(Note to our readers: This column comes from a new, loosely knit independent group of area business people and residents who love and want to promote the energy and enthusiasm of downtown St. Joseph. They’ve named themselves Joe Town Vibe, and their purpose is to promote the creativity, vitality and vibe of events, businesses and people here. We’ll be running their weekly Friday blog post here. This first entry was written by SJU intern John Stevens, who will provide a weekly column through April. His work is paid for by donations of many in the group and a grant from the Eugene McCarthy Center. Joe Town Vibe welcomes input from others at joetownvibe.com. Joe Town Vibe stems from the interaction between residents, businesses, institutions and physical spaces. The vibe of St. Joseph is pulsing through the downtown area, where locals interact and spread energy to create a friendly place.)
by John Stevens
Intern SJU, Class of 2018
St. Joseph is fortunate to have a vibrant downtown. Downtowns provide that old-world feel every town desires. Suburbs across America are starting to create their own downtowns, as they were rarely included in the original planning for suburbs. St. Joseph has been blessed with a downtown area in which there is a mix of academia and religion on one side of main street and business and other pursuits on the other side. The uniqueness of St. Joseph’s downtown, however, does not prevent people from visiting every day. The downtown is well loved.
Community building
It’s not complicated: Downtowns are beneficial because they bring people together. Downtowns are often home to various businesses providing goods and services. It’s this diversity in the downtown businesses that attracts a variety of people, where a mall, on the other hand, is dominated by clothing and department stores, attracting a narrower set of people. St. Joseph’s downtown area has it all: restaurants, boutiques, pubs, a coffee shop, a laundromat, a food co-op, famous meat market and far more. The downtown area attracts everyone for different reasons. Some people may come downtown to enjoy a nice meal or have a drink, while others may come downtown to go grocery shopping or do laundry.
Despite the many reasons why people come downtown, they all must walk on the sidewalks in a condensed area to get where they are going. Since downtowns are concentrated, it’s hard not to interact with others while passing by. Interaction among people is essential to building trust within a city. Becoming more familiar with your neighbors can build an untold trust to make everyone feel more comfortable.
St. Joseph has been rated by a state-wide security company to be one of the safest cities in Minnesota, but building trust can create greater accountability and keep St. Joseph safe. This is a concept outlined by activist Jane Jacobs in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961). Jacobs highlights the importance of having eyes on the street. Having more eyes on the street makes a city safer, builds trust and creates accountability. A downtown area is a place that attracts people to walk around and engage in the city and is an essential piece in building relationships.
Business
Downtowns are a great area for small, independent businesses. These small businesses often rely on foot traffic to stay afloat, attracting people from across Stearns County. Many of the small businesses in the downtown area are destinations but also see a great deal of business just from foot traffic. Others rely on the foot traffic that is brought into St. Joseph by other businesses. This is a direct result of being in a special, old-world downtown area like ours. The high density of downtown areas brings businesses together and without this concentration of commerce, small businesses would be spread across the city. Every shop, boutique and retail space would become a singular destination, and none of the businesses would benefit from the residual traffic others attract. Our businesses in a downtown area benefit from one another. Some may be competitors, but generally if a store attracts someone to the downtown area it is good for all the businesses.
Conclusion
Downtowns are important on many levels. Our downtown brings our residents together. This helps build trust. Building this trust is vital to creating a more accountable, friendly place. Those factors will keep St. Joseph safe. In addition, downtowns provide ideal locations for small local businesses. Downtowns provide stores and shops with the foot traffic necessary to stay open. The businesses can benefit from one another attracting more customers. Downtowns are not only financially smart places but also great ways to invest in our local selves.
