Discussion continues on VW downtown

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

A number of local business people and community leaders came together Wednesday evening to discuss the future of Van Wert’s downtown area.

The discussion, the second in a series of three planned meetings, was led by Danielle Steinhauser of consulting firm Poggemeyer Design Group and centered on perceptions and reality — both local and national — related to community downtown areas.

Steinhauser first talked about the impact of small businesses on a community and what has already been done in Van Wert’s downtown.

Noting that small businesses are responsible for 80 percent of job growth, Steinhauser said having more downtown retail establishments is essential to bringing the downtown area back to at least a portion of the crucial role it played in the 1950s and before.

While noting that shopping centers and malls aren’t going away anytime soon, the consultant said there is also room for a variety of other retail establishments. She cited that surveys indicate that local residents spend approximately 5 percent of their income in the downtown area, adding that, while that isn’t a big percentage, it is a substantial amount of money and could be increased if more businesses located in the area.

Steinhauser began with a brief history of the decline of Van Wert’s downtown area and also cited a number of statistics about the community, including the fact that it has the highest median age of any Ohio community, has lost more than 630 jobs since the beginning of the 2008 recession and that more than 3,500 county residents work outside the county, while other workers are “imported” in each day from Mercer, Paulding and Putnam counties to fill local jobs.

Steinhauser cited a number of positives for the Van Wert community, including the fact that it is the smallest community in the United States with both a YMCA and YWCA, and commended the community for its larger-than-average arts and culture presence.

She then expanded her discussion to talk about the importance of the arts and culture, noting that those industries accounted for nearly $2.4 billion in annual revenues in northwest Ohio alone. Steinhauser also said that having Wassenberg Art Center relocate to a site just south of the downtown area should draw foot traffic to the area.

While she also talked about positives in the downtown area, noting that 16 buildings were improved in 2012 alone, Steinhauser said more planning could greatly improve the impact the downtown area has on the community and the local economy.

While stressing that she isn’t calling for the uprooting or closing of existing downtown businesses, Steinhauser said strategic grouping of various types of businesses could be a plus for the downtown area, while also downplaying the importance of parking on customers’ decision to shop downtown.

Despite local efforts to increase downtown parking for downtown businesses, Steinhauser said parking was only eighth on the list of things customers consider when deciding to shop at a particular store. Tops on the list were service and friendly employees and high-quality goods offered for reasonable prices.

She answered a question on whether boundaries for the downtown area were a good thing, stating that, from her experience, boundaries “intensify” downtown development, than limit it.

Both Steinhauser and Main Street Van Wert Program Director Adam Ries urged local residents to complete a brief online survey on Van Wert’s downtown area so they can get the kind of input needed to make valid decisions on how best to improve the area in the future.

The final meeting of the series will be scheduled sometime early in 2013.