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From NBC4i.com:
Necessities Needed To Attract Downtown Residents
By Denise YostAccording to a recent study by Boulevard Strategies, 5,000 residents live in downtown Columbus. But more people work downtown than live in the area, even though there is a desire to.
Viewers said they like all the new option popping up downtown, but they want to make sure grocery stores are available like the Giant Eagle in Victorian Village, the Kroger in the Brewery District or the North Market.
Residents also want to make sure they’re safe. Police said that less than one percent of the aggravated assaults in the city happened in downtown last fall, adding that it helps that police headquarters is located there.
What people are asking for is for someone to open a business a “market”, bodega or whatever where they loose their ass while they wait for the supposed throngs of downtown dwellers to arrive. That’s not gonna happen. I would question the intelligence of any business person who would be willing to take such a hit. It’s simply not reality. Especially when there ARE markets within minutes. If it’s so needed and such a bright idea why hasn’t anyone yakking about it on here actually done it.
I think there are certain urban fantasies that drive these “we need this” and “downtown should be like this” demands. An urban experience and living in the city isn’t necessarily all lush bodegas with flowers spilling onto the sidewalks right outside your front door. Especially in an undeveloped downtown.
When I lived in Manhattan I had one of those folding wire bag lady carts and I hoofed it to the grocery, which was – god forbid a 15 minute walk. And.. There wasn’t even a bus or street car to haul my ass the mile I was forced to walk. Criminal I know. When I lived in Brooklyn the grocery situation was even more dire. Maybe a 20 minute walk. Again, my bag lady cart sufficed.
If you want some Sex and the City Bodega fantasy you’re in the wrong town and you should probably be in New York rockin out your trust fund. Downtown’s needs are a lot more serious. It really has nothing to do with this Chicken or Egg business I hear people say. Downtown has the wrong housing inventory. Developers built the wrong product. You can’t build a luxury product, a condo fortress with no street amenities and expect ‘most’ people to tolerate it (I know some do). Even with the supposedly “affordable downtown housing” those buyers have higher expectations and will have trouble biting.
People come first. The equation that gets people there is pretty simple and there is evidence of that equation working somewhat here. Pioneers followed by street amenities. Pioneers don’t have the cash to buy luxury condo fortresses in the middle of the city.
Jon, the reality is that the city has tax-credited and spent over and over to build downtown, so why not work to fit this perceived or real need?
I think it’s time to stop arguing chicken vs. egg as well, and just buy the chicken. If it’s a real perception (which time and again, it’s proven to be), let’s just fix it. I don’t care if we open the Mike Coleman Bodega and it’s staffed 24 hours a day by City Council members, if it’s hurting downtown, it’s time to rectify the situation.
(I do agree on lower priced housing, no question, but I’d be more likely to buy/rent it if City Council President Mentel would make me a slushie at Mayor Mike’s Mart at 11:00 at night a block away).
p.s. On a more serious note, if I can walk out my front door and walk back with a 6 pack at 10:00 at night easier on Campus, in the Short North, in German Village, or even in Clintonville, than I can downtown…isn’t that a REAL problem, not just a perceived one?
It’s my observation that markets and the evolution of urban areas don’t operate that way. I just don’t think the city should be in the Bodega business. Look at the crowd that shows up at Tip Top and figure out how to get them into tons of rentals that are comparable or lower in cost to where they’re currently living. Get more young people downtown and there will be no Bodega problem.
The issue is the existing plan for downtown was co-conceived by developers who had no vision, little experience with anything urban and simply got greedy.
Andrew: I didn’t think any of the wording in my post was meant to sound arrogant, and I apologize to surber if it came off that way. I didn’t know if they knew it was there. I agree with you that it’s not a true substitute for a real market/bodega, but at the same time I don’t think that means that it counts for absolutely nothing.
Besides… I said in my very first comment that I do think a real market is needed downtown to fix the problem. I’m not telling anyone that there isn’t a problem. Sounds like someone needs to crack a Pepsuber and Refresh Everything. :P
And I agree with Jon as well. Develop the right kind of units for the right audience at the right price points and the businesses will bridge the gap themselves when their customers are there.
This may be a stupid idea, but in terms of a downtown bodega/market/grocery option I wonder how feasible it would be to see a partnership with one or all of the area business schools (Fisher, Franklin and CSCC) to run a downtown grocery under a full time GM/staff for consistency-but also used as a learning lab for business students to get hands on experience.
That was snippier than I intended. Sorry.
People who are looking downtown condos are not making a choice between Muirfield and Downtown but between Grandview condos and Downtown, for example. Comments lashing out at suburbanites are not relevant and come off as arrogant and off-putting. The condos in Grandview are more ‘urban’ in the sense that amenities and necessities are closer and one has more choices than Downtown.
The fundamental problem with Downtown living is that there is a larger list of ‘lacks’ and ‘make-do-withs’ as compared to a pretty short list of advantages.
A.
i must admit that part of the reason that i moved to GV instead of downtown was that no place i could afford offered parking spaces for both mine and my wife’s car. now, i know that i probably could have sold my car, and we could have survived with only one parking space. i think the grocery thing is just another cop out because almost no one is walking to the grocery anywhere in this city (i do occassionally, but only for a couple things). we have to step back and realize that we still live in ohio, and not everyone can get over being a car owner and having access to suburban sized homes and a chilli’s on the corner. it’ll take time, but eventually, there will be enough people here with an urban mind set to make this work.
No doubt. But the question is do we cater to the suburban mindset to grow downtown or do we leave it as is and continue to build it up to cater to the urban mindset and hope/know that someday that demographic will be there? I don’t want to get into that pissing contest, but Columbus has a lot of choices. It’s not hard to find a place that best represents and has what you want.
I’m moving back with parent’s to the burbs (best option at the moment) in a few months. I’m not going to spend the time whining on CU about how unfriendly this area is to bikes and transit (though it would be nice to see the train track down the street used), I’ll make the best of it with park n ride and driving to the bike path.
I think the poll is faulty. The given answer of more groceries is an excuse rather than a reason. People that want to live downtown, live downtown…and people that are surveyed make excuses that sound like the right answer.
I live downtown and hate having to drive to kroger to pick up a few things. I think we need a TRADER JOES. I sometimes drive all the way to Easton just to shop there. I think it’s a very popular grocery store for young professionals. A whole foods wouldn’t be bad either, but it’s just too expensive to do well downtown I think. I put in a request at TraderJoes.com — you should too :)
Whole Foods isn’t too expensive to do well downtown… it’s too big. I’m not even sure if a Trader Joe’s makes sense yet either given the downtown population. We’re probably going to have to start with something even smaller than that.
Given the folks that drive up to Easton for TJ, I think it would work in downtown with the surrounding communities. It’s pretty much what downtown needs-something practical for the immediate residents, but with enough draw to bring folks in from outside the area.
problem with that is that there is a tj that people can drive to. they are not going to come downtown and deal with “the horrible parking and crime” when they can drive to easton instead. i agree with Walker; the answer is not a big store, but rather a small bodega or corner grocery.