A vision for the future of Main Street

Today I’m noshing on a summer salad and sipping raspberry tea from inside the Garden Gate, Carrington’s downtown gathering place.

The exposed brick walls, tin ceilings and beautiful barnwood details, as well as the wireless internet and music in the background, are all things I appreciate about it.

In fact, I suggested that one of my newspaper colleagues spend time here when she came to town a couple of weeks ago. She had a little work to do before our meeting, and I told her it was the ideal place. She enthusiastically agreed.

Downtown places like this are the heartbeat of our local communities, and are among the success stories that we need to replicate over and over to keep our towns viable.

Recently the Carrington Chamber & Economic Development Corporation began developing a “Main Street Revitalization Plan” that will help develop goals and tactics to revitalize Main Street Carrington and recruit/retain a sustainable workforce in the community.

As I now have a vested interest in seeing Main Street Carrington thrive, I took the time to fill out the online survey they circulated last month. They asked some very good questions about the current state of our community and businesses, as well as pushed us a bit on what projects, programs and initiatives we thought would make the most impact on our businesses.

I’ve been a part of several of these planning sessions over the years in New Rockford. When asked what their vision is for the future, locals (and former residents) often spend their time reflecting on what the community looked like when they were young, and muse that we have a lot fewer of this or that. “How great would it be to get it back to the way it used to be?” they ask.

I’ve heard it many times over the years. I will note that I was the economic development director for New Rockford and Eddy County for five years, and there is a statewide network of developers who will back this up.

Meanwhile, high ranking officials in our local governments have told their constituents, particularly business community members, that our places can never be like they were 50 or 60 years ago. Deferred maintenance such as major street and water system improvements, abating nuisance vehicles and demolishing dilapidated structures fill the agendas of city meetings.

I agree that those are all great projects, and I believe our local officials do intend to have the best interests of all citizens in mind when embarking on these endeavors.

For this Main Street Revitalization Plan, however, I’d like to see a series of smaller-scale, more dynamic and targeted approaches happening simultaneously. And by that I don’t mean that we should expect our Chamber and EDC to take what’s on the surveys and somehow figure out how to use city resources, i.e. taxes, to do it all.

Rather, I encourage you, readers, to draw from your own experiences. Name a place you love to visit, an event you look forward to attending, or a business you frequent in another community. Then tell city officials, whether in a letter or e-mail or in a focus group, why you love it and why you think Carrington could benefit from it. Help them see what you see, and envision a path forward.

I also urge you to take it a step further. Don’t wait for someone else to take action. Find one or more other community members, friends or fellow business owners who also see the same benefits of the idea and put together a list of what you need to make it happen.

This is how “The Market” and the “Summer Street Market” happened, as well as the Central City Bash and the Central North Dakota Steam Threshers Reunion, and even the Sheyenne Stampede.

The beautiful hanging plants on the decorative black street lights, as well as renovated historic buildings like the Garden Gate and Headlocks, are among what I consider the highlights of Carrington’s downtown.

The new mural, renovated businesses, and Centennial Park are among the things I appreciate about New Rockford. These are all tiny things, yet when several are combined we can really see the impacts.

Your favorite places and things in our community are likely different from mine, and that’s perfectly fine. The idea is to build a place that is capable of making all kinds of people feel at home.

It’s when people come to our local business support organizations with a vision and a plan that truly great things happen.

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Carrington residents and businesses, you have a unique opportunity to get your voice heard. The next step in developing the Main Street Revitalization Plan is holding focus groups. During the week of Aug. 29, three focus groups will be facilitated by AE2S Communications, who is assisting CCEDC in developing the Main Street Revitalization Plan. Two will be for businesses/residents and one for students, with a maximum of 12 participants in each. Specific dates/times are TBD based on availability of interested participants.

Any Carrington resident or business owner is welcome to participate. E-mail [email protected] or [email protected], or call 701-652-2524 and provide your name, phone number, e-mail address, preferred date (between Aug. 29 – Sept. 2), and preferred time (morning, afternoon or early evening).