REWIND: Good points aplenty ... "The big urban mistake: Building for tourism vs. livability."

Social media at Strong Towns reposted this link today. It appeared previously in this space in May 26, 2017. It has long been my viewpoint that grassroots "economic development" officials (municipal officials, non-profit organizations, business owners and other stakeholders) should use points like these as the basis for their discussions. Do they? Beats me, but I think we can all see how much Greg Fischer's "Bourbonism" has been worth in the year 2020. 

THE BIG URBAN MISTAKE: BUILDING FOR TOURISM VS. LIVABILITY, by Arian Horbovetz (The Urban Phoenix)

... I’m painting with a bit of a broad brush, but essentially what so many cities are currently experiencing is the dilemma of whether to invest in large urban draws that will bring outside money in, or invest in a growing and changing downtown residential population that yearns for investments in keeping them there. To put it simply, do cities invest in big projects that create an entertaining space that grows tourism, or do they invest in the people that have already taken a risk by moving back into their long-dormant downtowns?

LEAP

City leaders, this one’s for you. You can either cater to your new residents by going into the downtown apartment buildings and listening to real people, or you can hop on the big ticket project train en route to a revolving door downtown. You can either build for livability or build for fleeting, often overrated promises of tourism revenue. You can facilitate local small business and community development, or you can create a short-lived wow-factor by opening the floodgates to developers and business interests who take money out of our communities. You can empower and invest in your new downtown residents and let THEM be the ambassadors for our growing urban paradises, or you can ignore them and build casinos and other flashy complexes that cater to the outsider and likely line the pockets of someone beyond the boundaries of the community.

The choice, as always, is yours to make. Choose to invest in your residents and local business owners… the people that invested first… tourism, development and financial success will likely follow. Empower your people, honor the risk they took by taking one yourself, and like happy employees of a strong company, they will take care of everything else.

ON THE AVENUES: Prom planning's nice and all, but New Albany still needs an autonomous independent business alliance.

“Good morning, Mr. Baylor. How are you doing?”

“Well, I’m doing fine, and as soon as I haul this kitty litter home it will be time for another coffee, and maybe that will help a bit, at least until cocktail hour. Actually, you can make a pretty strong argument for cocktail hour almost any time of day, except you run into those pesky wee hours when the bars are all closed, but that’s why sensible folks keep their liquor cabinets stocked at home, because your living room never closes. Flasks are even better. They keep your libation of choice toasty and close, and did you know that flasks were popularized during Prohibition? That’s right, we needed a 13-year-long flask to maintain harmony until the bars reopened after Repeal. Hell, we still do. If it was up to me, we’d have a museum about Prohibition, and force the school kids to go. Until then, there’s always cold beer and hot tickets.”

“You’re all set. Have a great day, Mr. Baylor.”

---

I won't deny that a quarter-century of small business ownership has left me a tad exhausted. Near the end of my NABC tenure I often wistfully recalled the words of John Kennedy Tootle's fictional Miss Trixie from his novel, A Confederacy of Dunces.

"Am I retired?"

But it's hip to be square, so last week I attended Develop New Albany's neighborhood soiree at Breakwater. As parties go, it wasn't too bad. The food and music were great, the acoustics horrendous and the beer selection embarrassing, but what left me baffled like always was the preposterous litany of talking points as presented by a succession of DNA board members in a feat of non-ironic propaganda that would have curled Khrushchev's hair.

Did I mention Nikita was bald? The Breakwater residents in attendance were looking around and saying, dude, who are these people?

Let's paraphrase DNA's ludicrous City Hall-ghosted script.

Independent businesses have invested $60 million or more in downtown New Albany these past ten years -- and so DNA will continue to take credit for the success of these investments in spite of the plain fact that DNA has had absolutely nothing whatever to do with them.  

All a guy can do is stand there clutching his flask and thinking, "Hallucinate often?" Yes, there are many things a high school prom planning committee can legitimately achieve, occasionally stepping out of character by utilizing an idea that wasn't brazenly stolen from someone else, but for them to persist in claiming a leading role when it's really been someone else's time and money is ludicrous and surreal -- and it needs to stop.

This is why New Albany's next mayor must immediately redirect DNA willingly or otherwise back toward National Main Street’s Four Point approach, thus helping DNA to get its local mission right for once, and by doing so openly address a key element of economic vitality by stating the unvarnished truth:

New Albany's ongoing revitalization has been led almost entirely by independent locally-owned small businesses, which have invested cash, energy and creativity alongside a cadre of primarily hometown local developers and builders. As such, the next logical grassroots step is for City Hall to help midwife an independent business association -- then get the hell out of the way.

I've bounced this idea off David White, and he gets it. If Mark Seabrook and Dan Coffey are reading, please let me know what you think.

Back in 2011, an independent business association is exactly what Jeff Gahan told some of us he was going to put his weight behind. He didn't, and as we've since learned, he couldn't, any more than my cat can sprout wings and zoom to a grain-fed all-mouse deli in New Jersey.

Gahan's only default mechanism is control, and he annexed DNA in precisely the same fashion as the housing authority, hitching it to his own circled wagon and rendering this purportedly non-political organization into an in-house appendage of his re-election campaign.

Coming soon: mandatory ribbon cuttings for all New Albany businesses -- five or six times until November, if necessary to re-enthrone Dear Leader.

Naturally, using DNA as a plaything provides greater benefits to Gahan for keeping his cult of personality afloat, but an independent business association would offer far greater returns in economic advancement for the entire city. Sadly, beginning in 2012 we learned the hard way that when City Hall generates a head wind against you, it's unlikely you'll be getting up to speed.

This isn't to excuse the independent locally-owned small business community for a certain level of ongoing passivity, only to recognize with eyes wide open that while Gahan has alarmingly few abilities as a cash-stuffed political hack, one of them undoubtedly is a degree of skill at playing the "divide and conquer" game.

Bullying goes hand in hand with this, and fear of the consequences makes it problematic for indies to resist, so pending the imminent electoral flushing of the patronage clique, indies can get started by heeding the advice of the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and embracing a simple but eloquent truth: 

 "There truly is strength in numbers."

AMIBA's characterization of the situation follows. If you own a business or know someone who does, please read and share it.

Because Community Matters

Think of your favorite shop, restaurant, farm or service provider. We’ll bet it’s a homegrown business. Independent locally-owned businesses are essential to a vital local economy and community character. They’re where the locals go. They’re owned by our friends and neighbors, or maybe even by you.

Community-serving businesses are the backbone of local economies, civic life, local charities, and wealth creation for millions of citizens, as well as a training ground for future generations of entrepreneurs.

Problem: Today, independent businesses face unprecedented competition from larger chain competitors, internet merchants and franchises that enjoy national or international branding power and major economies of scale. As a result, community-based businesses comprise a smaller portion of our economy than ever before. We’ll lose much more than places to shop, dine or do business if we allow current trends to continue.

A Proven Solution: Many cities and towns have discovered a model, pioneered by the staff of the American Independent Business Alliance, to counter these trends successfully and help local entrepreneurs thrive. More than 85 communities in North America now boast Independent Business Alliances to unite independent businesses across all sectors, along with concerned citizens to build vibrant, durable local economies. AMIBA can help you use our models to implement an effective buy local campaign, pass pro-local public policies, facilitate effective collaboration among local businesses and more. There truly is strength in numbers. Learn more about benefits of AMIBA affiliation or the four realms of IBA work. You’ll love what an IBA can do for your business or community!

Why expend the effort? Because division is so costly.

When it comes to power, a vacuum is a condition waiting to be filled. In New Albany, with Gahan's default imperative remaining absolute control to the exclusion of intellectual content, entities like DNA (and to an extent One Southern Indiana) are delighted to fill the vacuum created by the absence of indie self-organization, which if achieved would advance the indie business segment's economic interests as a cohesive bloc and make possible the concentration of power as a purpose-built collective.

How many members of Gahan's City Hall clique have ever owned an independent small business? If indies are to have an organization, shouldn’t it be an organization whose primary purpose is to advance the clout of indies? Indies themselves know best, don't they? 

What's more, there is no reason why a New Albany Independent Business Alliance (for a model, think LIBA, the Louisville Independent Business Alliance) could not exist in cooperation with a reformatted DNA’s economic vitality mission, as a component of what National Main Street now refers to as “cross-cutting Community Transformation Strategies." Genuine possibilities exist.

The point is this:

Independent locally-owned small businesses have driven New Albany’s revitalization, and yet in terms of decision-making, the reins are nowhere close to the hands of the folks who’ve done the work.

Why do we not insist on input -- on power -- commensurate with our achievements?

Gahan desires a rubber stamp, not an active and equal partner, but if the mayor and his lickspittles are unwilling to cooperate, shouldn't we be eager to usher forth the era of "next" as quickly and expeditiously as possible?

#FireGahan2019

---

Recent columns:

February 26: ON THE AVENUES: Pretty in pink slips, aren’t they? Those who mutilated Speck need to be cashiered.

February 22: ON THE AVENUES SPECIAL: Take your cult of personality and shove it, Dear Leader.

February 19: ON THE AVENUES: I'd stop drinking, but I'm no quitter (the 2019 Gravity Head remix).

February 12: ON THE AVENUES: If it's about learning and knowledge, then by definition it's a Gahan Free Zone. You're welcome.

February 5: ON THE AVENUES: Our mayor hates non-elected boards -- except when they're his own, which is why "hypocrisy" is spelled G-A-H-A-N.

Good points aplenty: "The big urban mistake: Building for tourism vs. livability."

Team Gahan and Develop New Albany should be locked into a room together.

That'd be enough in itself, but they shouldn't be allowed to come out.

Okay, at least not until each one of them has read this article and are compelled to comment publicly.

As we know, they're unlikely to read this or any other essay, so sound off, fellow dissidents. How is Dear Leader doing according to the criteria herein? I'm sure the upper echelons at Flaherty and Collins have a point of view.

Public housing residents likely do, too. Thanks for the link, MW.

THE BIG URBAN MISTAKE: BUILDING FOR TOURISM VS. LIVABILITY, by Arian Horbovetz (The Urban Phoenix)

... I’m painting with a bit of a broad brush, but essentially what so many cities are currently experiencing is the dilemma of whether to invest in large urban draws that will bring outside money in, or invest in a growing and changing downtown residential population that yearns for investments in keeping them there. To put it simply, do cities invest in big projects that create an entertaining space that grows tourism, or do they invest in the people that have already taken a risk by moving back into their long-dormant downtowns?

LEAP

City leaders, this one’s for you. You can either cater to your new residents by going into the downtown apartment buildings and listening to real people, or you can hop on the big ticket project train en route to a revolving door downtown. You can either build for livability or build for fleeting, often overrated promises of tourism revenue. You can facilitate local small business and community development, or you can create a short-lived wow-factor by opening the floodgates to developers and business interests who take money out of our communities. You can empower and invest in your new downtown residents and let THEM be the ambassadors for our growing urban paradises, or you can ignore them and build casinos and other flashy complexes that cater to the outsider and likely line the pockets of someone beyond the boundaries of the community.

The choice, as always, is yours to make. Choose to invest in your residents and local business owners… the people that invested first… tourism, development and financial success will likely follow. Empower your people, honor the risk they took by taking one yourself, and like happy employees of a strong company, they will take care of everything else.

Something for CM Aebersold to learn about revitalization -- from a conservative, not us.

Purely accidental first-year councilman David Aebersold famously expounded at depressing length about the weight of his ignorance of the modern world in a September 28 letter to the Courier-Journal.

Today, urban planning is dominated by an anti-auto mentality that overrides common sense. In efforts to discourage driving, planners are willing to accept more congestion – which is what will happen on Spring Street – more air pollution and greater numbers of accidents, a result of changing one-way streets to two-way streets. Traffic speeds are independent of whether the streets are one-way or two-way and can probably be controlled on one-way street through the use of coordinated signals that can be set for almost any desired speed.

What the hell -- not everyone can read and research and learn, and the older you get, the less you care to try, although come to think of it, David's not the only confused Aebersold in town. Jamey doesn't grasp it, either, but what can we expect from jazz musicians (wink wink, nudge nudge)?

I'm not sure what can be done about the syncopation of auto-centrism, but in my usual helpful spirit, here's something that might assist the accidental councilman in comprehending little shards of the reality outside his gated preserve -- and not only that, it's completely safe for him to peruse because the publication is called THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE.

I've highlighted just one pertinent suggestion. You're welcome.

How to Brew a Midwest Downtown Renaissance, by John Burtka III (The American Conservative)

1. Infrastructure. Local government music t invest in downtown roads, streetscapes, placemaking, parks, and trails. If you have the vestiges of 1970s urban planning, such as roads turned into walking plazas or one-way bypasses speeding potential customers around and away from downtown businesses, you must remove these impediments to growth now. Many of these projects can take advantage of federal and state incentives that already exist.

See, that wasn't so bad ... was it?

Georgetown, look not to NA's Bicentennial Park as a harbinger of revitalization. Beak-wetting? That's another matter entirely.

A fitting and genuine national landmark in Georgetown.

When I was a kid, Georgetown was a place that had an identity of its own. Perhaps more importantly, until 1967 Georgetown had a high school, which was folded into Floyd Central amid the consolidation trends of the 1960s.

If you ask me, Georgetown's identity crisis began just then, and has proceeded apace during the subsequent half-century.

I'm supportive of any plausible suggestion to restore the "there" to there, but if hopes for renewal hinge on the creation of a boondoggle akin to New Albany's Bicentennial Park, I'd recommend overt and continuing skepticism.

In short, as we discussed exhaustively in 2012, Bicentennial Park's design makes little sense according to any coherent criteria, apart from being an excellent way to spend more than $800,000 on flawed symbolism.

Bicentennial Park, Part One: "Whom Does Design Really Serve?"

Bicentennial Park, Part Two: "When did the public input process into this park's location, imagined functions, design, and construction occur?"

Park comparisons get worse: Breaking ground on an overpriced copy.

Legacy Square? Nah, pie are round, cornbread are square.

Yes, folks certainly enjoy Bicentennial Park when summertime concerts are staged there, but these spectacles cannot take place without an ongoing weekly subsidy from City Hall -- thousands of dollars per event, spent over and over again just to make the park functional for a use that apparently no one bothered anticipating.

Good luck, Georgetown. The single best question residents might be asking themselves is how one restores vibrancy to a bedroom community primarily maintained as a component of a pervasive culture of auto-centrism. Just imagine if residents of Georgetown and places like it could make the suburban/regional transit station a centerpiece of its renewal.

One thing's for sure: If a single New Albany city official appears at your gates to offer advice, you'd be wise to send him or her packing.

Georgetown Downtown Revitalization Plan presented to the public; Plan includes economic, building and community design recommendations, by Danielle Grady (News and Tribune)

 ... That space could be a park, like Bicentennial Park in New Albany, possibly with temporary stages, playgrounds and a splash pad. A “far out” future plan, for after the town square is finished is what McCllelan's dubbed “Georgetown Village.”

Courier-Journal sez: "New Albany's rebirth attracts young residents." Whaddya think?

Somehow Bailey Loosemore is able to pen and publish an article about New Albany without longtime rural resident Irv Stumler intervening to pontificate about the urban viewpoint from the aging chassis of a 1953 Peterbilt.

This is an indescribable blessing, and perhaps she'll consider sharing her secret. A muzzle, perhaps? I'd even buy one from Wal-Mart if it would do the trick.

New Albany's rebirth attracts young residents, by Bailey Loosemore.

Therein, the C-J's reporter identities "three key events in the city's history that most New Albanians agree led to the downtown's rebirth."

(Nice use of the term "New Albanian," by the way ... where did THAT come from?)

• 2000: The creation of the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission.
• 2006: David Barksdale and commercial realtor Mike Kopp's idea to establish a riverfront development district, "which allowed restaurants within three blocks of a waterway to purchase three-way liquor licenses for $1,000."
• 2008: The Floyd County Family YMCA opened its doors.

Do you agree?

Recently:

Jeff Gahan seldom speaks for the record, but when he does, he denies homelessness is a problem in New Gahania.

There's nothing like six whole days notice, but: "We Want Your Input on the City's Comprehensive Plan!"

ON THE AVENUES: On two-way streets, a modest proposal for the consideration of my disoriented one-way counterpart.

ON THE AVENUES: There has never been a better time for an Independent Business Alliance in New Albany.

ON THE AVENUES: There has never been a better time for an Independent Business Alliance in New Albany.

A weekly column by Roger A. Baylor.

Before we begin, kindly indulge a relevant digression amid the Chronicles of New Gahania.

“Good morning, Mr. Baylor. How are you doing?”

“Well, I’m doing fine, and as soon as I deposit this pittance of a check, it will be time for another coffee, and maybe that will help a bit, at least until cocktail hour. Actually, you can make a pretty strong argument for cocktail hour almost any time of day, except you run into those pesky wee hours when the bars are all closed, but that’s why sensible folks keep their liquor cabinets stocked at home, because your living room never closes. Flasks are even better. They keep your libation of choice toasty and close, and did you know that flasks were popularized during Prohibition? That’s right, we needed a 13-year-long flask to maintain harmony until the bars reopened after Repeal. Hell, we still do. If it was up to me, we’d have a museum about Prohibition, and force the school kids to go. Until then, there’s always cold beer and hot tickets.”

“You’re all set. Have a great day, Mr. Baylor.”

---

Last week, I glanced in the general direction of Develop New Albany and suggested DNA begin healing itself by heeding the relaunch of National Main Street’s Four Point approach.

ON THE AVENUES: DNA, National Main Street, the Four Points, and how it might yet be possible to get this thing right for once.

After all, isn't cooperation a two-way street?

One of these points has to do with economic vitality, and in the New Albanian sense, economic vitality almost entirely has to do with independent locally-owned small businesses.

This week on Tuesday there was another merchant mixer meeting, and as has been the case so many times in the past – in fact, as it occurs each time I attend a merchant mixer meeting – I couldn’t help observing that in the context of downtown New Albany's ongoing revitalization, the effort has been led almost entirely by independent locally-owned small businesses, as well as a cadre of local developers and builders.

Yes, there are caveats aplenty. New Albany’s revitalization is imperfect and incomplete, but insofar as humans have returned to a once deserted downtown, it’s because independent locally-owned small businesses have taken the risks, invested, and transformed New Albany from a metro Louisville punch line into something different.

How different, and whether the results are sustainable, constitute the next huge hurdle. You’re entitled to my opinion, so here it is.

Independent locally-owned small businesses are mistaken to think that this hurdle can be cleared by disengagement, or by waiting for this or any other city government to dictate the terms.

Rather, independent locally-owned small business owners must evade the intended diversion of time spent micromanaging periodic events and instead put their mouths where their money is by heeding the advice of the American Independent Business Alliance and embracing a simple but eloquent truth: "There truly is strength in numbers."

AMIBA's characterization of the situation follows. If you own a business or know someone who does, please read and share it.

Because Community Matters

Think of your favorite shop, restaurant, farm or service provider. We’ll bet it’s a homegrown business. Independent locally-owned businesses are essential to a vital local economy and community character. They’re where the locals go. They’re owned by our friends and neighbors, or maybe even by you.

Community-serving businesses are the backbone of local economies, civic life, local charities, and wealth creation for millions of citizens, as well as a training ground for future generations of entrepreneurs.

Problem: Today, independent businesses face unprecedented competition from larger chain competitors, internet merchants and franchises that enjoy national or international branding power and major economies of scale. As a result, community-based businesses comprise a smaller portion of our economy than ever before. We’ll lose much more than places to shop, dine or do business if we allow current trends to continue.

A Proven Solution: Many cities and towns have discovered a model, pioneered by the staff of the American Independent Business Alliance, to counter these trends successfully and help local entrepreneurs thrive. More than 85 communities in North America now boast Independent Business Alliances to unite independent businesses across all sectors, along with concerned citizens to build vibrant, durable local economies. AMIBA can help you use our models to implement an effective buy local campaign, pass pro-local public policies, facilitate effective collaboration among local businesses and more. There truly is strength in numbers. Learn more about benefits of AMIBA affiliation or the four realms of IBA work. You’ll love what an IBA can do for your business or community!

---

Readers with long memories will recall that six or seven years ago, there began an effort to form an independent business alliance under the auspices of AMIBA. It was called New Albany First.

Currently, New Albany First is as defunct as Monty Python’s infamous parrot, and because the organization failed to gain traction, some will conclude that the principles it espoused also have been discredited.

I strongly disagree. To the contrary, I’m here to suggest that these principles are more important than ever before.

When it comes to power, a vacuum is a condition waiting to be filled. In New Albany, with local government barely a blip on the chart as it pertains to support for independent locally-owned small business development, groups like DNA and One Southern Indiana seek to fill a vacuum created by the inexplicable, ongoing inability of independent local small business owners to organize themselves, to advance their economic interests as a bloc, and to take seriously their potential power as such a purpose-built collective.

If business owners are content to outsource this clout to an organization, then shouldn’t it be an organization whose primary purpose is to advance the clout of business owners?

However, there is no reason why a New Albany Independent Business Alliance (for a model, think LIBA, the Louisville Independent Business Alliance) could not exist in cooperation with DNA’s economic vitality mission, as a component of what NMS now refers to as “cross-cutting Community Transformation Strategies." Genuine possibilities exist, but before they're leveraged, a level of clarity must be attained. This will take longer than hour-long meetings, once each month.

As for the legacy of New Albany First, we should be able to chalk it up to experience, and learn from our mistakes, but I’m less concerned with organizational details as I am with making the most important point of all to New Albany’s independent local small business owners.

Independent locally-owned small businesses have driven New Albany’s revitalization, and yet in terms of decision-making, the reins are nowhere close to the hands of the folks who’ve done the work.

Why do we not insist on input commensurate with our achievements?

---

August 11: ON THE AVENUES: DNA, National Main Street, the Four Points, and how it might yet be possible to get this thing right for once.

August 4: ON THE AVENUES: Federal funding mechanisms total eighty percent. The other half is unalloyed political malice.

July 28: ON THE AVENUES: An imaginary exercise tentatively called The Curmudgeon Free House.

July 21: ON THE AVENUES: We have our own Big Four Bridge. They’re called Main, Market, Spring and Elm.

July 14: ON THE AVENUES: Weeds, porch appliances and our civic Gospel of Appearances.

Let's ask the old white guys: Revisiting last Saturday's dismal "spotlight" on street reconversion.

It's taken me a week to arrive at a juncture where it strikes me as obvious that beating these dead horses is fruitless.

By "dead horses," I refer to the full range of things we already know, as revealed in this bold new whatever.

The thumb prints of article "contributor" Chris Morris can be spotted all over this piece, as ostensibly written by the rookie.

Consequently, three superannuated white men and a self-interested heavy equipment company provide the requisite "against" testimony to scratch Morris's itch, while two (2!) reporters can't muster the gumption between them to locate an owner or manager of one of downtown's younger, newer generation businesses and ask them what they think about it.

This lapse alone justifies suspicion. Only Al Knable appears as a local "for" witness, and overall, the "cons" handily outnumber the "pros." That's no coincidence. Morris is cancer when it comes to fairness, balance and the power of ideas.

Bob Caesar's and Irv Stumler's fact-allergic and forever opinionated drivel has long since sagged to the level of bile and self-parody, yet there they are, for the umpteenth time, convenient go-to sources for Morris's oft-stated bias against street grid reform. Yet, a cursory search of the interwebz reveals voluminous countervailing testimony to their misconceptions.

As usual, no one at Stenography Central is willing to ask a follow-up question. Maybe the new CNHI editor will take an active interest in the world outside Jeffersonville. Maybe I'll win the lottery. Maybe David Duggins will spend economic development time thinking about jobs. Verily, anything is possible.

Now for the truth. 

The Board of Public Works and Safety is charged with making these two-way walkability decisions. As such, the Jeff Gahan is pleasantly insulated from the inconvenience of taking a coherent stance and being accountable.

Of course, Gahan appointed BOW. It's his as much as the article below is Morris's.

We inhabit an imperial mayoral fiefdom. Gibson's Gahan's will be done. The kingpin will issue a writ, yea or nay, the board will comply, and that's the end of it. 

The rest of us have had no say, and will have no say, unless one wishes to smear lipstick on the pig and pretend that last year's public meetings actually mattered.

But this is top-down city, isn't it?

SATURDAY SPOTLIGHT: As cities convert one-way streets, is New Albany next?, by Danielle Grady (I Heart Jeffersonville)

Assistant Editor Chris Morris contributed to this story

NEW ALBANY — Towns across Indiana are revamping their downtowns to attract and keep residents, and street conversion is an important part of some of their plans.

Warsaw, Whiting, Jeffersonville and New Albany all have been making an effort to improve their downtowns, said Matt Greller, executive director of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns.

"How Europe’s industrial cities bounced back from the brink of ruin."

Reusing what's already there, re-skilling people ... recycle, remake and regrow ... but nowhere is it explained how TIF-driven campaign financing makes it all possible.

How Europe’s industrial cities bounced back from the brink of ruin, by Anne Power (The Conversation)

From Sheffield to Torino, Lille to Leipzig, Belfast to Bilbao, Europe’s industrial cities are no strangers to hard times. Faced with depleted resources, plummeting populations and urban degradation, these cities struggled to round a corner. But somehow, around the turn of the century they recovered and began to flourish. The 2008 bank crash and the eurozone crisis dented their progress, but couldn’t stall it completely.

I have spent the last 20 years seeking to understand how the cities of Europe’s industrial heartlands backed away from the brink of ruin and recaptured their former glory. I discovered a strong common thread of industrial collapse, reinvestment and pulling through in spite of austerity ...

 ... All these cities rely heavily on small and medium-sized enterprises, many of which survived the industrial crisis. This model of small-scale survival and reinvention has served the “weak market cities” well. Their populations have slowly recovered, jobs have returned and they have found new ways of making and doing which reuses what is already there – starting with their civic infrastructure, and spreading to poorer neighbourhoods. They are re-skilling their people, as well as restoring their homes.

Along the way, the shrinkage in global resources, the urgency of climate change, the potential of green energy illustrates the need for the circular economy – where we only take out what can be restored. Europe’s former industrial cities are developing new ways to recycle, remake and regrow, as well as pioneering renewable technologies. For the world’s smallest continent, these cities are the future.

On Leicester, football and city -- with a musical interlude to boot.

Prior to the start of the campaign, oddsmakers tabbed Leicester City at 5,000 - 1 to win the Premier League title.

The Premier League is an English professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Football League. Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify.

But Leicester City did just that, and Kasabian's Serge Pizzorno is living his dream after the Premier League title win.

Let's pause for a number.

Serge is the thin, bearded guitar player.

Meanwhile, The Economist provides yet another urban renewal lesson for New Albany to ignore,in spite of the fact that our team won the title, too.

Leicester’s success: Foxes and tigers, at The Economist

... What people might find is that it is not just the football club, but the city (population: 340,000) that has plenty to share. Leicester was for good reason chosen as the first stop on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee tour of the country in 2012. In some ways it is the epitome of modern Britain. Locals argue that the footballing triumph is but the validation of Leicester’s re-emergence as a city; a mix of long-term ambition and unflashy, organic growth.

“Leicester clothes the world” was the slogan when the city was full of hosiers and bootmakers; in 1936 it was named as the second-richest city in Europe. But in the 1980s Leicester lost almost all this to cheap overseas competition. Rebuilding the devastated economy has been a painful task, but is now bearing fruit.

Newspaper editorial board votes 4 - 1 in favor of New Albany's downtown "revival," local businesses and two-way streets.

Granted, all the dots don't connect in terms of editorial logic.

OUR OPINION: City's 'Main Street' revival fuels region (editorial board at the News and Tribune)

 ... Long the local standard-bearer for reimagining “Main Street,” downtown New Albany is experiencing a new business microburst. From unique restaurant concepts to trendy décor shops to niche boutiques, the fork-in-the-cheese city is showing its teeth.

Let's consider a few examples.

As a frequent reader notes, "Not so sure the apartments (Breakwater) are a capstone. They may be a millstone."

The culinary team preparing Gospel Bird for opening is surprised to learn about menu options even they didn't know existed: "I had no idea that Gospel Bird is now a Nashville hot chicken place and that we are offering 'games' in the bar area."

(Seeing as NA Confidential has not mentioned games and Nashville hot chicken in a Gospel Bird context, it appears these notions came from elsewhere on the Internet. The newspaper still is down a reporter, after all, and most boots are on the ground in Clark County)

Then there's this: "Can someone forward me info about the accredited Main Street program? Thinking we might be missing out on something."

Straight face: It's Develop New Albany, and it probably is not recommended that Nawbany partisans make too many comparisons between DNA and Jeffersonville Main Street; the latter has a far longer record of adhering to the National Main Street program, although DNA lately has been showing signs of a renewed pulse.

Still, while difficult, let's not be entirely churlish.

The newspaper properly recognizes the entrepreneurs, humorously excludes the politicians forever eager to claim credit, and makes one hugely excellent point:

"Imagine the possibilities if New Albany shifts its downtown street grid to two-way, which would benefit business and pedestrian traffic. We’re counting on hearing positive news to that end this year."

Of course, it's funny how everyone counts on forever elusive "positive news" about the street grid, even as the folks in City Hall charged with making it happen adhere to the down low, drag their feet to the detriment of these same entrepreneurs, and pause only to award lucrative engineering consultancy contracts from sheer nepotism, once removed (something also eluding the newspaper's grasp) ... but I digress.

Of course, there's a humorous side, too: Chris Morris is one component of an editorial board now finally hinting at a solid position in favor of two way streets, on grounds of business and walker safety, as Morris chafes and suppresses a scream: But what's to become of our poor oppressed pass-through truckers? Ah, the humanity ... the lost horsepower ... what, don't these people walking around have cars?

Now, about that reporter ...

Falling Run: NA's "waterfront revival" prospect?

Locals will recall Tom Galligan's plan for creating a Jeffersonville canal from scratch as a means of channeling storm water and jump-starting development. It didn't happen, of course. There already is an accessible waterway sans levee (the Ohio), and the Big Four Bridge has proven to be the requisite redevelopment magnet.

A Waterfront Revival, No Water Required, by Amy Crawford (City Lab)

The Canal District of Worcester, Massachusetts, is flourishing. Now all it needs is a canal.

New Albany's best conceptual point of convergence in potential terms was considered earlier this year.

Falling Run 1: An example at Beargrass Creek?

Falling Run 2: A look back at 2006, and "West End Woes."

Mailer Wars '15: Barksdale dares to mention the "d" word.

You have to admire David Barksdale for leading off with a vow to "take downtown revitalization to the next level," not because it provides sufficient substance to inform us which level downtown occupies at present (seemingly fundamental if one seeks to go "next"), but because of the widely reported phenomenon of Don't Talk Downtown.

A. Contrary to old voters' tales, downtown does NOT receive disproportionate financial attention from City Hall. In fact, as I've often noted, revitalization has occurred in SPITE of City Hall, not because of it.

B. When City Hall HAS invested public money downtown, it has tended to be wrong (Doug's Bicentennial Park, Jeff's Main Street beautification), BUT even these boneheaded moves have not represented expenditures equal to the long-term costs of suburbanization.

C. AND New Albany's inner ring suburbs generally are four or less miles from the core, meaning that much of the discussion is moot, anyway.

Barksdale follows with the necessarily italicized "healthy" neighborhoods in all part of the city, and further notes the importance of business friendliness.

One wonders how Barksdale contextualizes business-friendly attitudes with Padgett, Inc., the GOP's chief downtown benefactor, and an entity than both gives and takes away: It's been "friendly" toward some of Barksdale's favored historic preservation causes, while profoundly unfriendly as it  pertains to other helpful measures -- read: street grid reform.

All in all, this mailer is above average for the genre. It's an apt introduction, and the candidate's willingness to lead with downtown revitalization stands out from the pack.

If you're a progressive, who gets the nod: David Barksdale, Shirley Baird ... or none of the above?

Officer, you've got the wrong man. It wasn't me who got all symbolic with that one-way street sign.

Friday night or Saturday morning.

On second thought, maybe we're expecting rain, and there are no more stop signs to use as drain covers.

But seriously: Let's never forget that in 2011, then-candidate Jeff Gahan expressed support for two-way streets, only to spend his entire four-year term doing nothing to bring it about save the commissioning of a study by Jeff Speck, one currently collecting dust on a shelf adjacent to vintage unread Readers Digest Condensed Books.

From July, 2013 (two years ago) comes this post. It was a time when I still thought Gahan might follow through and do something.

The opportunity costs of Gahan's inaction are staggering, but it's okay. We'll get it done once I'm elected, beginning on January 1, 2016.

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Mr. Mayor, tear down these signs. Perhaps the council will help you?

I'm the first to admit that during this busy (and at least not yet overbearingly hot) summer, I've been distracted by second-rate county health bureaucrats, to the exclusion of other perennial blog themes ... like getting to work right now on the task of rationalizing New Albany's street grid prior to the bridges project's dislocation/construction/destruction madness.

The essence of what we keep saying is to study principles elucidated and summarized (as a recent example) by Jeff Speck in his book, “Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time,” and fit them into a program of action here in New Albany, because achieving a desired aim of walkability and garnering the benefits is brings to our ongoing revitalization requires making the same street grid changes needed to mitigate the onslaught of drivers seeking to escape the mess in Clark County by speeding through New Albany on one-way streets.

NASCAR is an entertainment option usually confined to racetracks, not streets in neighborhoods where people live and small businesses operate. It's way past time to correct the situation and to take possession of the city's streets for the benefit of humans, not solely their cars.

It's a city council meeting night, and there's a light agenda. It's been almost a month since the council's street grid committee (Diane Benedetti, Shirley Baird, John Gonder and Greg Phipps) met with John Rosenbarger to discuss this issue.

I am told the committee favors funding a feasibility study, enabling the city to "tap into 80/20 match funds from the Feds." One of the committee members was supposed to have met with Mayor Gahan, and a feasibility funding resolution was said to be forthcoming.

Baby steps are good, and perhaps necessary when it comes to politics, but this municipality needs to openly grasp forthwith that bridges chaos is happening now. The oligarchs' idiocy has started. Those who supported Eisenhower-era transportation boondoggles for future problems can have their show trials later, when there's time enough for scourging, but in the meantime, we must prepare the city's streets: First, to meet the coming traffic challenges, and second, to gain as much benefit as possible for New Albany from these years of lunacy to come.

Today's dollop of intellectual reinforcement is from California.

Simple Fix: turn downtown one-way streets into two-ways, by David Garcia (Stockton City Limits)

... To understand why one-way streets are such a bad idea, it’s important to reflect on why they are there in the first place. Some 50 to 60 years ago, cities began converting several two-way streets into one-ways in order to help commuters get into and out of downtown as quickly as possible. The proliferation of highways made it easy to live in the suburbs and work downtown, and one-way streets made it easier to funnel cars from off ramps to their offices, and vice versa. This change proved to be a boon for commuters who could speed through downtown without any of the inconveniences of a normal street grid layout. However, this trend also had unintended consequences, namely the demise of downtown retail areas ...

... It’s not just Speck who sings the praises of two-way streets, either. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is also a two-way street advocate, citing the findings of a 25-city survey where the elimination of one-ways lead to a decrease in vacancy rates. A Portland real estate consulting group concluded in 2007 that “In the case of a revitalizing urban corridor, the most important benefit afforded by the two-way street is the priority given to the pedestrian. Two-way streets tend to promote a sense of pedestrian dominance that contributes to the tax base, creates an environment that encourages urban residential development and contributes to a compact city form.”

A true renaissance (anywhere) "must be sparked by the empowerment of existing residents."

Fundamentally better NA.

Gill Holland made a few good points during his talk last week at the Green Building in NuLu. Given New Albany's recent experience with capital-intensive, gleaming facade and plaque-ready projects, this part struck me hardest.

Gill Holland, Steve Poe talk development in West Louisville, what to do if Humana is sold, by Chris Otts (WDRB)

Government is good at spending a lot of money in one place, like $135 million for the new Omni Hotel downtown. But 135 separate investments of $1 million in west Louisville would transform the area, he said.

Ah, but it would depend on campaign finance opportunities and voting patterns in those 135 areas, wouldn't it?

Joe Dunman recognizes the positives in the chat by Holland and Steve Poe, but he also sees "important differences between NuLu and Portland that ... often get lost in the hype." In several ways, these differences are both significant and relevant to New Albany's position.

I'm not doing Dunman's essay justice by reducing it to a mere paragraph -- and the conclusion, at that. Go to IL and read.

A true Portland renaissance must be sparked by the empowerment of existing residents, by Joe Dunman (Insider Louisville)

... If Portland and the rest of the West End are to enjoy a true renaissance, it must be sparked by the empowerment of existing residents. It can’t be imposed by a few outsiders buying up cheap lots and flipping them, displacing locals in the process. It requires a collective effort with government leadership. Speculators can invest and enjoy returns, but if the city is to improve as a whole, everyone must reap the benefits of neighborhood revitalization.

Falling Run 1: An example at Beargrass Creek?

Read "Beargrass Creek," and think "Falling Run."

Beargrass Creek and the road to revitalization, by Kevin Gibson (LEO Weekly)

 ... He sees the project as having a three-fold benefit: First and foremost, it will stabilize the areas adjacent to the creek, many of which have been used as illegal dumps. Secondly, it will “put more eyes on the creek.” And by doing that, the third benefit will be that with that newfound focus on Beargrass Creek, it will motivate the community to restore it and keep it clean and accessible.

“People do believe in clean water,” Wicks says. “People do believe in healthy streams.”

In reply, John Gonder quite properly references Cassius: "The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves."

Cribbed from somewhere on the Internetz.

I'm glad John told me about his published reply, as I'd missed it on Sunday. Here's my tip from last week:

Damn it, John Gonder: Help revitalization and small business prospects downtown with two-way streets!

Here are John's thoughts.

Click through and read them all. We wouldn't get any such thoughtful explanation from the current occupant(s), would we?

Glad You Asked

Earlier today I read the NA Confidential blog by Roger Baylor, in which he questions my comments in a News and Tribune article by Daniel Suddeath on the current state of downtown New Albany. Roger felt I had betrayed an unspoken allegiance to a walkable New Albany by not seizing on the opportunity Suddeath offered to bring out the incantation of street conversion in my remarks ...

 ... When Daniel interviewed me, he referred back to some conversations he'd had earlier in the day, or week, with Dave Duggins, and some others. Because I do feel that a walkable New Albany would be a better environment for small and independent businesses, I thought of mentioning the conversion of one-way to two-way streets, since, as I said, I believe such a conversion brings us closer to that goal. Somehow or another, Daniel and I got on to another aspect of his question about what government can do to help stem the loss of businesses downtown, or to create a more fertile field in which to grow new businesses downtown.

Out with the down-low: "We don’t ban the car. We just prioritize it."

There is no conceivable gain from timidity. If the point is for the city to do something to assist core revitalization, rather than to make excuses and blame businesses, then the answer is obvious, and must be implemented with boldness.

Damn it, John Gonder: Help revitalization and small business prospects downtown with two-way streets!

In Beane We Trust: "Getting better every day" is for New Albany, too.

Following up: Progressive embarrassment, political cowardice and NA falling behind Jeffersonville.

As indicated somewhat openly by the recent helter-skelter proclamations of New Albany's presumed economic "development" director, City Hall's flailings are beginning to become embarrassing, and frankly injurious to the business at hand. Not knowing something is one thing, and can be cured through learning and instruction -- if the student cares to learn.

On the other hand, being a bad actor plainly spoils the broth.

Open Letter to a Car-Addicted City, by Brent Toderian (Planetizen)

... We’ve been transforming more and more of the road space we had into wider sidewalks, bus-only lanes, separated bike-lanes and other space for active, healthy, space-saving transport. And our commute times and vehicle km’s travelled, two of the biggest definitions of success for traffic engineers, have both been going down. In other words, it’s easier to get around the city, and a lot more people are making "trips." Just with fewer cars.

We don’t ban the car. We just prioritize it last. And that works better for everyone because moving more people takes less money and less space.

Drinking Progressively: Let's make it Tuesday evenings, beginning on November 25.

Damn it, John Gonder: Help revitalization and small business prospects downtown with two-way streets!

There is an article today by Daniel Suddeath in the News and Tribune in which the state of small business success/failure in downtown New Albany is surveyed.

I'm not linking to it because the pay wall prevents me from doing so. You can find it easily enough.

David Duggins (the economic development guy with no economic development plan) speaks of natural business cycles of the sort he's never experienced personally.

Council member John Gonder lashes out at the deleterious influence of Big Box retail.

Developers Carter, Resch and Chalfant have good things to say about prospects for improvement in light of their ongoing, largely unsubsidized development efforts.

Current city band-aid programs (UEA, sidewalk repairs after a half-century of neglect, a dozen Bicentennial Park concerts each summer) are praised as manna from heaven, and not a single small business operator is consulted.

You'd think they'd be the most important sources of information, particularly as all others seem to agree they should be doing more to help themselves ... but I digress.

We already know that Duggins and his City Hall colleagues are utterly terrified to mention aloud what they insist correctly in private is the ideal means of our potential betterment -- Jeff Speck's forthcoming proposals for walkability, which include calmed traffic and completed, two-way streets. Duggins himself told me quite unapologetically that he couldn't possibly be seen to educate small business owners about the merits of Speck's worldview, lest he and the city be blamed for potential business failures -- which, of course, are occurring right now, pre-Speck.

ON THE AVENUES: Really, the word “progressive” embarrasses you? That’s okay, because political cowardice disgusts me.

However, for chrissakes, shouldn't John Gonder know better and be prepared to say so?

All John can say for attribution in the newspaper today is that he doesn't know what further help the city might provide to improve the business climate -- and he gallops off to compare apples and oranges with respect to retail varieties.

Really?

Earth to John: We know quite well how big box retail negatively impacts us, and what we're trying to do is implement as broad a range of potential solutions as possible, as with the following article, which I'm reprinting in its entirety, called "A Business Case for Conversion from One-Way to Two-Way Streets."

We all know quite well that a two-way street grid, aiding and not nullifying just the sort of small business climate as downtown New Albany is capable of having, is a strategy proven to work.

Why can't we mention this fact aloud?

Just because City Hall fears its own shadow and refuses to own a project that can do QUITE A LOT to help improve the business climate, not just for a few facade grant or sidewalk beneficiaries, but for all involved ... if we'd just bloody well GET ON WITH IT and get it done ... do you think a council person who understands this might chime in for once and HELP?

Or did PaddyMac forbid comment, too?

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A Business Case for Conversion from One-Way to Two-Way Streets

Today, we have a better understanding of what ingredients can contribute to a vibrant and prosperous city, and it is not limited to traffic flow.

By Sarah V. Wayland
Published May 24, 2012

The recent debate in Hamilton around one-way streets has focused on different aspects of the issue, including pedestrian safety, livable neighbourhoods, and the "usefulness" of one-ways. This article focuses specifically on small retail businesses, building on the insightful essay by Aaron Newman to show some of the research findings in this area.

Considerable research on the business case has been cited in a relevant Master's thesis1 that forms the basis of this article.

Among the many variables for assessing one-way and two-way streets in a commercial corridor are business visibility and storefront exposure. Business visibility refers to the ability of a driver to see and identify a storefront or sign. Storefront exposure is the ability of a driver to see a specific storefront based on the store's location within the block and within the street network.

There is some evidence that one-way streets are good for business, but only certain kinds of businesses. For supermarkets and other kinds of high-volume, low-margin stores or destination stores with their own parking lots, one-way couplets (such as we have on King and Main) can provide quick access.2

However, in the case of smaller stores that are situated along an urban city block, sell unique items, and are often locally-owned, two-way streets provide better business visibility and storefront exposure.

Even critics of two-ways agree on this point: "Specialty stores that rely on impulse sales and depend on high margins per sale do better on two-way streets, since only half their potential customers would see them on a one-way couplet."3

Indeed, even national book and coffee chains choose locations on two-way streets to maximize exposure and visibility.4

Why two-way streets are better for business

Storefront visibility: Storefront visibility is an essential prerequisite for "impulse" purchases and stops at smaller stores, even if the motorist plans to return later on foot to shop. Storefront visibility is optimized when drivers go at speeds of 30 to 40 km/hour.

In excess of about 48 km/hour, it becomes difficult for a motorist to observe what retail outlets are located along the street.5 When traffic moves above the posted speed limit, as often happens on one-way thoroughfares, storefronts and signs are even less visible.

Direction of travel: Storefronts lose valuable exposure to drivers on one-way streets. As drivers approach an intersection, they can see storefronts on the far side of the cross street. However, the closer side of the cross street is completely eclipsed from view, thereby decreasing precious storefront exposure. Even the stores on the far side are not so noticeable if the driver doesn't have to come to stop at the intersection.

Consumer comfort: Slower-paced two-way streets offer a better shopping and dining experience for consumers than do one-way multi-lane roads through commercial areas. Public gathering places can form along streets that where traffic is calmed.

In the United States, there is actually a strategy that involves making streets more "consumer friendly" by attracting pedestrians, increasing congestion and making downtown street networks more easily navigated.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street program seeks to preserve and revitalize downtown areas. Developed in the 1970s to prevent the continued decline of traditional commercial streets in American cities, the Main Street approach has supported the use of one way to two-way conversions.6 To date, it has been applied in more than 1,200 cities, towns, and neighborhoods, with very positive results.

Conversion to Two-Way worked in US Cities

One of the few if only comprehensive surveys of one-way to two-way conversions in downtowns was completed for the Hyannis Main Street Business Improvement District (HMSBID) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 2000.7

The HMSBID commissioned this study when it was considering converting a downtown street (Main Street) to two-way traffic but was dissatisfied with previous conversion case studies that focused on traffic flow only. The HMSBID study focused on business development and downtown livability.

Of the 22 cities identified as having converted their main downtown streets from one-way to two-way, the majority reported positive results in terms of business development.

One community reported mixed results but no municipality reported a negative impact. (It should be noted that many of the conversions were part of a greater revitalization program that included various streetscape improvements, so improvements may have resulted from a variety of changes beyond the elimination of one-way streets.)

Communities reported improved business, increased investment in the downtown, more choices for travel in downtown, increased pedestrian friendliness, and a general feeling of improved "livability", "quaintness", and "sense of community."

Conclusion

In the past, traffic engineers were mainly concerned with avoiding congestion. Other factors such as business vitality, pedestrian safety and the historic character of commercial streets were largely overlooked.

Today, we have a better understanding of what ingredients can contribute to a vibrant and prosperous city, and it is not limited to traffic flow. The business case for "shoppable," driveable, walkable and livable streets has been made. It is now time for our own city planners to take heed.

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Notes

Meagan Elizabeth Baco, One-way to Two-way Street Conversions as a Preservation and Downtown Revitalization Tool: The Case Study of Upper King Street, Charleston, South Carolina (M.Sc. Thesis, Historic Preservation, Graduate School of Clemson University and the Graduate School of the College of Charleston, May 2009).

G. Wade Walker, Walter M. Kulash, and Brian T. McHugh, Downtown Streets: Are We Strangling Ourselves on One-Way Networks? TRB Circular E-C019: Urban Street Symposium (1999), 5.onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec019/Ec019_f2.pdf" style="color: #30861b;">http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec019/Ec019_f2.pdf

Thoreau Institute, Should Cities Convert One-Way Streets to Two Way?, The Vanishing Automobile 30, 29 October 2008. http://www.ti.org/vaupdate30.html

Walker, Kulash, and McHugh, Downtown Streets, 5.onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec019/Ec019_f2.pdf" style="color: #30861b;">http://onlinepubs.trb.org/onlinepubs/circulars/ec019/Ec019_f2.pdf

John D. Edwards, Traffic Issues for Smaller Communities, Journal of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (1998), 32.

John D. Edwards, Converting One-Way Streets to Two-Way: Managing Traffic on Main Street(Washington, D.C.: The National Trust's Main Street Center, 2002).http://www.preservationnation.org/main-street/main-street-news/2002/06/converting-one-way-to-two-way.html

Ted Brovitz, Converting Downtown Streets from One-Way to Two-Way Yields Positive Results, The Urban Transportation Monitor (2000).