Main Street as Community Cash Register

Community Prosperity Starts at the Local Level   

Friends, 

 

The image of a forlorn Western downtown is one we're all familiar with: empty storefronts, brick buildings crumbling at the edges, and the proverbial tumbleweed rolling through a once-vibrant Main Street. These neglected downtowns, sadly, have become an ingrained part of our national self-image, and we often see them as the backdrop on the evening news while a reporter describes how our nation's recession has impacted "Main Street."

 

The exciting news is that that there are many communities across the Intermountain West bucking this trend, including Bozeman, Montana; Sheridan, Wyoming; Rifle, Colorado, and Driggs, Idaho among others. We know that if local citizen groups, business coalitions, and local governments come together, plan wisely, and take initiative, they can turn struggling downtowns into vibrant community and commercial centers.

 

The results are good for business, good for the environment, and good for our Western heritage. This vital work also supports our conviction that community prosperity starts at the local level.

 

A Toy Story Success in Bozeman 

 

Bozeman's downtown area was heading toward extinction in the late 1980s as malls and scattered development pulled people and businesses farther and farther toward city limits. When things got bad, downtown was designated a "blighted" area. A toy store owner on Main Street named Chris Pope realized that his business, his way of life, and the downtown he'd grew to love were all in danger of disappearing.

Pope was one of several leaders who led Bozeman through a 20-year journey that required hard work and major financial investment, but is now paying big dividends. Bozeman brought together citizen review boards, municipal planners, county officials, and business owners like Pope to create a downtown where vacancy rates are virtually zero, local businesses are holding strong against national chain stores, and a beautiful new library, park, and creative landscaping have made the town a great success story.   

"In the old days, people bought their toothbrush downtown," Pope told us. "It's not that way anymore, but as we say, people don't have their homecoming parades at the Mall parking lot. They have them downtown."

The Value of Insight

There is still a lot of work to be done in Bozeman, as well as throughout the West, where all too many communities are still reeling from the fallout of the housing crisis, and wondering where things went wrong.

Answering that question and showing how to properly plan for a future in the new economy requires high quality research and strong conservation economics. That's where the Sonoran Institute can do what we do best. We deliver the hard numbers that give local leaders insight into the fiscal and economic impacts of their planning, development, and conservation decisions.

 "The Sonoran Institute is a very important voice in our community, and they have a lot of credibility," said Chris Neumann, who is the head of the Downtown Bozeman Association. "They know that the way to get things done in the West is to get all the parties sitting down at the table from day one."

Downtown as Revenue Engine

Joe Minicozzi

One of the items we bring to the table is an important new study. Commissioned by the Sonoran Institute and performed by Joe Minicozzi of Urban 3, the study compares the value of mixed-use urban development (i.e., retail, office space and housing) against other types of commercial development. We now have solid research and information to show just how beneficial a well-designed downtown can be.

Downtown development that blends commercial and residential uses can lead to more than five times the tax revenue per-acre than its big box counterparts. That's why, in places like Bozeman, downtowns are not only hosting great parades, they are providing ideal business and living conditions, and generating enviable tax revenue.

One of the secrets is that well-planned downtowns like Bozeman are leveraging existing infrastructure to keep costs at a minimum, allowing them to perpetually generate ample surplus tax revenue, even in a sluggish economy. This is welcome news to local and county governments, more than half of which face budget shortfalls according to the National Association of Counties.  

"Minicozzi's studies consistently demonstrate that downtowns bring tremendous economic benefits to the taxpayer while retaining their value as community icons, cultural centers, meeting places, and places to shop and dine," says Randy Carpenter, the Institute's director of the Northern Rockies Legacy Program.

If we succeed, perhaps the next nightly news report will not come from an abandoned Main Street, but instead from the vibrant streets of a downtown that we have all helped revitalize.

For more on our research efforts with Minicozzi, and the state of downtowns around the Rocky Mountain West, please read our About Town report, and check out our new video, Choices.
 

 

 

Sincerely,    

 

Luther Propst

Executive Director