Seeking a Second Source
I, for one, am not prepared to accept the proposition put forward in today's Tribune that New Albany's downtown will "never again be the commercial center of Floyd County."
However, revitalization awaits and the renaissance sputters in fits and starts. It is time for local government to put down its marker. With elections looming in the county this year, and the city next, voters should know where each relevant official and candidate stands on the issue of restoring downtown.
One sign of sputter comes with the report that Main Street Grind's operations are grinding to a halt. The weekday beanery has long been a staple for downtown workers, but the years have taken their toll on the owners. I'd like to have confirmation of the report that MSG will close effective April 1. With the move of Pam's quilt shop on Pearl to a Charlestown Road location, and the failure of Bistro New Albany to open, the news is not good.
Is there any question that a full commitment to downtown is needed now?
However, revitalization awaits and the renaissance sputters in fits and starts. It is time for local government to put down its marker. With elections looming in the county this year, and the city next, voters should know where each relevant official and candidate stands on the issue of restoring downtown.
One sign of sputter comes with the report that Main Street Grind's operations are grinding to a halt. The weekday beanery has long been a staple for downtown workers, but the years have taken their toll on the owners. I'd like to have confirmation of the report that MSG will close effective April 1. With the move of Pam's quilt shop on Pearl to a Charlestown Road location, and the failure of Bistro New Albany to open, the news is not good.
Is there any question that a full commitment to downtown is needed now?
posted by All4Word at 9:16 AM
8 Comments:
If you're not ready to accept that proposition, what's your counter argument? There's certainly nothing in recent history to suggest otherwise (the Federal Hill Cafe and Louisville Stained Glass notwithstanding).
Your comment regarding candidate views is most appropriate. I hope there are Q&A forums for the citizenry to better ascertain positions. Campaign literature and prepared remarks aren't nearly enough.
Finally, there is no question that a full commitment to downtown is needed NOW. It will be interesting to learn what our leaders have to say about all this.
The Bune's random archive generator has yet to land on the column referred to here.
Also, have you found yourself wondering why the E-Board isn;t being archived on line?
Spin the wheel ... wheeeheeeeee.
I and others have laid out the "counter argument" ad infinitum. The key argument is that the investment has been made. Pissing that investment away, whether it be in structures or infrastructure, is, on its face, a moronic approach.
I once believed the downtown property owners were purely speculators, people and institutions who were keeping their properties off the market for some undefinable reason - presumably to cash in at some future date. That didn't make sense then and it doesn't make sense now.
We are raising the flag that there is a cadre of consumers, here and elsewhere, who crave a vital downtown and will patronize businesses that locate there. Federal Hill and Louisville Stained Glass are just the tip of the iceberg. My friend at NAC has documented the emerging pioneers (most of whom came here from elsewhere and were stunned to see such a resource being underutilized) who are bringing vitality to downtown.
I would wager that the number of Floyd County residents who have found a reason to come downtown in the past 18 months has increased appreciably. That has come via word-of-mouth recommendation among like-minded people who have been waiting to see this renaissance.
It does no good to have The Tribune grant legitimacy to someone who parrots a defeatist strategy of abandonment. Frankly, I couldn't tell you what the columnist believes based on this first column. But it sure sounds like a call to surrender.
If you hollow out the core and give all your incentives to sprawl proponents who build temporary structures designed for obsolescence, if you recruit businesses whose purpose is to harvest our local incomes for export elsewhere, you are actively destroying the whole concept of an urban community.
That some people want homes made of sticks and sheet rock that has never been touched by another occupant doesn't mean that government should cater to that wasteful desire.
Nationalizing retail leads to fewer choices, not more. Encouraging conformity over diversity diminishes consumer choice. Downtown pioneers believe that even if a majority want to march in lockstep toward a Stepford existence, the true economic vitality of our city revolves around providing unique opportunities, amenities, and yes, shopping.
And, we don't have to invent or fund the infrastructure or the atmosphere. It exists now and only awaits to be populated.
Instead of saying "if you build it, they will come," we say our predecessors built it and made fortunes using it. Let's market it and make a living in a place that those uninfected by the New Albany Syndrome recognize as a pearl of limitless opportunity.
Sadly, I don't believe you chose to read the column I wrote, and instead attribute to me any negatives you might have for those who do not march in lockstep with you. While it is true that I do not believe that downtown will again be the commercial center of the city or county, that does not mean that I am in any way writing it off or consider its viability to be anything less than you might.
First of all, I have only recently begun to read these blogs, so I know little or nothing of what you choose to call the New Albany syndrome. What I do know, on the other hand, is that I believe I have come to a community alive with potential. I am excited to be here and truly wish I had the resources available to invest in the downtown area. If you would go back and read what I wrote, you would see that I think there is a great opportunity for the downtown area to thrive with the right mix of establishments. Neither Frankfort Avenue or Bardstown Road could be considered the commercial center of Louisville, yet they are alive with a very diverse mix of people and businesses. Why not New Albany? We have incredible structures just waiting for those willing to take the chance. I think they would find out that what seems to be a risky business would become a sure thing in no time at all. Hardly what you would expect to hear from someone who you have incorrectly tagged with "a defeatist strategy of abandonment", is it?
As for the Tribune, why condemn them? You are just as entitled as I to write them with your views. I am excited that John Tucker and Steve Kozarovich have chosen to open up the paper to the community. The exchange of ideas is vital to growth, to improvement, to the successful life that we all want for ourselves and our community. How else do we learn if we don't share our ideas. Whether you agree with what I have written or not, you are the better for it because it has made you think. Just as I am for taking the time to consider my response to you.
I live in a house that we believe might be over 100 years old. I guess that makes me a good person. As it happens, I work for Wal*Mart, so that probably makes me a bad person. I disagree, but that's the right each of us has. What I am is a realist. This community has some amazing older housing - some of it cared for, some of it not. Because not everyone chooses to avail themselves of it is no reason to cast them (and the government) in a negative light because new development is occuring. Untouched "sticks and sheetrock" are not bad things. Your apparent unwillingness to allow others to have what they want if it's different from what you want is far more defeatist to this area's growth and vitality than anything I have written.
A successful and vibrant community learns how to mix all the components and accept that not everyone will like every other part. You might not like my big box employer, but there's no one out on the road making all our customers turn in and spend their money. Wal*Mart, Meijer, Target, Greentree Mall, Home Depot, Bass Pro Shops and more are a part of this community because there is a demand for them. The same is true of Frisch's, McDonald's, Hooters, Don Pablo and many others. Having said that, I will also say places like the Federal Hill Cafe, Vic's Cafe, and Tommy Lancaster's are here for the same reason. They meet the needs of market segments. Wells Hardware, Endris Jewelers and State Street Flooring, to name a few, are successful local businesses because they meet the needs of their customers. Say what you want about "nationalizing retail", but if we choose to exclude it, it will go somewhere else and so will our consumers' dollars.
I invite you to read the column again, but ask that you do it with an open mind. It recognizes the great opportunity, it calls for planning and action, it asks for more involvement. Just because it does not "parrot" what you believe does not diminish its relevance. Don't worry about the speck in my eye unless and until you've removed the log from your own.
You come out swinging, don't you, Stephen.
I explicitly said I couldn't tell what you thought. So far as I could tell, you simply threw up a jump ball, so I can't give your column a superior grade.
And to be precise, there is no condemnation for personal choices, in housing or in other consumer choices in anything I said.
But, if we as a community value the treasure we have in our downtown (and I clearly believe it is an under-utilized treasure), we must save it with our tax dollars. That's the fight, and there's no certainty we can win it. But we have to quit subsidizing sprawl because a developer believes he can turn a buck. The costs to the city are not worth the gridlock and pollution, to name only a few drawbacks to subsidizing sprawl.
We should reserve our incentives for carefully defined objectives. A new strip mall isn't one of mine - it's a speculator's.
I would go so far as to tell any developer who wants to develop on vacant land, or to tear down an existing structure to erect a sandwich shop or nail salon, that THIS city is determined to bring its downtown back to life, and that subsidies are available if that developer will buy and renovate a downtown building.
Where would we get these subsidies? From any developer who refuses to consider downtown and to accept the community's will. Let's call it development credits. We waive the requirement for development credits in the Urban Enterprise Zone, and charge a hefty fee for anyone encouraging an outflow project.
As for your column, Stephen, I did read it. It was all over the map, which is my complaint. What you believe, despite your writing at length, remains unclear. You knew what you believed when you wrote it. Now, go back and read it objectively, with an open mind, and imagine what someone else would take away from it.
At a guess, I imagined you as an ally, however marginally committed, to our cause, but it was a guess.
Finally, I take your point that neither Frankfort Avenue or Bardstown Road are the commercial center of Louisville. But we aren't Louisville. Louisville's downtown is bursting at the seams, thus preventing any means of making it again a retail center. But NA doesn't have that impediment. The way is clear, and now, to recreate a vital downtown, and in a very short few years.
I hope you will keep writing. But I hope you will move beyond this introductory piece and express an opinion. This first piece seemed to be a survey of many opinions. Opinion journalism isn't improved by columns that read "A, but on the other hand, B."
Not sure if there is specific definition for "opinion journalism". However I think that I must disagree that A-B does not advance opinion journalsim.
Many who read "opinions" are not always familar with the territory discussed. For an opinion writer to include some A-B in their piece could be very apporpriate. Even a whole column could advance the debate. If every piece is an A-B, well, then you have me!
Sure, Iam, you leaven the argument with the counter argument, heading off in advance any possible objections. But the piece in question didn't stand still long enough to define the writer's position.
Fort Myers is booming, but they've put in smart growth policies, but they aren't working, but they're trying, but in the end it will fail.
If that's not doomsaying, I'm a close male relative to a simian.
All4,
Sorry, it is just that political science education of mine! Perhaps I took your statement as too absolute. On the other hand, perhaps you wrote the statement too absolute!(smile)
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