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WHAT’S UP IN NEW DEVELOPMENT
Nurturing Downtown: I took a recent trip down to Madison, GA
recently, having driven through many times, but never really
exploring the place properly. It's an attractive town, with a
downtown that's not too much smaller than ours. It's got a
good stock of well-scaled storefronts, fronting two community
squares, and ringed in attractive neighborhoods of historical
homes. It's much more lively than most rural town centers,
which are more often empty and blighted.
It certainly wasn't bustling like Athens' downtown dis
trict, though, which is fed by the University of Georgia's pres
ence. Without the university, Athens might be lucky to have as
much going on as Madison. Madison certainly has done a much
better job creating a sense of place that drives tourism in the
area than we have here.
Of course, these downtowns were built for a reason, and
it wasn't selling antiques. So, where did the people go? The
necessary functions that urban centers historically provided
are now supplied by outlying retail strips, obviously, and for
that reason, many folks disapprove of their localities' big-box
businesses. Georgia Square Mall killing the Downtown Business
District 30 years ago is still talked about.
Going Big: But, the business model is changing, with many
chains attempting to crack into the urban market with new
store designs. It's an interesting phenomenon, with conse
quences not only for design, but in terms of the economics
involved as well. In large, vibrant cities, there is cause to be
alarmed, as those large stores can displace existing historic
networks of neighborhood retail and corner groceries.
There are many places around the country, though, where
those services aren't already being provided. Even many folks
who live in and around Athens' urban core head to suburban
strips to meet their needs. In that context, the question
becomes much more interesting. Consider the Epps Bridge
Parkway collection of big-box stores. In 2001, Wal-mart moved
from Clarke County to Oconee, taking millions in sales tax with
it, but also the traffic, the sea of asphalt and all of the other
negatives associated with such an outlying retail giant.
If you drive out to these big boxes, you'll see all the people
who, once upon a time, frequented central business districts.
They're still buying groceries, furniture, hardware and every
thing else that's sold there. In places where downtowns have
evolved into successful specialty districts (whether for bars,
gifts, clothing, antiques or what have you), it's worth wonder
ing what the urban big box might do if it were to enter the
mix. People have often wished for a full-service grocery in our
downtown area, but such a move wouldn't be uncomplicated.
What are the pros and cons of a Whole Foods on Hancock, a
Costco on Clayton, or a Target on Thomas?
Worth Wondering: Big boxes would still have all their usual
problems in an urban context, like labor issues for part-time
employees staffing them here and in the factories abroad that
make their cheap products. However, if the vast majority of the
community is already doing most of its shopping at these
businesses, might shifting them to a closer-in location reduce
some of the driving- and access-related issues? Would a big
store, well served by transit and walkable from low-income
housing, be better than the same store located at the ends
of bus lines (if served at all) and far from the low-income
residents of the neighborhoods close to downtown? Moving
the jobs inward might provide
similar benefits, too, all things
being equal. The Vine City neigh
borhood in Atlanta, while not
analogous to Athens' downtown
district, did recently wrestle with
the question, when Wal-mart
decided to build an urban super
center in the area.
There's also the question
of how big boxes relate to the
smaller associated storefronts
and outparcels that live along
side them in shopping centers.
When the anchor tenant leaves,
those orphaned shopping cen
ters rarely recover. Injecting the
customers that big boxes attract
into existing downtowns would
likely provide a boost that could
enliven the currently sleepy retail
areas. Nesting big boxes within a
more resilient urban fabric would
also allow for an easier transition :
of the buildings to other uses if
the big boxes move, avoiding the
"grey field" phenomenon.
Other Possibilities: In general,
it's much harder for small local
businesses to compete than it
used to be, and as downtowns
like ours succeed, it's worth exploring what the community's
vision for those places'$. If we determine as a community that
large national chains aren't, in fact, a part of our desires for
downtown, then what is? Is a vast surplus of bars definitely
part of the mix, or is that a side effect that should be regu
lated, as some ACC commissioners have begun to suggest, with,
a potential cap on the number of bars?
Already, there are subsidies offered to lure certain types of
businesses on a larger scale, with big deals offered to facto
ries moving into industrial parks. If a particular identity and
strength in terms of local businesses is something we're trying
to cultivate, what incentives can we offer?
One interesting model that's being explored is an adapta
tion of the community land trust model used for housing (the
Athens Land Trust employs thisjocally—see story on p. 8)
wherein a land trust owns the land under a privately owned
home. Variations on this "shared equity" model for com
mercial space are being explored in diverse locations like
San Francisco, Albuquerque and New Orleans, according to a
recent article in Shelterforce, the journal of affordable hous
ing and community building. What this approach recognizes
is that accessible neighborhood retail contributes to the suc
cess of residential affordable housing efforts in stabilizing
communities.
In a global landscape where big companies that can source
internationally to cut costs are out-competing the small and
local that communities like ours value, we ought to give some
consideration to how we can level the playing field. Those big
retail giants may be here to stay for the moment, and work
ing with them, while it does deserve plenty of wariness, could
present some interesting opportunities.
Kevan Williams alhensrising@flagpole.com
This urban grocery lies on the edge of the South Lake Union district of Seattle, an area undergoing mixed-
use redevelopment. Is this new store model something that could enhance local urban neighborhoods 7
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