The city of Mankato has always been known for its beautiful mixture of the old and the new. The downtown area is a wonderful mixture of Victorian designs, Kasota Stone, Pillared mansions, and even mixed-use zoning. This downtown is a prime example of urban renovation and adaptive reuse, with just enough of modern necessities to make life comfortable and efficient. Moving up the hill, you find the signs of the modern times. As you drive on such streets as Madison Avenue or Victory Street, you see a cluster of restaurants, strip malls, and modern businesses, such as cell phone stores and computer outlets. We live in a society that greatly depends on such establishments, but the stress and confusion of shopping and traveling in this area immediately makes you want to go back to the beauty and peacefulness of the downtown. This fact makes you wonder what kind of town Mankato would be if it were without its downtown core. I understand that people would still live in Mankato, and the economy would probably still survive, but I believe the city would suffer greatly. According to urban designers such as Ebeneezer Howard and Kevin Lynch, a city becomes a much better place having a central downtown area and becomes much more “funky” with the businesses that come with it. The city of Mankato would suffer greatly with the absence of its downtown.

Ryan Dekich

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