Being in southwest Michigan opens ones eyes to an enormous amount of quaint little downtown's in places with populations no greater than 2,000. The one thing I find incredibly telling is the amount of resources these small communities put into their historic downtown's.
Recently, my husband and I were on a drive through the plains of Michigan when suddenly we came upon an area filled with banners. Now, let me stop here for a moment and explain. To those of you who have not had the privilege of exploring the area up here, most of the routes around this area are reached by small, two lane roads that stretch for miles. There aren't a lot of 4 lane highways, but to get from one major highway to another, you must take a small, two lane road for at least 10 miles. As you drive, you find yourself popping from one little town or village to another. These roads then end up becoming a community's "Main Street" even if it is not named so. It truly makes for a true sight seeing trip even if you are only headed to the nearest pet supply store.
Back to the banners. We looked up and there were these beautiful, bright, vibrant banners hanging on older cobra style light posts that said "Downtown" and "The Place to Bee" with bee's swarming across the intensely blue canvas. Before I even had a chance to see any buildings or shops whatsoever, I knew we had arrived in a unique place. I wanted to stop and spend an hour or so walking up and down the street that was lined with these majestic banners just screaming at me, the outside visitor, to stop and meander a while!
Recently, my husband and I were on a drive through the plains of Michigan when suddenly we came upon an area filled with banners. Now, let me stop here for a moment and explain. To those of you who have not had the privilege of exploring the area up here, most of the routes around this area are reached by small, two lane roads that stretch for miles. There aren't a lot of 4 lane highways, but to get from one major highway to another, you must take a small, two lane road for at least 10 miles. As you drive, you find yourself popping from one little town or village to another. These roads then end up becoming a community's "Main Street" even if it is not named so. It truly makes for a true sight seeing trip even if you are only headed to the nearest pet supply store.
Back to the banners. We looked up and there were these beautiful, bright, vibrant banners hanging on older cobra style light posts that said "Downtown" and "The Place to Bee" with bee's swarming across the intensely blue canvas. Before I even had a chance to see any buildings or shops whatsoever, I knew we had arrived in a unique place. I wanted to stop and spend an hour or so walking up and down the street that was lined with these majestic banners just screaming at me, the outside visitor, to stop and meander a while!
Driving through the little town, I noticed there really wasn't a lot to do...there wasn't a lot of shops, but there was the most powerful, overwhelming impression to this outsider that the amount of pride put into this town was enough to make me stop. It was enough to get me to walk into the local hardware store that I may not even need to walk into. It was enough to help me see that in cities across the country today, where resources are scarce, that investing in the historic downtown core is what makes people stop and explore - truly explore - that particularly city. It isn't the big box retailer that sits up against the Interstate. It certainly isn't the run down part of town with no streetscape enhancements whatsoever. It is the places that, whether or not a big time investor has stepped in and put in major capital, tell the world how proud they are of their city. Their town. Their community. These places don't wait for the private sector to step up. They wait for the people to come after they shout out to the world - be it in the form of banners, welcome signs, way finding signs, whatever - we are proud of the place we are, and proud of who we are and where we came from, and by george, stop and explore our quaint little town we call "downtown".
1 comment:
You are amazing! Thank you so much for including me in your 'new' world! The sites are excellent and I cannot wait to see what you do next! All is well here in TN - I will email you an update soon!
Congrats girl and thank you for the shared passion of community and downtown development! We miss you!
Melinda
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