Last weekend and the weekend before, I took a drive to local downtowns.
Part of my interest, I suppose, comes from the fact that I am the product of a small town downtown. I remember a time when most or all of our shopping was done there (or via the Sears Catalogue). Seeing these layouts and structures now is not just an idle exercise in architecture for me; it is a reminder of a past time when such places were the backbone of the town or city in which they were located.
How downtowns, at least the downtowns of smaller cities and towns, are treated and maintained is always of interest to me. They tell me a great deal about the larger community in which they exist - not only in how the community is doing economically, but what the community thinks about their inner core.
Some - many - downtowns have simply become rundown rows of empty shops or the sorts of things one sees in failing places: antique and knick-knack stores, occasional charitable organizations, the lone hanger on or two from a different era. Other communities have put time and effort into saving their downtowns, making the (or at least attempting to make them) locations with businesses which, although they may not always be the same as a traditional downtown, are at least creating an active and live business atmosphere of shops (often specific interest and restaurants).
I suppose it matters to me as well because of how other growth seems work on the outer edges of towns as well.
Outer growth is - almost invariably - a series of large Big Box stores and shops which are, for the most part, interchangeable with any other location in the United States, the great homogenization of commercial culture. Certain regional differences may be present - grocery stores, for example, or food chains - but I would bet 90% of these places are the same as any other similar store one would step in halfway across the country. The structures are usually the same, the insides are usually the same - literally one store looks exact like the other.
Of my two visits, the downtown of New Home 2.0 is actually a functional downtown, more or less. It has a mix of shops, some that have likely been there for twenty years or more, along with more apparent recent arrivals and restaurants. It has the appearance of at least the locality caring about it and some level of money being put into it.
The second visit - the town farther away - was less promising: more empty storefronts, more "succession" stores, less places that are likely to drive traffic. They are undergoing the sort of suburban growth that is brought about by the sales of tracts of land and the building of houses, but it appears the commercial growth is happening (again) on the outskirts, not in the center.
I can give the usual reasons for wanting to support local downtowns (or local businesses in general): the money and tax dollars stay locally, the community thrives, local people do not have to commute or move away to find services and paying jobs. But even more important than that is my conviction that without such centers, the communities eventually vanish - oh, physically they are still on the map and people live there, but they become places that people go to and from, not live in.
Are there things in New Home 2.0's downtown that I necessarily need? Not specifically that I can see. That said, I will do what I can to support them. After all, if such places are important, it is really a question of me putting my support where my belief is.
And besides, who knows what sort of new things I might find?
Our down town is still bustling, but mainly immigrant shops catering to immigrant clientele from across Mexican border. Some people would rather walk from place to place that is OUTSIDE a mall so that most of the business. Some old places from by gone era are still there (dry cleaning - print shops - beauty supply outlets). But after 5 pm - becomes pretty quiet, as in roll up the sidewalks quiet. Except for a couple of after hour night clinics, pretty dead.
ReplyDeleteAnon - Walking outside is something that I had not thought of as much until I moved here (or was at my hometown), but it definitely matters. And even if it is immigrant shops catering to immigrants, at least those are active businesses. Too often the downtown gets overlooked altogether with all the growth happening on the outside.
DeleteCan see the evolution of the downtown in my birthplace, more and more tourism and entrepreneur enterprises while dropping over twenty thousand in population since I arrived on the planet since tool manufacturing, steel and cement plants went away. A good number of buildings between four and eight stories while several over ten, not to mention the government concentration, city hall, court house/jail and Federal center......all in the downtown area. Find the local bakery TB, muy pronto!
ReplyDeleteNylon12, that seems to often be how downtowns survive - by gentrifying with "upscale" business. To be fair, even my own hometown's downtown is like this with few ordinary businesses in place - but at least it is active.
DeleteAnd yes, government centers can congregate in such places.
There are two local bakeries to my eye. I will certainly take the opportunity to eat there (or likely, I will be strongly suggested to do so by The Ravishing Mrs. TB).
In my rural neck of the woods, our downtowns are essentially subsidized or dead. My hometown downtown has been dead since the school was shuttered nearly 30 years ago. Almost all the old brick buildings have since collapsed into a pile or rubble and were hauled away leaving bare lots. It looks closer to a park these days than a downtown. Where I live now is one that has been subsidized repeatedly over the last 7 or 8 decades. Money is pumped into it to rebuild it and make it a destination and that lasts for a few years and then gradually falls apart and becomes a place to avoid until the next infusion of cash. In the last three years, we are at a cash infusion stage where they are stripping and repairing all the old store fronts to give it a retro look again and turning all the upstairs apartments into subsidized rent housing to obtain matching federal funds. But as time has shown, all this is temporary and it will inevitably slide back to a state of ruin and decay again. I wish "we" could just accept the fact that in rural America, downtowns are dead and never coming back and move on to improving other things with a chance of surviving into the future. I would much rather have a park downtown similar to my hometown than pouring tax dollar after tax dollar down the drain and hoping for different results than before.
ReplyDeleteEd, my Father in Law The Master Sergeant's adopted home town is in your state, and it is was very much as you describe. That said, I am in favor of such renaissances if they can actually attract and build businesses (instead of just becoming housing centers) - but that relates to the area's willingness to support such businesses as well, which may be difficult in our era of The InterWeb.
DeleteThat said, given the options you describe, a park makes a lot of sense.
Our small town's downtown is an active place. With a continually- being-refurbished old theater that serves as a weekly draw, lots of typically offices, a courthouse, antique stores, a few unique spots like a coin dealer, a t-shirt printer, a store that sells items made by women in other countries, and even a duckpin bowling alley, along with a number of eateries (and really much more) it's a very nice downtown. Parking is a challenge, though, and honestly, the weekend crowds keep us away from the bustle of downtown during those busy times. Very occasionally, we'll spend a couple of hours browsing antique stores during a weekday, though. Having an active downtown is good for keeping a small town vibrant, but honestly, with our town's attempts at becoming a destination spot, it's growing less and less appealing for us as locals of twenty five years to spend time there. We drive through the downtown often because it's the quickest route to a number of places, but actually get out of our vehicle and walk around it very little.
ReplyDeleteBecki, I think that is a good observation: having a downtown that is largely dependent on weekend crowds creates its own particular difficulties, especially for locals such as yourself.
DeleteThe downtown of my hometown has also largely moved to essentially non-local traffic to sustain it. Locals can only buy so many antiques or art.
And as you say, parking can often be an issue.