the rear or the side thereof. This represents the reestablishment of the historical development patterns that represented the beginnings of New Brighton and its downtown. Deleted: I ,• l Formatted: Right: 0.25"