The Southern has a wrap up of yesterday's State of the City Address here. A few things struck me:
1. New businesses coming in, to the mall and downtown. here's hoping we get a few more eateries in the mall food court as that place echoes. Last time I stopped by there, Wise Guy's Pizza and Sam's Cafe had both pulled out, leaving only a chili place there. Here's hoping the new businesses are not all retailers, as retailers tend to generate only low wage jobs and generally feed off the already existing economic base, rather than grow it. That said, one retailer I hope comes in, but am not sure has enough business to support it, is a higher end women's wear shop. Several female professionals in Carbondale and surrounding areas have commented they have to drive to St. Louis or shop online to find quality business wear.
2. focus on downtown. Mayor Fritzler said the city needs to focus on downtown and, as a downtown business owner and member of Carbondale Main Street, I agree. As noted in the speech, downtown only has a few empty storefronts on South Illinois and West Freeman. However, part of this is due to the propensity of the city and building owners to allow downtown buildings to deteriorate to the point that demolition is the only viable option. In the past few years, the Tuscan Lodge, Animal Crackers ,Southern Illinois Recycling and a pair of houses at the corner of Mill and Illinois have come down, leaving several blocks of now grass covered land behind. The Animal Crackers plot is slated for part of a proposed intermodal transportation station but have only heard vague rumors about uses for the others. It is easy to say you only have a few empty storefronts when several empty buildings have been replaced by empty plots of ground.
3. tourism. Retired City Manager Allen Gill made a good point when he pointed out that Carbondale could do a much better job of positioning itself as a tourist destination. No community in southern Illinois has positioned itself as the gateway to Southern Illinois Wine Country and, while Harrisburg has signage up advertising itself as the Gateway to the Shawnee Hills, the community doesn't do much that I have seen to capitalize upon that. Carbondale could. We already have three fine bike shops in town and easy access to country roads outside of town for cyclists (though in-town cycling routes could stand improvement), lakes nearby for kayaking, canoeing and fishing, terrific areas for hiking and rock-climbing and thousands of acres available for hunting. While other towns in southern Illinois provide closer access to these areas, only Carbondale and Marion have the infrastructure in place to support an increased tourist population.
1. New businesses coming in, to the mall and downtown. here's hoping we get a few more eateries in the mall food court as that place echoes. Last time I stopped by there, Wise Guy's Pizza and Sam's Cafe had both pulled out, leaving only a chili place there. Here's hoping the new businesses are not all retailers, as retailers tend to generate only low wage jobs and generally feed off the already existing economic base, rather than grow it. That said, one retailer I hope comes in, but am not sure has enough business to support it, is a higher end women's wear shop. Several female professionals in Carbondale and surrounding areas have commented they have to drive to St. Louis or shop online to find quality business wear.
2. focus on downtown. Mayor Fritzler said the city needs to focus on downtown and, as a downtown business owner and member of Carbondale Main Street, I agree. As noted in the speech, downtown only has a few empty storefronts on South Illinois and West Freeman. However, part of this is due to the propensity of the city and building owners to allow downtown buildings to deteriorate to the point that demolition is the only viable option. In the past few years, the Tuscan Lodge, Animal Crackers ,Southern Illinois Recycling and a pair of houses at the corner of Mill and Illinois have come down, leaving several blocks of now grass covered land behind. The Animal Crackers plot is slated for part of a proposed intermodal transportation station but have only heard vague rumors about uses for the others. It is easy to say you only have a few empty storefronts when several empty buildings have been replaced by empty plots of ground.
3. tourism. Retired City Manager Allen Gill made a good point when he pointed out that Carbondale could do a much better job of positioning itself as a tourist destination. No community in southern Illinois has positioned itself as the gateway to Southern Illinois Wine Country and, while Harrisburg has signage up advertising itself as the Gateway to the Shawnee Hills, the community doesn't do much that I have seen to capitalize upon that. Carbondale could. We already have three fine bike shops in town and easy access to country roads outside of town for cyclists (though in-town cycling routes could stand improvement), lakes nearby for kayaking, canoeing and fishing, terrific areas for hiking and rock-climbing and thousands of acres available for hunting. While other towns in southern Illinois provide closer access to these areas, only Carbondale and Marion have the infrastructure in place to support an increased tourist population.
