Gotta give ‘em a reason to come downtown – and not just fun events. Content is King, and unless and until compelling content is provided, you won’t see much of an increase in customer traffic.
On the other hand, what sparks new investment?
The answer to that is landowners, business people and city officials with vision. Targeting desirable new businesses, approaching them proactively, and facilitating their start-up with graduated leases tied to sales, marketing assistance and sensible, non–onerous regulation will make new investment much more palatable.
“Thinking outside of the box” is a necessary component here. It’s just that it’s not done very often in Farmington.
Are you asking, you as in using public funds (City of Farmington) or you as in private business?
Inspector Pastways should know how town centers were born in the past.
For more current info, the City of Novi (Grand River and Novi Road) and The City of Farmington Hills (N.W hwy and 14 mile area) have both had developments in the past few years. Not sure who started them but I don’t see them working out great if you base it on the number of leased spaces and turnover of businesses. You may want to consider them as examples.
I have never understood who is being referred to when people say “they” and “them.”
Is it folks from Farmington, or from Farmington Hills? Or is it looking for people to come from Novi, Plymouth, Northville and West Bloomfield?
The best solution to the building of a viable downtown starts with those who decide to invest in their local community and shop locally. (That means you.)
Every dollar “they” spent outside of town is another reason for people not to secure new leases and not to put their capital and investment into downtown Farmington.
If what you want is not in downtown then make sure that the DDA at least knows your preferences. There are plenty of vacant buildings to fill waiting for a business to fulfill your needs.
Hillary, I have a call in to Inspector Pastways. He’s so hard to find these days, because he’s working on the new Heritage & History Center in Farmington Hills “FUNraiser” on December 20, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (or thereabouts), – he’s collecting items for the fantastic FUNraiser Raffle, and working out a deal to have old-time treats from the Farmington Bakery, and arranging for entertainment… stuff like that.
I asked this question because on Saturday, the Farmington City Council and DDA members met at city hall to talk, at least in part, about economic development. I missed the meeting, but heard part of the discussion had to do with this question.
How do you grow a downtown? I’m not sure we can look back at history, because of the way shopping malls and big box discount stores have revolutionized the retail industry. Bob, I completely agree about thinking outside the box, AND that this is something rarely done here. I’m part of the Main Street promotions committee, and now that we’ve separated “events” and “promotion,” I think we have at least pulled back the top flaps of the box. That’s a start.
I didn’t really think through the “you” and “they,” but I guess those really are the key words. What I meant was “we,” as in our community. Including government, citizens, business owners already in place – everybody. And by “they,” I meant shoppers, and primarily, those from Farmington and Farmington Hills. Our downtown business district is at the heart of two communities with a combined population of about 100,000 people. We have a huge and largely untapped primary market.
I sit on a committee with a woman who does most of her shopping in Downtown Farmington. How many of us can say that? How many of us are planning to do most, if not all, of our holiday shopping in Downtown Farmington, rather than on-line or at the mall?
Remember, “the more things change, the more things stay the same”?
I remember the Inspector saying that towns or developments started becouse of a natural resources. In Farmington that may have been the river to power the mill, the land to farm and the trees to build homes. The mill workers would need places to get goods and services. Business would open like general store, shoe repair, etc and the town would grow.
Fast forward to today. Bob M hit the bullseye with “Content is King”. What is the Content or draw to Farmington today? What are the “resources”
I see a strong conection to “build it and they will come” to building a town in the middle of nowhere with no natural resources.
Gotta give ‘em a reason to come downtown – and not just fun events. Content is King, and unless and until compelling content is provided, you won’t see much of an increase in customer traffic.
On the other hand, what sparks new investment?
The answer to that is landowners, business people and city officials with vision. Targeting desirable new businesses, approaching them proactively, and facilitating their start-up with graduated leases tied to sales, marketing assistance and sensible, non–onerous regulation will make new investment much more palatable.
“Thinking outside of the box” is a necessary component here. It’s just that it’s not done very often in Farmington.
Joni,
I’m not sure what you mean by “You”.
Are you asking, you as in using public funds (City of Farmington) or you as in private business?
Inspector Pastways should know how town centers were born in the past.
For more current info, the City of Novi (Grand River and Novi Road) and The City of Farmington Hills (N.W hwy and 14 mile area) have both had developments in the past few years. Not sure who started them but I don’t see them working out great if you base it on the number of leased spaces and turnover of businesses. You may want to consider them as examples.
I have never understood who is being referred to when people say “they” and “them.”
Is it folks from Farmington, or from Farmington Hills? Or is it looking for people to come from Novi, Plymouth, Northville and West Bloomfield?
The best solution to the building of a viable downtown starts with those who decide to invest in their local community and shop locally. (That means you.)
Every dollar “they” spent outside of town is another reason for people not to secure new leases and not to put their capital and investment into downtown Farmington.
If what you want is not in downtown then make sure that the DDA at least knows your preferences. There are plenty of vacant buildings to fill waiting for a business to fulfill your needs.
But only if you shop there.
Hillary, I have a call in to Inspector Pastways. He’s so hard to find these days, because he’s working on the new Heritage & History Center in Farmington Hills “FUNraiser” on December 20, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. (or thereabouts), – he’s collecting items for the fantastic FUNraiser Raffle, and working out a deal to have old-time treats from the Farmington Bakery, and arranging for entertainment… stuff like that.
I asked this question because on Saturday, the Farmington City Council and DDA members met at city hall to talk, at least in part, about economic development. I missed the meeting, but heard part of the discussion had to do with this question.
How do you grow a downtown? I’m not sure we can look back at history, because of the way shopping malls and big box discount stores have revolutionized the retail industry. Bob, I completely agree about thinking outside the box, AND that this is something rarely done here. I’m part of the Main Street promotions committee, and now that we’ve separated “events” and “promotion,” I think we have at least pulled back the top flaps of the box. That’s a start.
I didn’t really think through the “you” and “they,” but I guess those really are the key words. What I meant was “we,” as in our community. Including government, citizens, business owners already in place – everybody. And by “they,” I meant shoppers, and primarily, those from Farmington and Farmington Hills. Our downtown business district is at the heart of two communities with a combined population of about 100,000 people. We have a huge and largely untapped primary market.
I sit on a committee with a woman who does most of her shopping in Downtown Farmington. How many of us can say that? How many of us are planning to do most, if not all, of our holiday shopping in Downtown Farmington, rather than on-line or at the mall?
Joni,
Remember, “the more things change, the more things stay the same”?
I remember the Inspector saying that towns or developments started becouse of a natural resources. In Farmington that may have been the river to power the mill, the land to farm and the trees to build homes. The mill workers would need places to get goods and services. Business would open like general store, shoe repair, etc and the town would grow.
Fast forward to today. Bob M hit the bullseye with “Content is King”. What is the Content or draw to Farmington today? What are the “resources”
I see a strong conection to “build it and they will come” to building a town in the middle of nowhere with no natural resources.
Get them to come and then the town will build.