We recently returned from three days at the annual NC Main Street Conference, held this year in beautiful New Bern. It was great to connect with familiar faces and meet some new ones, and we walked away having learned so much from the sessions. While there’s far more than fits in just one blog post, here are a few our biggest takeaways.
A thriving downtown is an essential element of economic development. Prospects that come to your community ask about schools, health care, and your downtown. If your downtown isn’t a selling point, that’s a problem. That’s why counties should be interested and invested in downtowns – it’s hard to go further than your key downtown will take you.
When you stack your stories, you’re stacking dollars. All your financial productivity comes from density. That 2-story downtown retail/office is throwing off more tax money on a per-acre basis than is your big box retailer. And if you have an underdeveloped downtown, that’s where you can make major gains. The folks over at Urban3 had a great presentation that really hammered this point home.
Anchors bring people to your area, but you still have to capitalize on them. Anchor businesses (think museums, theaters, or destination restaurants) draw people to your downtown. But foot traffic alone won’t create a thriving business district. If other businesses are closed when those visitors arrive, everyone loses: the visitors have nowhere to go, and local businesses miss out on ready customers. Think about how your businesses can cross program or adjust hours to capitalize on when the people are downtown. Wayfinding is important in this context, too. It’s great that you got people to your anchor, but that won’t translate if people don’t know where to go after.
Booking roads and pipes as assets on your financial statement gives a false picture. When you think about the long-term cost to repair and replace (and given that you can’t sell them), they’re more liabilities than assets. And are you accounting for depreciation?
Alignment between your downtown development team and your elected officials is key. A standing meeting between the downtown team and the elected officials in your community goes a long way towards keeping everyone on the same page. It also allows you to showcase all the great things you’re doing in the community. Stay in close contact with your other local business and economic development groups as well.
We’re already looking forward to seeing even more of you come next year in Morganton!
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