EDITORIAL: What will be the future of Winder’s downtown?

A group of local business leaders objected to some of the project’s proposals, including a plan to remove some parking downtown. In addition, there were questions about the removal of some left turning lanes in the downtown.

The problem here is that this type of issue has no black-and-white answers. On the one hand, the city is proposing to spend over $870,000 for what it believes will help the business in downtown Winder. On the other hand, removing parking spaces and changing routes in a town where they often command a premium and where traffic is problematic is always going to concern merchants.

Winder’s downtown isn’t as bad off as some small communities, but it has the potential to have a much neater and aesthetically pleasing image. That is part of what Streetscape is about.

On the other hand, Streetscape is not silver bullet for revitalizing downtowns, either. Projects such as this are often oversold by consultants and others who believe that such environmental changes will draw more business into a community.

Maybe, but as many other towns have discovered, people don’t flock to shop in a downtown just because it looks good. That may be part of the process, but there are towns that made large investments in downtown revitalization only to see a continued erosion of retail stores and an increase in boarded up buildings.

As more hearings are held, both merchants and city officials need to discuss their respective concerns and ask these questions: What is the cost? What is the likely return on that investment? And will there potentially be unintended negative consequences of doing the revitalization as proposed?