Fast Forward From the Past

For the past couple of months, I’ve been waxing nostalgic about the Concord that I grew up in during the late 1950s and 1960s.

While those “misty water colored memories” can often recreate a past that might not have been as “Norman Rockwell-esque” as we might want to believe it was, it does serve an important purpose. It enables those not yet born or who might not have yet discovered the charms of Concord to better understand the city and why some of us either remain within its confines or return – over and over.

Strolling down Memory Lane is a lovely way to pass some time as long as you recognize that progress and change is essential to life to a measurable degree. There are, however, lessons from the past that can, if listened to, make the change more likely to succeed.

There has been a great deal of talk in recent years about the need to save Main Street or to make changes to ensure its future. I have little doubt that most of the parties involved have a genuine interest in making sure that there is a Main Street that is thriving and diverse with something to offer everyone for years to come.

I shop on Main Street every chance I can. It’s a habit that began when I was a grammar school student and found the bustling environment of downtown Concord to be exciting. It was a beehive of activity and the assortment of stores helped me to quickly spend my allowance and any money I made from my paper route.

While downtown Concord has seen a lot of changes, there are still some great businesses to support. In addition, there is a goodly assortment of bakeries, sandwich shops, coffee shops, restaurants and bars. There are in fact a lot more dining and drinking establishments that warrant attention than there were in my youth.

Before we go implementing some of the enormous changes that are being bandied about, it might be wise to take a look at some of the things we can do in the meantime to make our downtown more of a destination spot.

I don’t profess to have all of the answers and can only hold forth with my own deep-seated feelings from having observed our city through decades of change.

We need more businesses that offer goods that make potential shoppers want to come downtown and not go to one of the chain stores or run into a mall.

There are some amazing stores that I support because I like what they have to offer, and find the staff to be bright, smart and personable. I have also never ceased to enjoy the experience of walking from store to store reveling in the intoxicating feeling that shopping “in the city” has always brought to me.

I’ve always felt that a committee should be formed to help convince prospective business owners why they should be a part of the Main Street community.

The committee should be comprised of longtime business owners and landlords who can speak to the realities of being part of “downtown.” It should not stop there, however. Residents who have seen the ups and downs of the community should have a say, extending across the age spectrum since everyone can benefit from a thriving and exciting shopping area.

Someone considering a business move, should be able to see more than statistics and paperwork telling them about the “joy” of being in the Concord community. They should also not only hear from someone whose job is to recruit new businesses. Hearing from the people who are the heart and soul of the city bring a genuine enthusiasm that cannot be manufactured.

Portsmouth, Keene, and other cities are often held up as an example of what certain individuals would like Concord to be like. To me, Concord has, in the past and can again in the future, stand alone as a vital community unlike any other.

If the city would really like to make Concord more visually appealing and inviting during the holiday season, thought should be given to bringing festively lit Christmas decorations to the light poles throughout downtown. They created a stunningly beautiful greeting to shoppers and would be shoppers for decades until they were replaced by drab banners that sometimes looked like a Rorschach Test.

During the holidays I travel all over New Hampshire and in cities large and small – Portsmouth, Manchester, Rochester, Dover, Keene, and others, and invariably the main thoroughfares are lit with various holiday displays. They make you want to stop, park your car and get out and walk around. Here in the state capital, there is an air of drab dullness.

I recognize the reality of the parking kiosks but have heard from enough people about their dislike for them.

There was a speedy efficiency about going downtown to run a quick errand previously. You found a space, had your quarter in hand before you left your car, plucked it in, ran in the store and made your purchase and took off, all within five minutes. That’s no longer the case.

Now you find a space, get out and walk to the kiosk to insert your money, return to your car and put your ticket on the dashboard and then run your errand. If you find that it’s going to take longer than what you’ve paid for, you can’t simply go to the meter and add a quarter. You have to go through the entire process again.

Fortunately, I am still young and flexible enough to dash back and forth. This is not the case for our elderly citizens, many of whom have been stalwart supporters of Main Street for many, many years. The extra steps can be wearing, especially if they cannot locate a parking space near a kiosk. The parking garages are not always an option to an 80-year-old that may either fear parking in the garage or the walk back and forth.

In the wintertime it was easy with a meter, to have your change in hand before you left the warmth of your car. That no longer works because of the trip to the kiosk and back with your receipt, thereby increasing your chances of a fall on the ice or the necessity to climb over a snowbank. Last winter on separate occasions I personally helped three elderly ladies who had fallen while going back and forth from kiosk to car. In too many instances these potential shoppers simply stop coming downtown.

There is a lot of work to do in our downtown if we want it to continue to be a viable and pleasing option for shopping and dining. We need to move cautiously, however, and look at the disappointing results that change in the past brought at times so that the money, time, energy and vision prove lasting. Our city deserves nothing less.

Next week, I’ll return to the era when Kresge’s, Newberry’s and Woolworth’s kept the crowds coming.