Globe West today looks at the impact downtown revitalization may have on some existing Framingham small-business owners, particularly those in the Brazilian community (see Shopkeepers Angry Over Development). A number of them believe the work they've done to improve parts of downtown helped make the downtown more attractive for investment -- and instead of benefitting, their rents are being raised and many will be forced out.
"We made this place attractive. We made this place a suitable place for business. Now they are saying we don't need you anymore," Vera Dias-Freitas, who owns Vera Jewelers, told the Globe.
I can't help thinking that the situation sounds similar to that of many urban artists, who move into "transitional" neighborhoods, spruce them up, make them more appealing, and end up being priced out of the very areas their presence makes more attractive.
It's a tough issue, because there are compelling arguments on both sides. Those who help turn a neighborhood around with hard work and "sweat equity" should get some of the rewards. But particularly in Massachusetts, where communities labor under the shadow of Proposition 2 1/2, it becomes ever more important for town officials to look to boost property values if they don't want to slash services, lay off town workers, or go through the painful, exhausting and risky process of trying to seek an override. Health care and energy costs are soaring at a lot more than 2.5%/year right now.
Then there's the very real question of what's overall best for the town. Gentrification would benefit large parts of the community but potentially hurt others.
Some additional thoughts:
* If it's true that numerous public hearings about the Arcade renovation project were poorly attended, some of those business owners who didn't show up earlier in the process have just gotten a very painful lesson in the importance of paying attention to local political issues and getting active earlier in the process. It's somewhat late in the process to be bringing up these issues a few months before construction is slated to begin.
* Ideally, if small-business owners need to relocate because of downtown revitalization, it would be great if they could get some help with that painful process -- including assistance on how to negotiate leases that would build in protection for business owners who rent space but make the effort to improve that space. It would actually help the town if those businesses filled other space in the area and spread their commercial vitality; but business owners who were penalized, not rewarded, for their efforts should get some assurances that such work wouldn't come to a similar unhappy conclusion for their enterprises a second time.
* Politically as well as economically, it would be wise for as many Brazilian-owned businesses as possible to make an effort to attract and serve the non-Brazilian community. Obviously places like money-transfer stores aren't going to appeal to non-Brazilians who have no interest in sending funds to people in Brazil. But I believe many other businesses could make more of an effort. Why, for example, can't the Brazilian bakery print up a bilingual menu/flyer explaining what the different pastries are, and making recommendations for the first-time customer? This would be a quick and easy way to solve the problem of some of the counter staff not speaking English, and make it clear that non-Brazilian customers are as welcome as Portuguese-speaking ones.
I've long thought that there should be a walking-tour map of ethnic downtown Framingham, highlighting various interesting immigrant-owned businesses (not only Brazilian). Participating stores could have a logo on their window specifically welcoming customers speaking multiple languages - English, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, etc.; and if their staff isn't multilingually equipped to serve those customers, they could have some sort of flier or brochure printed up explaining the things or services they sell (food particularly). This benefits the store-owners financially by expanding their potential customer base at relatively little cost. It also benefits them politically, because the more locals you have as loyal customers, the more voting residents are likely to come to your defense if your business is threatened.
April 30, 2006
Framingham Artist Studios Open House Today
This weekend, artists in two sets of working studios -- Saxonville Studios, in the old Saxonville mill buildings; and the Fountain Street Studios downtown -- have teamed up to hold a joint open house. The public is invited to come visit 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. today. For more information, see SaxonvilleStudios.com and FountainStreetStudios.com.
April 26, 2006
Jane Jacobs’ Legacy
Urban planning pioneer Jane Jacobs died yesterday just before her 90th birthday, leaving a legacy of planners inspired by her beliefs that designing for people is critically important for the vibrancy of communities.
Her groundbreaking book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was written at a time -- the early '60s -- when American society was falling in love with both the automobile and the promise of grand "urban renewal" projects. For many politicians of the era, bigger was better; but the result was the destruction of human-scale environments. Replacement large-scale, bold projects often ended up making communities less successful, not moreso (such as Boston's City Hall Plaza).
Jacobs put into words what many people believed instinctively, but couldn't explain: Highways through the heart of cities are bad and kill off neighborhoods. Mixing commercial and residential use in human-scale, distinctive neighborhoods works better than suburban sprawl.
"In the '50s, American cities were generally considered messy, undesirable things. Suburban life was considered the ideal. Jane Jacobs fought valiantly in defense of plain, old-fashioned, urban life," New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger told the Los Angeles Times.
It was a radical notion in the post-war era, when emerging technologies and industrial prowess seemed to make everything possible, and spanking new suburban communities were seen to be vastly superior to older cities.
"At a time when both common and inspired wisdom called for bulldozing slums and opening up city space, Ms. Jacobs's prescription was ever more diversity, density and dynamism — in effect, to crowd people and activities together in a jumping, joyous urban jumble," the New York Times notes. "Indisputably, the book [Death and Life...] was as radically challenging to conventional thinking as Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring,' which helped engender the environmental movement, would be the next year, and Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique,' which deeply affected perceptions of relations between the sexes, would be in 1963."
Most of those who fight to save close-knit neighborhoods from big-box retailers, who work for pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, who battle for walkable communties, have been inspired by Jacobs' groundbreaking work.
Her groundbreaking book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was written at a time -- the early '60s -- when American society was falling in love with both the automobile and the promise of grand "urban renewal" projects. For many politicians of the era, bigger was better; but the result was the destruction of human-scale environments. Replacement large-scale, bold projects often ended up making communities less successful, not moreso (such as Boston's City Hall Plaza).
Jacobs put into words what many people believed instinctively, but couldn't explain: Highways through the heart of cities are bad and kill off neighborhoods. Mixing commercial and residential use in human-scale, distinctive neighborhoods works better than suburban sprawl.
"In the '50s, American cities were generally considered messy, undesirable things. Suburban life was considered the ideal. Jane Jacobs fought valiantly in defense of plain, old-fashioned, urban life," New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger told the Los Angeles Times.
It was a radical notion in the post-war era, when emerging technologies and industrial prowess seemed to make everything possible, and spanking new suburban communities were seen to be vastly superior to older cities.
"At a time when both common and inspired wisdom called for bulldozing slums and opening up city space, Ms. Jacobs's prescription was ever more diversity, density and dynamism — in effect, to crowd people and activities together in a jumping, joyous urban jumble," the New York Times notes. "Indisputably, the book [Death and Life...] was as radically challenging to conventional thinking as Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring,' which helped engender the environmental movement, would be the next year, and Betty Friedan's 'The Feminine Mystique,' which deeply affected perceptions of relations between the sexes, would be in 1963."
Most of those who fight to save close-knit neighborhoods from big-box retailers, who work for pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, who battle for walkable communties, have been inspired by Jacobs' groundbreaking work.
April 23, 2006
What Killed a Phoenix Neighborhood Business District?
"The 1970s were cruel to the Melrose neighborhood's stretch of north Seventh Avenue: The street was widened," begins an article in the Arizona Republic about the area's renovation. "Seventh Avenue, Councilman Tom Simplot said, became a minifreeway."
It's a cautionary tale for what not to do when faced with traffic problems in a downtown business district. Improving through-traffic flow cannot be planners' sole focus when roads go through retail districts.
Today, though, Melrose is coming back, the Republic says -- in part because "over the past several years, federal funding has been used for streetscape improvements to create a pedestrian friendly feeling for the shopping district within the well-traveled thoroughfare."
That means things like "shade structures," benches, outdoor art, and planned outdoor patios for restaurants.
Designing solely for cars, without also ensuring an attractive, appealing pedestrian streetscape, is usually a recipe for disaster in a neighborhood business district.
It's a cautionary tale for what not to do when faced with traffic problems in a downtown business district. Improving through-traffic flow cannot be planners' sole focus when roads go through retail districts.
Today, though, Melrose is coming back, the Republic says -- in part because "over the past several years, federal funding has been used for streetscape improvements to create a pedestrian friendly feeling for the shopping district within the well-traveled thoroughfare."
That means things like "shade structures," benches, outdoor art, and planned outdoor patios for restaurants.
Designing solely for cars, without also ensuring an attractive, appealing pedestrian streetscape, is usually a recipe for disaster in a neighborhood business district.
April 19, 2006
Quality of Life Doesn’t Just Happen
"Quality of life doesn't happen as a byproduct of a free market," said Harriet Tregoning, executive director of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute in Washington, according to an article in the Charlotte Observer. "You have to be deliberate. You can't just fix it afterward. I don't know of too many communities that have been able to turn a big-box space into a park."
While of course some people still want huge homes on enormous lots in car-mandatory exurban-sprawl communities, demographics are pointing to less, not more, demand for such housing. "In 30 years, proportionately fewer households will have kids, she said," the article notes. "More homeowners will want townhomes or homes on smaller lots located near downtown or other urban amenities. Young professionals and retirees alike will want access to mass transit." Thirty-five years from now, an estimated 30% of U.S. residential demand will be for large suburban houses.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal notes that mega-mall developer Mills Corp. is struggling. "While a typical large mall draws customers from a 10- to 20-mile radius, many Mills malls are so big they need to draw from a larger area to attract enough customers. As a result, Mills became more vulnerable to new competitors, including outlet centers, discount stores and the hot new model -- open-air 'lifestyle centers,' which adhere to a 'Main Street' approach, with stores opening onto a street, says Steven H. Gartner, president of Metro Commercial Real Estate Inc., a Conshohocken, Penn., retail consultant. And high gas prices made shoppers less willing to drive long distances for a deal on a pair of blue jeans," the Journal reports.
"In other words, downtown main streets are 'in' again," says CoolTown Studios. "Still, like anything, it's wise for main streets to understand what made these malls successful for so long, and that's largely attributable to combining retail with entertainment. What were food courts in malls can become dining piazzas in downtowns. Multiplex mall theaters can move to main street. Even indoor recreation like climbing walls and simulated-experience arcade games can find a welcome home in cities rather than in the megamalls."
It's something Framingham needs to remember as it looks to revitalize downtown. Quality of life doesn't just happen, and neither does a vibrant business district. You need planning, an appealing mix of retail and residences, and a pedestrian-attractive streetscape to tie it all together.
While of course some people still want huge homes on enormous lots in car-mandatory exurban-sprawl communities, demographics are pointing to less, not more, demand for such housing. "In 30 years, proportionately fewer households will have kids, she said," the article notes. "More homeowners will want townhomes or homes on smaller lots located near downtown or other urban amenities. Young professionals and retirees alike will want access to mass transit." Thirty-five years from now, an estimated 30% of U.S. residential demand will be for large suburban houses.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal notes that mega-mall developer Mills Corp. is struggling. "While a typical large mall draws customers from a 10- to 20-mile radius, many Mills malls are so big they need to draw from a larger area to attract enough customers. As a result, Mills became more vulnerable to new competitors, including outlet centers, discount stores and the hot new model -- open-air 'lifestyle centers,' which adhere to a 'Main Street' approach, with stores opening onto a street, says Steven H. Gartner, president of Metro Commercial Real Estate Inc., a Conshohocken, Penn., retail consultant. And high gas prices made shoppers less willing to drive long distances for a deal on a pair of blue jeans," the Journal reports.
"In other words, downtown main streets are 'in' again," says CoolTown Studios. "Still, like anything, it's wise for main streets to understand what made these malls successful for so long, and that's largely attributable to combining retail with entertainment. What were food courts in malls can become dining piazzas in downtowns. Multiplex mall theaters can move to main street. Even indoor recreation like climbing walls and simulated-experience arcade games can find a welcome home in cities rather than in the megamalls."
It's something Framingham needs to remember as it looks to revitalize downtown. Quality of life doesn't just happen, and neither does a vibrant business district. You need planning, an appealing mix of retail and residences, and a pedestrian-attractive streetscape to tie it all together.
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