Main Streets taking on new looks, purposes
City planners and local business owners agree growing populations and customer demands are changing the way cities are organized. Retail hubs were once centered on and around Main Streets consisting of locally owned shops. Now these hubs are moving outside of town to malls and box stores.
Logan hasn’t escaped the trend. As the city has grown, retail has moved steadily to the north part of town with the Cache Valley Mall, Fred Meyer, Wal-Mart and various food establishments.
Jay L. Nielson, director of community development for Logan City, said because of this, Main Streets have had to adapt.
He said Logan has found other uses for the space downtown. Government offices, financial institutions and professional businesses have taken the place of most of the retail shops.
“Retail is not a major part of downtown,” Nielson said. “We have to respond to the changes to keep it vital.”
Nielson said part of this change is because of changing lifestyle.
“Over time, as we’ve all become more dependent on automobiles and become much more mobile, box stores are becoming a way of life,” Nielson said.
Jessica Moser, a Wal-Mart spokesperson, said this type of store is popular because it’s convenient.
“What we’ve put in the superstore is based on what the customers want,” Moser said.
Although it is a large chain, each store is operated to fit the community it serves.
“We have created this format based on customer demand,” Moser said.
Reed Conger, owner of Reed’s Pharmacy in Hyrum, said he experienced this trend first-hand when Hyrum Thriftway moved in on 800 East in Hyrum.
It only took Conger a year or two to follow them.
“When the main shopping hub changes, you either change with it or don’t be successful,” Conger said.
In 1994, he moved his business from the center of town to right next door to the grocery store.
He said he would do it again, too. He felt a change in his business in the time before he made the move.
“Retailing is dead in downtown Hyrum,” Conger said.
Gene Needham, manager of Needham Jewelers, said he doesn’t feel that way about Logan.
He said staying downtown has made business stronger. For a business to thrive, he said, it has to be aggressive and work hard.
“A downtown business can continue to grow as long as they do things the right way and take care of the customer,” Needham said.
The right way for Needham Jewelers has been being an aggressive retailer, Needham said. Having a pleasant store atmosphere and carrying the right products is also important. Needham’s specializes in a wide selection of engagement rings with a good product knowledge, Needham said.
“We will remain lean and mean,” Needham said. “We will always be a good business.”
Bob Terragno, implementation manager for Envision Utah, said planning communities around these businesses is a good way to keep downtown areas alive. Planning for exploding population in the next 20 years is crucial for the future of these communities.
He said by the year 2020, there will be another million people on the Wasatch Front, which is between Brigham City and Nephi. There are 1.7 million people there now.
Because of limited land available for development, cities should be planning now.
“If we don’t do some planning now proactively, we’re going to be in some trouble down the line,” Torragno said.
By trouble he said he means sprawl, inefficient use of land, air and water quality and high infrastructure costs.
Envision Utah is helping local governments plan their growth by implementing walking communities, public transportation and a variety of housing developments, among others.
“There’s a quality of life that we don’t want to lose with this type of growth,” Terragno said. “We’re really trying to provide people with concrete ideas to provide more options for how communities are developed.”
Nielson said the issue acts as a double-edged sword. He said although they don’t want to make Logan a city of these large shopping centers, with box stores like Wal-Mart, the city gains tax revenue. If the city refused businesses like this, they would just locate in surrounding communities like North Logan and Nibley, promoting sprawl – unorganized development of land for housing and commercial use.
He said he wants to keep the businesses more concentrated rather than spreading them out all along the highway.
Envision Utah is currently working on studies of Odgen’s Wall Avenue, the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake in Davis County and a project in the south end of Utah County.
Terragno said Envision Utah is helping communities to accommodate growth without destroying what made the area attractive in the first place.