There’s a pressing reality downtown these days.
Springfield’s urban area is poised to welcome 700 new neighbors in the next 18 months. The Lofts at College Station, Union Biscuit Lofts and The Frisco (formerly Landmark) have added 114 units for 228 residents since August. Plans for Heer’s, Sky Eleven (formerly Woodruff), The U (formerly McDaniel), and Brewery District Lofts would result in another 253 units and 500 residents.
That represents almost as many people living in my hometown of Strafford when I was growing up. And that doesn’t include hundreds of student housing units scheduled to open next year near the Missouri State University campus.
An upside is that several downtown amenities are in good working order and serve as drawing cards for urbanites.
There are 35 restaurants and 10 sidewalk cafes offering a variety of choices. Entertainment options abound with five live theater venues, 16 movie screens, three cultural destinations, and 21 pubs and clubs. Existing parking garages have plenty of capacity for the new residents between the McDaniel and Jordan Valley garages on the east and the Heer’s and College Station garages on the west. Plus, part of the lure of urban living is reducing dependence on cars by utilizing bike routes and greenway trails. City Utilities’ new $5 million bus transfer facility scheduled to open in 2015 should come in handy.
As any good host identifies what needs to be done before guests arrive, here is my list of desired downtown improvements before the apartment dwellers settle in.
• Health care is underrepresented downtown. An urgent care clinic could address the inevitable colds, flu and other ailments that people face throughout the year. A downtown dentist, chiropractors and other specialists could quickly gain patients and follow the example set by The Vision Clinic.
• While cellphone companies duke it out on the south side along Battlefield Road and to the north on Kansas Expressway, thousands of their customers live downtown and/or attend one of our universities. There are several opportune locations for these franchises to have a high-profile presence.
• Downtown offers a core of local retailers – 5 Pound Apparel, Modern Society, Nomad, Grayson Home, Obelisk Home, Springfield Hot Glass, Art Inspired, Envy, Cricket in the House, etc. – that would stack up to any city in the region. However, the base should be broadened to feature more products to appeal to the wider demographic.
• The Bistro Market is a great asset for downtown. However, its 10,000 square feet can only hold a limited number of goods and services. Price Cutter could reach out to focus groups of current and prospective residents to see how they can meet the needs of customers by filling as much as possible from the downtown location and then supplement from the full-service stores. Within 24 hours, Price Cutter could have shoppers’ groceries, prescriptions, flowers or DVD rentals ready to be picked up on the way home. No one is better positioned than Price Cutter to win the business of these new loft residents.
• Many of the residents will come with four-legged furry companions. Multiple dog parks will need to be offered to provide convenient places for pets. For instance, Memphis, Tenn., converted a vacant lot into a “barking lot” with a minimal amount of expense and some great branding.
This is an exciting time in downtown’s revitalization. But there’s work to be done before we can roll out the welcome mat and embrace our 700 new neighbors.
Rusty Worley, executive director of Urban Districts Alliance, can be reached at rusty@itsalldowntown.com.[[In-content Ad]]
