One of the most grossly misunderstood aspects of downtown revitalization is the importance of market analysis. It baffles me that even among the most sophisticated merchants there is so little commitment to understanding the market.One of the best analyses of downtown revitalization ever written may have been a letter to the editor of a local paper from a disgruntled resident....Surveys, while a necessary part of market analysis, are not sufficient. Very often the survey work, itself, is substandard because it usually focuses on a customer survey of the downtown. What we really need are surveys of the customers in our nearby shopping malls and of people shopping in other downtowns in order to learn about their preferences, whether they also use our downtown and about other pertinent information. We need to survey/inventory the business mix of our nearby competitors and complimenters, and we need to survey contemporary marketing information such as national trends that influence shopping habits.1
Personally, I find the stores downtown boring, out of date, drab, with little variety of merchandise to offer. The hours of business are not convenient, the window displays lack imagination and don't pique your interest to come inwside and find out what they have to offer.According to Panmier, "Seven basic principles for small- and medium-sized cities reshaping the space-use composition and economic vitality of their downtowns should be observed:I don't mean to put down downtown, but it seems to me that it is largely the merchants who have the power to change downtown for the better or watch it fall into decay. Putting bricks all over the place, fancy lighting and planting trees we can all watch die (because nobody waters them) may be some consultant's solution to reviving downtown, but I think I have a better one.
Open the stores when people want to shop, offer merchandise that people want to buy, and display the same in attractive settings, and people will flock to your businesses.
The solution to downtown's malaise is not to pur more taxes into bricks that will sink into the ground and trees that will be dead in a year. Downtown will be revitalized when the merchants stop blaming parking for their problems, and bring their stores from the '50s into the '90s.2
1 Stitt, Bert. 1996. "The Lies of Downtown: A Look at the Myths That Keep Downtowns from Engaging in Effective Revitalization." Small Town (July-August). p. 20.
2 Dan Byrne. Ann Arbor News(date unknown).
2 Cyril Panmier. "Designing the Successful Downtown." p. 23.
| Revitalization Strategies | Functional Strategies |
|---|
| Financial Incentives | Market Area Analysis |
|---|
| Hyatt-Palma Analysis | Physical Improvement Strategies |
|---|
| Case Study Cities |
|---|
