Published: November 12, 2009 12:51 am      

BAYLOR: Downtown for a reason

It was no accident that in 2003, we bought a house on East Spring Street. Granted, there were fortuitous convergences, like being acquainted with the people who were selling the property, but the decision-making process did not occur on a whim, a prayer or a dare.

Rather, it involved calculated considerations. We wanted to live in an older home, close to our workplaces (and, in time, to bring our workplaces closer to home), and to be within walking and biking distance of something that we were prepared to work toward bringing to fruition even if we didn’t see it just yet: A revitalized downtown New Albany.

Six years later, it’s getting there.

As ordinary citizens, we chose to invest in downtown by buying our house and putting down roots. Later, as co-owners of a business, my partners and I chose to invest in downtown by building a new brewpub. We’re hardly the only ones to have done so, and with the first Five Year (Family) Plan passed and a second one (business) under way, there are obvious results, visible all around.

These achievements stem from clear vision, thoughtful planning and plain hard work on the part of numerous people who don’t like taking “no” for an answer — especially from their do-nothing council persons. In spite of “them naysayers,” the momentum is irrefutable. The challenge now is to sustain it.

At home, the New Albanian civic thaw has been a joy. Almost without noticing, the two of us have developed edifying urban lifestyle routines. We’re firmly local. Both of us now work downtown. We walk and bicycle whenever possible, and patronize local institutions like the YMCA, the Farmers Market, the public library, and the Carnegie Center. We try to purchase from locally owned retailers, including items like flowers, jewelry, cakes and books; enjoy locally roasted coffee and locally produced wine and beer; and regularly eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in locally operated establishments.

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The effects are infectious.

Two Saturdays ago, we went to Wick’s on State for dinner, and upon entering, heard a familiar voice: Hugh Bir, a local honky tonk legend, covering Conway Twitty’s “Tight Fitting Jeans” from a comfy stool in the crowded barroom. Owner Mike Wickliffe, new to the local scene, was in the process of tapping a keg of locally brewed beer to take the place of mass-produced, cookie-cutter international lager. The excitement was palpable.

On the way home, we chatted about what’s yet to come downtown and how we might hasten it, including expanded residential opportunities, new construction near the waterfront, more Greenway work, additional retail, and much else.

Our conclusion?

All of us who are “into” downtown are “in it” together. Whether living downtown, working downtown or running a business downtown, we share a mutual responsibility to improve downtown by selling the concept to those as yet uninitiated.

I’ve been doing it at work. Located outside of the Bank Street Brewhouse’s entrance is a sign created by my company’s resident graphic artist. The sign bears the names of other downtown eateries and watering holes, which have become more numerous of late, necessitating an update (in the works) to add their addresses and hours of operation to the ones listed before.

It may strike some as odd that we freely point the way to our competitors, but it really isn’t odd at all, precisely because they’re not competitors. They’re fellow shareholders in downtown New Albany. If a potential customer comes to us when we’re closed, the least desirable outcome is for him to get back in his car and drive somewhere else. No one wins in this scenario. I’d prefer keeping his trade and newly emerging loyalties downtown. If he has lunch or a drink elsewhere and enjoys them, he probably be back to see us, and as an entity, downtown wins.

That’s why we post the sign, and that’s why I say that Job One for every downtown business person — to repeat, every downtown business person, without exception — is convincing people to come downtown in the first place, irrespective of their ultimate destination once they’re there.

Given downtown New Albany’s long period of decline from its previous commercial zenith, and the ensuing stereotype that there are few reasons to come downtown, the best way forward for downtown shareholders is to actively, forcibly shift a skewed paradigm by reclaiming downtown’s reputation, persuading visitors to come examine the goods, and branding downtown New Albany as a destination worthy of consideration when making lifestyle choices.

All of us who are “into” downtown are “in it” together, and cooperation is the key, because it is a far better use of scarce time and resources when downtown businesses market their presence collectively. The alternative is stasis, New Albany’s traditional bugbear. The historical record shows that unity of purpose defeats stasis. Will we learn it, finally, this time?

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Coming up on Saturday, Nov. 28, is the New Albany Holiday Fest, with Santa and all that jazz. This year, there’ll be a special activity for the grown-ups, and it’s called the “Jingle Walk: Wine, Hops and Shops.”

It’s a local wine and beer sampling hosted inside downtown retail stores, where participants can sip as they shop. Tickets cost $15 per person and include a wine glass, tastings at over 10 locations, and a complimentary holiday scarf. To buy tickets, visit the Strandz and Threadz Salon at 322 Vincennes Street, or purchase online at www.developna.org, where you can learn more.



Roger hopes to see you downtown, and will continue writing about it at New Albany’s most read blog: www.cityofnewalbany.blogspot.com