Blog
Reminding Ourselves Why Our Commercial Centers Matter
Note: A version of this story originally appeared on the website of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority's Michigan Main Street Center. The Michigan Main Street Center provides technical assistance for the revitalization of Michigan's downtown's and historic commercial districts.
By Sean Mann
Maybe the years of nagging have starting to take hold. I’ve noticed over the past few months that friends and family have been making a conscious effort around me to mention that they shopped at local businesses over the holidays. Even when we discuss going out they more regularly suggest places that are located on a local main street or in my neck of the woods, downtown Detroit.
With their efforts to appease me, or avert my judgment, I sometimes wonder if those friends and relatives really appreciate the importance of our traditional commercial centers, our downtowns and main streets. It’s not just my friends that I worry about, I often feel like the general public hears the message about shopping local but does not necessarily appreciate why it matters.
We need to remember that supporting our commercial centers goes beyond aiding our entrepreneurial neighbors and keeping money in the community, it’s also about shaping Michigan’s future.
A startling fact to consider; nearly half of Michigan’s college graduates are leaving the state within a year of graduation, even in a harsh national job market. While it would be easy to say that the state’s dismal job market in Michigan is a cause for this, surveys have shown that two-thirds of young people, who are key to developing and diversifying the state’s economy, are choosing where they live based on quality of place instead of a job.
Of course, losing talent is nothing new to Michigan. College graduates have departed the state for generations. Going out exploring the world is a part of life for many young Michiganders, myself included. However, a disturbing trend is the declining number of people moving in to the state who had no previous connection with Michigan. Michigan ranks near the very bottom in non-natives moving in to the state. While some of this certainly could be attributed to the job market, much can also be attributed to perceptions of quality of life and the higher premium individual are placing on quality of place, especially in urban settings. Austin, Chicago, Boston, Seattle aren’t burgeoning centers of commerce because they forbid all of the local college graduates from leaving, it’s because they attracted talented people to their communities. 
If we want to attract that mobile talented work force to Michigan then we need to provide the types of communities they desire. These communities tend to be walkable, with a diversity of entertainment and shopping opportunities and provide places for interactions with friends as well as strangers.
No place better epitomizes the virtues of quality of place in the 21st century than our traditional commercial centers; our main streets and downtowns.
Our main streets and downtowns are economic engines; centers of commerce and entrepreneurship, where independent businesses tend to start-up, create jobs by 1’s and 2’s and reinvest in the local economy. They provide a place for people to congregate for events, festivals or casual gatherings. They house our anchor institutions and serve as the hub of our communities’ arts and cultural scenes. They promote density and waklability by tending to be situated along existing infrastructure and transit and within in close proximity to housing. And maybe most importantly, the commercial district is an outward reflection of a community’s identity, history and its goals for its future.
Deviating from Richard Florida’s message; having desirable commercial centers isn’t simply about attracting people to our communities, it is also about the people already living here. It’s about increasing the quality of life of residents, fostering entrepreneurship, developing a stronger tax base and providing a meeting place for the community as well as preserving its historic identity.
When I rant on and on about the importance of downtowns or locally owned businesses, my friends tend to ask me 1) when did I become such a bore? and 2) what do I have against malls, box stores and Long John Silvers? Well firstly I’d like to think I’m not a bore (but my collection of 19th century British lithographs may suggest otherwise). Secondly, having viable commercial centers isn’t about putting strip malls, life centers and box stores out of business. Having viable downtowns and main streets is about creating options for people. Every metropolitan area has malls and cookie-cutter developments springing up around freeway exits, (even Portland, OR) and Michigan won’t soon be void of them. But as long as Michigan fails to offer vibrant downtowns or other traditional commercial districts with distinct experiences we aren’t going to appeal to a significant segment of the mobile work force and more importantly we’ll continue to shortchange ourselves both economically and in terms of quality of life.
