Vendors miss the mark Downtown

DANETTE GOULET

How did chickens get such a bad name? Poor creatures.

Did the City Council really kill the idea of closing Main Street?

Several people have asked me this, in incredulous tones, since the

last council meeting.

You betcha -- buckled like many of the sidewalks in the city.

But the reason they quashed the idea -- I’m sorry, sent it back

for further discussion/consideration -- is what really blows my mind.

I understand that with a bevy of Downtown merchants predicting a

doomsday outcome (in what I considered a moving although not

convincing manner) it seemed like the only option, and I almost can’t

blame them.

But for the merchants to fight this with no proof that it won’t

work and tons of residents (not a handful as one merchant suggested)

saying they would visit Downtown more often if it were closed, is

frustrating to put it mildly.

And there are plenty of successful examples, not merely Third

Street Promenade in Santa Monica, as another shopkeeper stated.

There’s Lincoln Road in Miami, Quincy Market and Downtown Crossing in

Boston, the downtown area in Minneapolis (which probably has a name

but I don’t know it), Pioneer Square in Seattle -- need I really go

on? There are plenty of examples of where this has successfully been

done.

Having said that, I agree with the merchants who say it needs to

be done right. Of course you can’t just throw up cement barriers at

either end and call it a day -- although to many that would be better

than the current situation. In fact, that’s what makes the temporary

idea kind of silly. A plan to shut it down permanently -- all the way

to Orange Avenue -- is what is needed. Instead of fighting this plan

that most everyone but storeowners seems to think is a great idea,

plan for it. Get on board and make sure it is done right.

Rather than standing up and saying I know nothing about it -- but

my common sense tells me it’s a bad idea -- look at the many great

examples out there, and create a better environment for your

business.

As one speaker noted, Huntington Beach is a city of people who

like to watch people -- not cars, but people. Some of the best

people-watching in the world is on Lincoln Road and Quincy Market.

And let’s not forget the gold guy and the silver guy at Third Street

Promenade.

Quit being closed-minded and allow for something that will bring

in more business, not less. And city officials, since you caved and

went back on the plan to close it on a trial basis this fall, take

the time you’ve bought and make a plan to go full-throttle.

* DANETTE GOULET is the city editor. She can be reached at (714)

965-7170 or by e-mail at danette.goulet@latimes.com.