The beauty of "downtown" Blog 4

When I think of the word "downtown" I think of words like busy, high rise buildings, old, and fast-paced.  I feel emotions like anxious and exhilaration when I visit downtown. I believe that growing up in a suburban area an hour away from downtown Chicago has shaped the way I think of downtown.  Places like New York City or Chicago's downtown make me think of danger, hustle and bustle, and poverty.  Now downtown Fort Myers is completely different story.  Downtown Fort Myers has a great blend of modern and historical architecture.  Downtown didn't always have the beautiful cafes and cobble stone paths; it had fallen to pieces at one point in time.  It used to look rundown but now it has more of an up scale feel.  

Some of the prominent architectural features that I appreciate are the cobble stone roads, the coral pillars, and the ray of colors of the buildings. As you can see in the photo above, this pillar is made completely from coral. The downtown design was created to rekindle the "pedestrian" spirit by allowing easy walking and biking access to locals.  Downtown Fort Myers (River District) has many other sites to see like the Southwest Florida Museum of History, The Edison and Ford Winter Estates, and even a purple movie theater.  Other nods to history that are not buildings are statues of historical figures placed around town.  One of the biggest statues is in the Centennial Park and depicts Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone.  The economy of Ft. Myers evolved from a past of poor business to present with less crime and better established shopping and dinning.  The evolution of Downtown Fort Myers relates to sustainability because it is keeping up with changing factors.