The following suggestions were submitted by the Center City Committee on 4/18/2000:
Suggestions for Downtown Lowell
Lowell Center City Committee, Inc.
The Center City Committee has been observing, discussing and strategizing about the downtown since 1972. Many of the ideas and plans initiated in the Committee have been put in place over the years and have helped Lowell progress to the point where it is physically attractive, historically preserved, and culturally vibrant. Now it is time to make it economically viable.
Over the years, businesses, especially retail businesses have not succeeded in large enough numbers to transform the downtown. Those that have succeeded are by and large based upon unique products with local management. It does not appear that chain stores or nationally based franchises are interested in downtown Lowell (or most mid to small sized cities) because they base their interest on location, accessibility, foot traffic, and income. The suggestion of outlet stores has been investigated and discouraged because geographically, Lowell is too close to existing outlet locations.
The revitalization of Lowell's downtown will come about by internal community development strategies and will require a concerted effort from the public and private sectors, just like the partnership that has brought Lowell to its current position as one of the best mid-sized communities in America.
Lowell has many assets to help it improve the downtown. It has cultural and sports attractions, entertainment and historical venues. It has safe, well-lit streets and is attractive. It has access to water (two rivers and miles of canals) which will be improved with the completion of the Riverwalk (but it is imperative that there be direct visual and pedestrian access to the Merrimack River from the downtown). It has an ethnically diverse population. It has the beginnings of an Artist Colony. It has a University, a Community College and a High School right in the downtown. It has a Small Business Assistance Center that has been praised by the SBA and others. It has a committed group of people who are used to working together for the common good without regard to who gets credit. And it has a city government that is proactive rather than reactive.
Downtown Lowell has some liabilities that have to be overcome. There is little or no activity in the evenings or on weekends, getting around either by car or on foot is not as inviting as it should be, and there is currently no program in place to assist new merchants.
We see three main issues that need to be addressed in order to allow retail stores to be established and to flourish:
1) attracting people downtown who have disposable income;
2) making it easy to get downtown, get around downtown, park downtown, and get home again; and
3) promoting the cooperation of the downtown building owners with others in the city to encourage new business startups.
1) Attracting People Downtown
There has been a good deal of discussion about making Lowell a "destination city." In this scenario, large numbers of out-of-town residents travel to Lowell to attend sports contests, cultural museums, the National Park, or arts events. The premise of downtown revitalization is that once these visitors enter the central city, they will seek out local businesses in which they will eat and shop, thus having an impact on the local economy. But has this happened? Where do people attending a Sunday event at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium eat dinner or shop? Furthermore, owners of shops and restaurants offer the opinion that "living on events alone" is not enough to sustain a business. Small businesses need a steady stream of regular customers to remain successful.
A steady stream of customers can be generated in three ways: more people working downtown, more people driving in from other locations to take advantage of businesses in the downtown, and more people living downtown. These three pieces reinforce each other. To date, the city is doing pretty well gaining new business spaces such as the Juvenile Court and Gateway Buildings One and Two. Continued growth of office space will put more workers in the downtown. But at five p.m. they will go home, unless there are additional attractive housing opportunities for them in or near the downtown.
The city has some real treasures in the Mass Mills and Canal Place developments. What it desperately needs is some alternative forms of middle- to - upper cost housing in addition to these apartments in refurbished mills. New or renovated townhomes, single-family homes on small lots, and attractive garden apartments could be added to the housing mix to provide options for single people, young couples, and empty nesters looking for alternatives to suburban housing. Building market-rate housing within walking distance of the downtown can provide the steady stream of customers to support additional shops and restaurants in Lowell and move the revitalization to a new and higher level.
Currently, over 75% of the housing in the downtown is subsidized. Subsidized housing in itself is not a problem but the percentage needs to be lowered by increasing the amount of market rate housing. We would like to suggest that Market Street, from the McCartin Electric Building to Central Street offers a range of possibilites for housing in the downtown on a street where retail activity is constrained due to traffic issues. Many of the buildings along this stretch are ripe for redevelopment and housing would be an excellent use.
2) Getting Around Downtown
Downtown needs to be more "pedestrian friendly" in order to encourage retail operations. The downtown is actually very "walkable" in terms of scale, or distances from one end of Merrimack Street to the other and from one end of Central Street to the other. But there are many impediments such as swiftly moving cars on Merrimack, Bridge, Central and Market Streets. Visitors driving to Lowell find it difficult to navigate the current one-way street pattern. The idea of having Merrimack Street return to two way traffic has been brought up many times in the past five years because it would slow down the cars and, if planned properly, would help people get to other parts of downtown more easily. It needs to be studied carefully, however, since it may end up causing gridlock.
A study should look into the overall traffic pattern, determine how many cars are just passing through and whether there is another route for them to take. Also, are there enough parking spaces/garages to accommodate a revitalized retail district? How can we make it convenient for customers to drive into the city, park in a safe, nearby place to the stores or other venues, and route them out when they are done? We should look into parking meters that take ATM or Credit Cards instead of only quarters. How do we get people who work in downtown all day (including storeowners) to not park in front of retail stores?
We have heard interesting news from the LRTA about shuttle busses in the downtown and this should be encouraged.
3) Creating a Partnership
In examples cited in the recent Lowell Sun articles on Waltham and Newburyport, as well as in Northhampton, one of the elements of their success is the close cooperation of building owners, realtors, and city government to find the right businesses for the right spaces; and to offer incentives to entice them to establish there. Such a collaboration does not exist in Lowell today but could be a foundation for future growth in the downtown. It has been said that every time a new idea comes along, another group is formed in Lowell, so we do not necessarily advocate for a new entity. But it is not important whether it is the Downtown Lowell Business Association, the Lowell Plan, the Center City Committee, the Chamber of Commerce or the DPD that takes the lead as long as the right people get together and the task is accomplished.
Another aspect of the success of other cities is the cooperation among the merchants in terms of cross marketing, using one-anothers' products, and synchronizing hours.
City Manager Martin's recent proposal of financial assistance to retail business owners makes a lot of sense and will help. The assistance could be combined with micro-enterprise loans and technical help from the Lowell Small Business Assistance Center. In addition, minority owned businesses should be encouraged, especially restaurants that take advantage of customers looking for ethnic food experiences.
Finally, there are some other suggestions that have been discussed at our meetings that should be brought forward for consideration. One idea is to have an existing entity, perhaps the LDFC, actually start a business and hire a manger who would be trained to take it over and own it, freeing up the entity to start another one. Another is to have a group rent desirable space for a fixed length of time to hold it while a business is recruited. A third idea is to get the downtown wired for the Internet and get businesses tied into e-commerce. In addition, suggestions for a Business Improvement District (BID) should be looked into.
The Center City Committee stands willing to participate with the Ad-Hoc Committee on the Downtown in whatever way is the most helpful to accomplish the goal of creating an economically vibrant central business district.