By Lisa Cornwell

the associated press

CINCINNATI – Sunlight is replacing shadows where elevated walkways spanning streets around Cincinnati’s downtown square have been torn down. Similar open spaces are appearing in other cities where planners once hoped skywalks would energize their downtowns.

“More cities are realizing that skywalks are not what they were cut out to be,” said Fred Kent, president of Project for Public Spaces, a New York City-based nonprofit organization that helps communities create and sustain public places. “Instead of drawing additional people and retail to a second level, skywalks have left streets lifeless, presenting a cold and alienating environment.”

While skywalks remain popular in some cold-weather cities such as Des Moines, Iowa, an increasing number of cities have started tearing down some of their walkways or would like to remove them. Planners and others in cities such as Cincinnati, Baltimore, Charlotte, N.C., Hartford, Conn., and Kansas City, Mo., now believe increasing street-level pedestrian traffic will lead to more downtown homes, shops and entertainment.

“Having people on the streets sends the message that downtown is a safe and fun place to be,” said Marya Morris, senior research associate with the American Planning Association. “It’s difficult to create the type of energy that attracts housing and other activity when there is no one on the streets after 5 p.m.”

Skywalks vary from enclosed, climate-controlled corridors with windows to open bridges with and without roofs. The pedestrian walkways connect second stories of buildings and often are part of large networks that wind through downtown, with shops and services located in sections that pass through buildings.

Planners estimate that between 20 and 30 cities across the United States at one time embraced the design concept. The mostly glass-and-steel skywalks that were constructed beginning in the 1960s and ’70s were intended to insulate pedestrians from weather and street crime and compete with suburban malls.

But tourists often have trouble navigating skywalks, where access is often inside hotels and office buildings. Workers now make up most skywalk users, but with offices also fleeing downtowns, even that traffic has dwindled.

Cincinnati City Architect Michael Moore said the difference is striking around Fountain Square since two of the city’s original 22 skywalk bridges were removed as part of a renovation to make the square a more welcoming, downtown center.

“Even though the square still resembles a war zone with the ongoing reconstruction, it looks so much larger and brighter,” he said.

Other skywalks link office buildings and are popular with workers.

“I think they are neat, and I hate to see some of them coming down,” said Cincinnati office worker Cheryl Borkowski, 45, of Florence, Ky. “On cold and rainy days, you can take the skywalk everywhere you need to go. For me, it’s a matter of time and convenience.”

Baltimore has pulled down two of its nine skywalks and more may come down as the city directs development efforts toward the ground level, especially around the Inner Harbor district, said Jim Hall, a city planner. The ring of shops, hotels, restaurants, parks and other attractions around the city’s harbor has become a major downtown tourist destination.

“All of the excitement now is at the base of buildings where people can stroll through attractive public spaces and walk along promenades,” Hall said. “I don’t see us constructing any more skywalks.”

Many skywalks were built with public and private money, making it difficult to get rid of the sections that run through office buildings where executives and workers want to keep them for convenience. Cost also is a factor.

In Cincinnati, it cost about $100,000 to tear down a section that was not enclosed and did not have heat or air conditioning, Moore said.