APRIL / MAY 2014
Premise: As a way of gathering ideas and input from a variety of Downtown stakeholders, BaBB has hosted a variety of information gathering and visioning sessions this Spring 2014.
In mid-April, we invited the general public to attend a gathering at McNeil’s Pub we called “Beautify Brattleboro”, a discussion that was centered on enhancing our community through a variety of physical improvements; in mid-May, we invited downtown business owners to attend a Merchant meeting at The Works; and at the end of May we invited folks interested in local Economic Development to attend a roundtable discussion at the Marlboro Graduate Center.
In addition, our coordinator has taken many small group and individual meetings with a variety of Downtown residents, shop owners, and civic leaders over the past six months has catalogued a large amount of the input received during these one-on-one encounters.
The following bullet points are the combined notes taken away from these productive conversations.
Please feel free to contribute additional input by contacting us directly:
Coordinator@Brattleboro.com
Or visit our Facebook Pages: Downtown Brattleboro and Beautify Brattleboro
_________________________________________________________________________________
BEAUTIFY BRATTLEBORO FORUM
McNEIL’S BREW PUB
APRIL 18th 2014
MEETING NOTES
Bring back the benches!
“Benches on Parade” – Artistic Street Furniture Competition
Downtown is Dark!
Creative Lighting Solutions (look at Main Street USA in Disney World)
The Transit Center is ugly and dark!
Plant vines up the side / building wraps / rooftop garden / bike rentals
Have a “Park(ing)” Day! Temporary use of parking spaces for alternative applications
Adopt a Rack – Install many more Bike Racks Downtown
Electric Assist Bike and Cargo Bike Rentals
Public Gardens
Organic Seed Swap Event / Location
“Victory Gardens” on front lawns
Guerrilla Gardening in “dead space” / under utilized land
Further Enhance the Parks
Edible Landscaping
Rain Gardens
We need a “Central Square”!
Harmony Park?
“Friendship” Park (by Hinsdale Bridge)
Plaza Park / Dysfunction Junction
We need River Front Access
Public Dock
Kayak / Canoe / Paddle Boat
Events / Gatherings
Recreation / Jog / Bike / Trail
“Soften” Pliny Park
More Landscaping
Reduce Street Noise
Prioritize People over Cars
Weigh parking revenue vs increased merchant / community activity
Slow and/or remove driving on some downtown streets
Flat St. / Whetstone Recovery
“Cultural District” on Flat
Performing Arts Campus (NEYT / BMC)
People’s Promenade / Street Market
Nature Trails along Brooke
“Wheel friendly” / Skate Park
Access to top of Wantastequiet
Repurposed Gondola System?
Demonstrate Green Building Practice
Energy / Building Materials / UpCycling / Local Foods
Develop a History Trail (like Boston’s Freedom Trail ~ follow the path…)
Redirect Traffic Patterns to take heavy vehicles out of Downtown
Make sure this Visioning process dovetails with Economic Development conversations
Loop the Time Trade into efforts, including local businesses
Take the “Beautify” message to the streets
Engage the Brattleboro Garden Club to help steward landscaping and flowering projects
Engage with Post Oil Solutions to broaden scope to include measures of sustainability
__________________________________________________________________________________
DOWNTOWN MERCHANT MEETING(S)
THE WORKS & FLAT ST PUB
MAY 21, 2014
MEETING NOTES
Life on the Streets – MAKE IT MEMORABLE
a. No one attracting the right mix of businesses
b. Keep customers in downtown
c. More Events
d. Needs to be more family friendly
e. Need things for young people to do in downtown (Middle School thru High School ages)
Downtown not user friendly
a. Need Benches
b. Parking a real problem
· Need to be able to get change for parking easily or use credit cards
Enforcement is way too aggressive. Customers complain they are ticketed within a few minutes of expiration.
Transportation Center is dirty and not patrolled. Graffiti a problem.
Elliot St entrance needs more welcoming entrance. Plants, banners, etc.
c. TOO MUCH TRUCK TRAFFIC
No integration with municipality and other organizations. Us vs Them mentality
Need integration with arts and culture orgs in downtown.
Need regular merchant’s meetings
a. Collaboration with town on Downtown Master Plan and other orgs
Develop a downtown shopping night / Downtown after-hours
Missing Heart of Community
Need Goals/visioning
Attract retirees
Need organizational inclusiveness + Integration with other orgs.
State investment benefits downtown community.
Bus schedule doesn’t coordinate with most people’s work schedules.
We should charge for parking on Sundays. Change the light system for pedestrians.
Town Arts Committee has plan to build benches.
People don’t want to walk home to nearby homes after dark. Need more feet on the street.
__________________________________________________________________________________
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ROUNDTABLE
MAY 27TH 2014
MARLBORO GRADUATE CENTER
NOTES & COMMENTARY
HOME RUNS {If you could wave a magic wand, what would you do?}
Build a boardwalk behind E Main St, to help Downtown face the River and Mountain
Keep all storefronts filled – never allow vacancies (pop-up shops / art in windows)
Build a small roundabout at Dysfunction Junction
Tap into the large population south of us, invite them up via Train / Bus / Car and make sure that we are “open” when they get here ~ weekends & evenings.
Offer more frequent train service to and from Bratt
Be able to drive through Town with ease (minimize Car and Truck Traffic)
Open an Information Resource Center
Become a Destination (again)
Frequent (and free) public transportation
Ease congestion / High Volume of street traffic
More music venues, entertainment and nightlife
Market ourselves beyond Brattleboro (greater North East – travel on a tank of gas)
Package accommodations (transit, hotel, entertainment, food, recreation, shopping)
Keep money and resources local
Demonstrate heightened environmental sensitivities (solar furnaces, etc..)
Make Downtown ALL pedestrian friendly. Prioritize development for foot & bike.
Super-local Pedicab Service
Build a Riverfront park.
Turn Harmony Lot into a public Plaza. (green space, concert venue, fountain, eternal flame, café’s, playground street vendors – PEOPLE ATTRACT PEOPLE!)
Establish a Business Incubator / co-working space. Job Creation Center.
New Hotels Downtown / better local transit / build a new bridge to NH.
CHALLENGES (MACRO and/or MICRO)
Lack of Downtown Housing
Poor Transit Links
We’ve prioritized the car over people to the detriment of our Quality of Life
The Town (govt.) reinforces that parking revenue trumps all possible alternatives
We’re loosing our Identity – not living into what we’ve been “known for”:
· Hippies
· Arts
· Weird / Funky / Quirky
· What North Hampton used to be
· Good Food / Local Agriculture
· Independent Businesses
· Being “independent” and “progressive”
· Friendly Community Vibe
· Tolerant and Diverse
We have a host of “negative elements” that haunt us:
· Drug Use / Drug Dealing
· Poverty is on doorstep
· Littering
· Underemployment
Over the top Parking Enforcement
Lack of local funding for Start-ups; no Venture Capital / Angel groups
Not always welcoming to visitors / outsiders
Not very development friendly
the fear of “gentrification” keeps us from making improvements
Economic / Community Development Stakeholders are not on same page
Rt. 5 is a very challenging road to close
OPPORTUNITIES (MACRO and/or MICRO)
Build Boutique Hotel Rooms / B&B’s Downtown
Build a Downtown Conference Center
Begin calming traffic – reducing car / truck volumes
Retain College Students
Focus on SUCCESS FOR ALL! Economic Development mantra.
Lowering cost of living, supporting our “weakest links”
Open more space for creativity & micro enterprise
Get the Cars Out and get People In!
Develop a Local Community Bank
Establish a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT)
Build Bridges between Town, BaBB, Chamber, WRC, BDCC, SeVEDS, CEDS
avoid overlap / know their roles and work together
NEXT STEPS – Establish a BaBB Economic Development Committee
__________________________________________________________________________________
NOTES FROM PERSONAL & SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS:
Add more Flower Barrels to Lower Main and side streets for continuity
Bring Calendar Function and Interactive Town Map to front page of Brattleboro.com website
Re-brand BaBB with new / fresh name and forward focus
Include merchants and downtown business owners as dues paying “members” to give them a vote and to raise additional monies to re-invest downtown
Establish downtown “neighborhoods” to help focus energy on specific / unique districts
Publish a monthly e-newsletter
Install a series of informational kiosks downtown at key locations
Host regular Merchant Meetings & Property Owner Meetings (on a schedule)
Throw a “Block Party” in September to celebrate Brooks House re-open and give merchants a boost after the sidewalk repair is over.
Broaden the Pliny Park Concert Series to include multiple venues & performances on Friday Nights over the course of the Summer
Host a Festival on the Waterfront
Add a downtown “chili cook-off” and brew-fest to the Harris Hill Ski Jump Event
Consider how Downtown can best capitalize on the volume of people in town for the Stroll, Lit Fest, Dance Fest, etc..
Host a Harvest Festival / Brattleboro Bites event in the Fall
Create a branding campaign for Bratt (ie. “Gateway to the Green Mountains”)
Leverage Amtrack service to downtown (ie. all inclusive vacation packages, shuttles to mountains, cultural tourism, leaf peeper travel, etc..)
Work with the Windham Higher Education Consortium to help evolve downtown into a functional / beautiful campus environment for students and staff.
Adopt a Street Banner Program to promote events, significant dates, historical notes, etc..
Host a summertime outdoor “drive-in” film series (Folding Chair Film Series)
Install more significant pieces of public art – sculptures, murals, site-specific, lighting, etc.
Broaden the “paint the pavement” program to include downtown crosswalks
Host “pop-up” events in vacant storefronts
Market Bratt in the Valley Advocate (regional draw) regularly
Have a “Funky Flea” event that emulates a bustling street market with goods under $20
Power-wash Facades and Awnings / keep sidewalks clean
Develop more residential units downtown
Get more outdoor café seating on Main and side streets
Develop an “artistic ally” program to clean up and decorate downtown ally-ways
Explore the development of a CT River viewing platform behind the River Garden
Explore the development of a Recreational Trail along the Train Tracks and River
Fix-up and/or develop downtown eye-sores (Arch & Archery Buildings, Sanel, Common Ground, Elliot St Café, Market Block, Transportation Ctr, 100 Flat St. [Brownfield], etc..)
Prune Trees along Riverfront to give better view-shed
Fire up the “Dark Fiber” running under Main St. and offer free hi-speed wi-fi
Create a co-working space / business incubator
Host a dance party on the top of the Parking Garage (get funky and fun w/ troubled spot)
Jacob Alan Roberts
Downtown Coordinator
coordinator@brattleboro.com
