Arcada Theater, St. Charles, IL. Photo courtesy of Stapleton Photography, St. Charles, IL.

Today, great strides are being made nationwide as community leaders recreate and rejuvenate their once ailing downtowns. The result of these success stories is a body of knowledge that can be used to guide local downtown revitalization efforts. This body of knowledge means "downtown" professionals and advocates no longer have to be pioneers, no longer have to "reinvent the wheel" in defining revitalization efforts that are most likely to succeed. The body of knowledge includes myths and secrets involved in downtown revitalization — commonly held myths that must be dispelled if local revitalization efforts are to succeed.

Myth #1: If We Build It, They Will Come
This "Field of Dreams Approach" to downtown enhancement centers on the belief that a community only needs to undertake physical improvements for customers and investors to flock to downtown.

Many communities have proven this to be a myth by implementing massive physical improvement projects — including new sidewalks, landscaping, street trees, planters, benches, facade, improvements, etc. — and, thinking that their revitalization work was "done," waited for customers and investors to return.

Unfortunately, these communities discovered that physical improvements, made in isolation, do not result in renewed downtown vitality. Instead, the lesson learned is that physical improvements must be undertaken in conjunction with economic improvements for revitalization efforts to succeed. And, in fact, the entire enhancement effort must be market-driven, rather than physically driven.

There are now communities that believe so strongly in the need to make downtown economic improvements hand-in-hand with physical improvements that they have defined an economic enhancement strategy and a design plan at the same time. Examples of these communities include Medford, Oregon, and Garden City, Michigan.

Myth #2: If We Demolish It, They Will Come
This is the flip side of Myth #1 and is known as the "Urban Renewal Approach" to downtown revitalization. This myth holds that, if old buildings are torn down and land is cleared, developers will flock to downtown. And, unfortunately, there are communities all across the country that still have vacant land which was cleared in the 1960s and 1970s as part of this revitalization approach.

Since the days of the federal Urban Renewal program, communities have learned that clearance does not attract developers to a downtown whose market is weak. Since that time, communities also have learned that structurally sound old buildings — no matter how run-down they might look at the time — can become a tremendous draw if they are renovated and their architectural character is preserved.

A striking example of this is the recently renovated Arcada Theater in St. Charles, Illinois. Meticulously restored by its owner, the historic and once dormant theater has undergone an amazing transformation. Since being restored and reopened, the Arcada draws approximately 5,000 people each week to downtown St. Charles. And, the building's corner retail space has been leased to Starbucks, a coffee house that appeals to movie-goers and adds to downtown's new, bustling night life.

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Myth #3: If We Complete One Major Project, They Will Come
This is the "Silver Bullet Approach" to downtown revitalization. It holds that if a community identifies and implements one key major project, then "everything else will take care of itself." Examples of communities that pursued the Silver Bullet Approach are those that build downtown convention centers, festival marketplaces, parking structures, or pedestrian malls — in isolation. Unfortunately, these communities learned the hard way that there is no silver bullet. Instead, successful downtown revitalization requires a multi-faceted effort that addresses all of a downtown's key issues and problems.

Myth #4: If We Can't Get A Department Store To Come Back To Downtown, Downtown Will Never Be Healthy Again
This is known as the "Traditional Anchor Approach." It is true that — except for tremendously healthy downtowns — the chances of attracting a major, national department store to downtown are very slim. However, this does not mean that a downtown can no longer be healthy. Instead, the most successful today are those that have redefined the concept of "downtown anchors."

All across the country, downtowns are seeking and creating new anchors. These include the Children's Discovery Museum in Downtown Augusta, Maine; an entertainment train in Coopersville, Michigan; the Aracada Theater in St. Charles, Illinois; as well as art galleries, live theater, music clubs, housing units, professional offices buildings, government buildings, and speciality retail shops. Communities are finding that by promoting and leveraging these anchors, their downtowns can experience renewed vitality, without a traditional department store anchor.

Myth #5: We Can't Get a Department Store to Locate Downtown, So Downtown Can No Longer Support Any Kind of Retail Trade
This is the "Big Retail or No Retail Approach" to downtown revitalization. Again, it is true that the chances of recruiting a major, national department store today are slim. It is also true that few downtowns today can be considered to be primarily retail centers. However, these truths alone do not prove that a downtown cannot support some retail trade.

Today, most if not all revitalization programs operating in this country, contain a retail attraction component. Many of these programs have been successful in strengthening, and increasing, their downtown's retail base. This has only been accomplished, however, by clearly defining downtown's retail niche and implementing retail enhancement strategies that are aggressive and targeted.

A perfect example of this can be found in Plymouth, Michigan, where a retail attraction program was put into place after a market analysis was completed. Implemented by the Plymouth Downtown Development Authority, the retail attraction program resulted in bringing 30 additional small businesses within 2 1/2 years.

Myth #6: For Downtown to Be Successful, Retail Businesses Must Keep Uniform Business Hours
During the last years, many downtowns across the country have included, as part of their revitalization

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efforts, attempts to standardize the hours of operation kept by retailers. This is known as the "Let's Pretend We're a Mall Approach." Given the independent nature of business owners, and the large number of business owners, this approach has failed overwhelmingly.

Recognizing that a single set of uniform business hours is difficult to achieve, and possibly not advantageous to the district's retailers as a whole, the most successful enhancement efforts are promoting "customer-driven business hours." With this approach, retail businesses keep hours that best meet the needs of their targeted customers. By doing this, and by coordinating their hours of operation with each other, these businesses are able to accommodate and share customers.

Uniform retail hours are almost impossible to achieve in a downtown setting and, ironically, successful downtowns have found that embracing this as a measure of success is unwise. Instead, customer-driven hours, kept and coordinated by businesses that can share customers, are a sign of success.

Myth #7: Competition is Bad for Business
This is the "Head-In-The-Sand-Approach" to revitalization. The commercial districts — both old and new — that are the most successful in this country today are those in which similar and compatible businesses are located side by side in convenient clusters. There is example after example of commercial districts which have proven that the clustering of compatible businesses is actually good for business.

Rather than providing dangerous competition, the clustering of businesses expands and magnifies the market that the cluster — and each of the businesses in it — can hope to draw. This multiplier effect occurs because a cluster of businesses is more appealing to a customer — in terms of convenience and variety — than is a single, stand-alone business. Therefore, customers have a tendency to come to the clustered businesses in larger numbers, and to spend more dollars once in these clusters, than they would at a single destination business.

Example of successful business clusters include the art galleries clustered in the French Quarter of New Orleans, home furnishings businesses clustered in Old Town, Alexandria, and antique businesses in Pomona, California.

Myth #8: We Have to Be As Lenient As Possible With Developers or They Won't Do Business in Our Community

It has also been proven that communities that are unreasonably stringent and demanding of developers will cause developers to locate their projects elsewhere. In that sense, these communities are successful in mak-

July 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 21

ing sure that the development community does not take advantage of them! However, this attitude also makes them successful in not attracting quality developers and quality projects to their communities.

The communities that have been most successful in obtaining quality development projects in their older commercial districts are those where a partnership has been formed between the community, the city government and local developers. These efforts are commonly known as public-private partnerships. They can be highly successful in providing in a quality project for the community and an economically successful project for the developer. The essential ingredient for making the partnership a success is one of attitude. All parties in the partnership must agree to cooperate so that a quality project — one that is mutually beneficial — results.

Myth #10: If We Had More Parking, They Would Come!
This is the "Let's Find a Scapegoat Approach" to downtown revitalization. This myth holds that all of downtown's ills stem from a lack of parking. Those who believe in this myth claim that customers have left downtown for shopping malls because malls offer customers seas and seas of parking which is often (but not always) free. Therefore, the reasoning goes, "we need more parking" — this change will make Downtown's businesses competitive with the malls and will make customers return.

Unfortunately, communities that have gone to great expense in creating parking lots and decks, without making other needed improvements in their downtowns, have learned the fallacy of this myth. The new parking facilities remain as empty as our Downtown stores. In fact, many of the progressive leaders across the country now say "we need a parking problem in our downtown" because this will mean that downtown stores are busy.

In fact, in the vast majority of downtowns where there is a parking problem, it is one of parking management rather than one of parking supply. This means that the number of parking spaces available is adequate. However, customers are having difficulty finding a parking spot because business employees and owners are parking in spaces that are nearest to businesses and that should be reserved for their customers and clients. This problem can be resolved through better management of the existing parking supply and does not typically warrant creating additional parking spaces.

Three years ago, the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority in Michigan took over management of city-owned surface parking lots. It vastly improved downtown parking by changing how it was managed — rather than by creating more parking spaces. Some of these management improvements included new "user-friendly" signs which identify parking areas, a welcome packet for all new downtown business owners describing parking permits available to employees, and a monthly parking award program in which one employee permit holder is selected each month — at random — and given gift certificates from downtown businesses. •

Dolores P. Palma is the president of Hyett Palma, Inc., the only national consulting firm that specializes in the economic renaissance of business districts. Based in Alexandria, VA, the firm has served business districts in all 50 states. The firm's work has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, American City & County Magazine, Public Management Magazine, Parking Magazine, and Nation's Cities Weekly. In addition, the firm's work has received awards of excellence from the American Planning Association, National Capitol Area Chapter, and the Virginia Downtown Development Association.

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