Mainstreet Programs - Can They Really Help Small Towns

A Twitter follower reminded me that it has been a while since I posted anything here. I haven't taken the time lately to expound on the wonders of our small town. I have lived most of my life in towns about the size of Delphos. And I must say that this is as nice a place to live as any of them.

I wrote a story a while back about how the lights on Fifth Street seems to create a potentially bad situation. By inviting people to speed just to avoid having to stop at every light along the way we subject our citizens and our children to unruly traffic patterns. Earlier in the year, I read in the paper where someone confronted city council about that same issue. During this past summer, it seemed like someone was actually getting those lights to change at the correct times. Cars traveling no more than the speed limit could get through most of the lights without having to stop at all of them. I would have graciously applauded the effort, but then school was back in session and the lights went haywire again. This time for the worse, not the better.

Now as I pull up to the light at Franklin going east, I know not to be in a hurry. I know I will have to wait for the light on Pierce which conveniently changes to red just as Franklin's light changes to green. I also know that any hesitation from Pierce means having to stop at Jennings. Coming back the other way, is even worse. Being stopped at Jennings or Pierce means stopping at Franklin, Main, and sometimes Jefferson. While the thought behind the current timing may have been to make it so drivers cannot speed to beat a light, it made me think about another scenario that has been the reason behind this type of action in other communities.

Back in the Late 80's and early 90's, Mainstreet programs in Ohio were gaining significant ground in attempting to stop the migration of business away from the downtowns of our small communities. Rural Economic Development was losing ground to shopping malls and mega-stores building on the outskirts of town and causing the business districts to falter and, in some cases, die. Buildings have been going down hill with businesses drying up and it was the job of the Mainstreet programs to get businesses and building owners together with city officials and others in the community. Their goal - to create a plan to give visitors (and residents) a reason to come to the downtown and spend their disposable income. After all, economists will tell you that the money that is spent locally is turned at least 8 times over where money spent elsewhere is lost forever.

So successful Mainstreet Programs began creating a plan to create an identity for the town that could be cooperatively marketed. If you think about towns like Troy and Tipp City, Ohio, you have an idea what I'm talking about. Troy has successfully marketed itself as one of the most Progressive downtowns in West Central Ohio. Tipp City took the arts and crafts theme, coupled it with their proximity to the Miami Erie Canal (Lightbulb going off) and market their downtown as the one place to go hunting for one-of-a-kind gifts and antiques.

Delphos has the Mainstreet bug. It has the Canal Museum, the Postal Museum, some really neat architecture, and some great specialty restaurants and businesses. They could successfully market the downtown to passers-by as a destination location for a day's visit from many places within a few hours driving distance.

But a couple ideas that Mainstreet Programs have come up with over the years that have caused their great plans to falter have sprung up in Delphos and need special attention in order to make sure that they do not plague the very positive plans for a successful downtown going forward.

First and foremost is thinking that timing the lights through town will slow down traffic enough for passers-by to look around them and see that there is something in our downtown worthy of their attention. Many smaller towns have tried this approach unsuccessfully. But I can't think of another town that has chanced this idea on a main thoroughfare that only crosses outside the business district proper. For this reason, I think the lights on Fifth St. may actually not be planned for this reason. And if not, then what is the reason for causing major obstacles for the vast majority of us to hurdle day in and day out?

I thought to myself that the school slowdown signs (20 mph when children present) aren't really needed when 5 mph gets you to the next light long before it changes in front of Franklin School. I also wonder what to look at while I'm sitting at those lights. Not much to see along Fifth except housing too close to the street (Some of the houses have great architecture though).

I would think that a good marketing strategy would join all that downtown Delphos has to offer together in one package that visitors would want to know about. That way they could make a decision to come and see just what Delphos is all about. We residents should know what's going on so that we can encourage others with all we have to offer. And maybe the downtown that is showing great signs of life once again can continue to revitalize and make Delphos the great place it once was and we know it can be again with a little help.

I would like to encourage the community to get involved in making our town a great(er) place to live and to visit. But please, fix the stupid lights!