I recently attended the 2012 Main Street conference in Clayton NC.
Clayton is a half hour southeast of Raleigh and has a population of around 16,000 people of mixed ethnicity. Their downtown business district was roughly the same size as Marshall’s and consisted of mostly single story buildings. I only noticed two empty storefronts in Clayton.
As I walked along Clayton’s Main Street, I took a rough inventory of the types of businesses that were represented there. To my surprise, they had four beauty salons and four barbershops that all seemed to be thriving. One of the barbershops was packed full of customers at 9:00 pm on a Thursday night. There were also eight or nine restaurants. One of them was Peruvian. Not something you run across every day. There was a restaurant/bar call “The Flip Side” that was located on what would be Marshall’s Back Street and shared a building that had a storefront on Main Street. It was a good use of space and it was hopping.
Other businesses along Clayton’s Main Street were; a Fed-x Mail Boxes Etc, a trophy and engraving store, a sign shop, several floral shops, a gun store named “Trigger Happy”, a furniture store, a print shop, a hardware store, an office supply store, several coffee shops, a pizza parlor, a Dive that has specialized in Hot Dogs since the fifties, an Italian restaurant, a Steak House, a few offices and an open plaza with a questionable piece of artwork created by their Mayor for the conference. Oh and did I mention, plenty of on and off street parking?
I do not believe that there was anyone living in the Main Street business district, but they had historic neighborhoods one street off of Main in both directions. Clayton’s representative on our walking tour admitted that their local developers were still more interested in creating “Sprawl” than high density development in or near the city center.
The conference started with a welcoming speech by Clayton’s very enthusiastic and progressive Mayor. It was held in the auditorium of the old high school building whose age and architecture is almost a perfect match to Marshall’s old high school on the Island. Clayton acquired the old high school and elementary school buildings from their county, built an addition that connected the two and renovated them to become their Town Hall/ City Center. It was very nicely done.
Mitchell Silver spoke on the emerging trends for downtowns.
(Bear in mind that I am only summarizing the things that impressed me, and that I can remember, from the many lectures that I attended. This article is not meant to be a complete recording of what was presented at the conference.)
Mitchell presented a lot of data and statistics of which I recall very little. One of the points that stuck will me was the difference in Tax revenue comparing one acres worth of development in a subdivision verses one acres worth of development in a downtown infill project. The tax revenue from the subdivision averages $1700/acre/year. A four-story infill project generates an average of $250,125/acre/year. These are figures coming from a larger city than Marshall, but the percentage of difference in revenue would be the same.
Throughout the conference, it was stated over and over again that local governments and non-profits need to act as a business. They need to constantly consider the returns on their investments. It is very important to consider the long-term consequences of their current decisions. “Every action has a consequence and the choice of taking “no action” also has a consequence.”
Mitchell stated that the older a person is, the less open to new ideas they become. This can be a huge obstacle to overcome when introducing current trends to older boards.
According to Mitchell, the things that attract people to downtowns are; livability, walkability, multiple things to do, areas where they can watch and be watched and the experiences they come away with. More and more Baby Boomers and Generation Y’s (16 to 29 year olds) are gravitating to downtown living.
Liz Parham spoke on the “Economic impact of telling your story”
Truthfully, I thought this session was going to address telling the history of your community in such a manner that it would entice new families and businesses to relocate there. In reality, it addressed the issue of communication. Your “Story” is the clear message of what your group (planning dept, downtown development, local government, etc…) is currently doing and what it is you hope to accomplish. It is important to be able to control your own message. If you are not communicating you intentions clearly, someone (usually the media) will interpret them in a way you might not have intended. You need to know whom your message is intended for and the best way to communicate with that audience. One medium does not fit all.
Ross Rojek of GoLocalApps spoke about creating a mobile App for marketing your community to locals and visitors.
I think this is a great concept. The current tourist trend is to go somewhere and then look for things to do by using their smart phone. If they can find an App for your area, you can direct them to where you would like them to go.
Hilary Greenberg spoke on “After the recession; Strategies for Downtown recovery”.
Hilary said that it is important to choose projects that can really work. Stay away from the one huge project that is the make all/ break all. Focus on what you have and not on what you don’t. “Strengthen what you have.” Look into what has worked for someone else, but don’t copy. Make it yours. Have a vision. Create a database in order to track changes.
Ok, it was late in the day and my brain was full. It may be sad, but the thing I took away from this lecture was that when presenting your product/downtown to the masses, perception is more important than reality. If the masses believe that your downtown is the place to be, it will become the place to be.
It was made clear during the conference that the old adage “If you build it, they will come”, does not work. But it sounded to me, if you create an environment where people want to be and live, they will build it.
Greg Logan spoke on the next generation of Downtowns in NC.
Greg presented a ton of data.
Generation Y (16 to 29) are the upcoming generation who will make the biggest impact on the downtown’s of the future. 31% of Gen Y want to live in the city where the action is. “They are not just tech savvy, they are tech dependant.” They are interested in walkable, aesthetically pleasing areas. They want smaller but nicer apartments. “The Mini Cooper” lifestyle. Everything is there but in a smaller package.
Denise Ryan was a very inspirational speaker. Her concept was that you need more people downtown, regardless of their age, period. She stressed again that non-profits and local governments are businesses and that makes the planners, managers and board members part of the Marketing department. She said that the downtown should be treated as a great product that you have and should be marketed as such. “In marketing, it takes between 7 and 20 contacts before you make one sale”, so you cannot just put something on your website, sit back, and expect people to come running. “You have to know your target market as well as the geographic area of that market and focus on them.”
Denise emphasized the importance of gathering contact information from your potential target markets. “Have a data base.” She suggested ACT as a free source and was not in favor of excel spreadsheets.
“Your website should be your brand.” It should have an easy to use directory and its goal should be to get people to your downtown. It is very important that people know that when they get to your downtown, it is going to be easy for them to park. “Parking is every consumers fear.” Have a clear parking plan on your website and easy to follow parking signs in your downtown. Put easy to fill out forms on your website for volunteers and businesses interested in more information about your downtown. The easier you make it for them, the more information you will gather. Make your website fun.
Denise asked us to write down ten reasons why people should come to our downtowns. It was not as easy as you would think. Try it.
She said that once we figure out what those ten things are, they should be added to our websites and that one of the ten should be “to have fun” but that you should not promise what you cannot deliver. If your downtown is really boring…
All of the marketing that you do should be upbeat and exciting. She quoted, and I cannot remember from whom, “If you could set yourself on fire with enthusiasm, people would come from miles around, just to watch you burn.”
Keep track of the return on your investments when doing events. If the event does not generate business for merchants or hinders their operations, is it worth doing? If you do an event, make sure everyone knows it’s your event.
Denise said not to get overwhelmed. Pick three goals and stick with them. Stop comparing yourself to others and focus on what you have achieved. Keep an open mind to new possibilities. She suggested that you make one of your board members the “Minister of Fun” and it would be their responsibility to bring something interesting to every meeting.
Denise gave a handout with nine suggestions of how to get more people to your downtown. Use the four P’s of marketing. (Price, Product, Place and Promotion) Know your target market. Use the right tools and keep using them. Get a database if you do not have one. Love your marketing or leave it. Don’t promise anything you can’t deliver. WIIFM, WIIFM, WIIFM. (What’s in it for me? Your consumer, businesses, volunteers, board members, etc…). It’s still about relationships. And finally,
“Let your passion and enthusiasm show-they are your greatest assets.”
There are a few other interesting things that I came away with, but I cannot remember which session I learned them in.
It is important to manage your parking. The value of a parking space can be calculated by dividing the gross annual sales in the downtown by the number of parking spaces. The average value of a downtown parking space is between $17,000 and $30,000 per space.
You should track all of your volunteer hours at $18.18/hr.
Generation Y, volunteer more than any other group but they need a purpose or they won’t show up. You have to text them or use facebook or twitter to communicate.
Have an annual meeting to celebrate what you have accomplished.
The topics covered at the Main Street Conference could easily fill a semester’s worth of classes. I came away with a very full brain and a lot of good information.
