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City
of Meadville
Business District Action Plan Update
2007
An
Element of the Central Crawford Region
Multi-Municipal Comprehensive Plan
This project was funded, in part, by a grant from the
Pennsylvania Department of
Community and
Economic Development, Land Use Planning Technical
Assistance Program.
Elmer Nelson, Chairman
Lyle Mook
Kenneth Montag
Steven Utz
Dave Thomas
Brad Wilson
Jim Budney
Marge Hall (Former Member)
City Planning Director
Rick
Williams
Andy Walker
Conceptual Illustrations and Photographs
by Steven Utz
Project Planners
GCCA
Rick
Grossman, Text
Tom Graney, Jr., Mapping
Barb Schiek, Layout
Special Assistance by
David
Hill, AIA
Olsen/Hill Design
Table of Contents
Page Number
Project History
and Introduction 1
Part 1 – The
Market Area
Demographics 1
Population Change 2
Key Facts 3
Demographics and
Regional Retail Performance 3
Key Facts 5
Regional Retail Economics 5
Key Facts 8
Other Socio-Economics Issues 8
Previous and Related Planning Initiatives 8
Downtown Development Priorities from the County
Economic Roadmap 11
Public Input – Surveys of the Community 11
Surveys 11
Merchant Survey 12
High Priority Merchant Suggestions 12
Moderate Priority Merchant Suggestions 12
Low Priority Merchant Suggestions 13
Shopper Survey 13
Key Facts 15
Physical
Development Issues: Land Use, Zoning Streets and Building Utilization 16
Physical Development Issues 16
Land Use and Zoning 16
Streets and Landscape 19
Building Utilization/Building
Façade/Commercial Features 19
Part 2 –
Meadville Business District Strategy and Recommendations 24
Overall Goals 24
Urban Design
Action Plan 25
Gateways 26
Public Space 28
Mill Run 30
Retail Core 30
Streetscapes 31
Parking 33
Key Initial Urban Design Actions 33
Business and
Market Development Action Plan 34
Demographics 34
Zoning and Land Regulations 35
Elm Street Program 37
Five-Year
Business District Action Plan Summary 37
Year One 37
Year Two 38
Year Three 38
Year Four 39
Year Five 39
Tables
![]()
Population of
Age Groups, 1990 3
Comparative MHI: Selected Communities 4
Detailed Household Income: City of
1999 Household Income by Percentage: Central Crawford
Region 5
Retail Sales in
Retail Sales by Type: City of
Prepared Food and Beverage Sales,
1993 Comprehensive Plan Recommendations – 2006 Status
and Results 9
1997 BDAP Goals – 2006 Results/Status 10
1997 Buildings/Projects – 2006 Status/Results 10
Merchants Survey Response to Public Services in
Downtown
Actions Business Owners Would Support 13
Shoppers’ Survey Responses 14
Typical Developer’s RFP Incentives and
Requirements 30
Maps
City of Meadville
Business District Action Plan Project Area Follows
Page 9
City of
City of
City of
Space Priorities – Downtown Priorities Follows
Page 26
City of
City of Meadville Business District Action
Plan Potential Main Street
Glossary of Terms
BID – Business Improvement
District: A special sub-municipal taxing district where additional property taxes are only spent within the district.
BDAP: Common acronym for Business
District Action Plan.
CONTEXT SENSITIVE DESIGN: A movement
by traffic engineers to make street systems fit better into their surroundings.
CORE COMMUNITY: A planning term
for older cities and boroughs that traditionally served as business and government centers.
ELM STREET PROGRAM: A
Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Program to revitalize residential areas adjacent to
downtowns in core communities.
HOMETOWN STREETS: A Pennsylvania grant program that
uses federal transportation funds to improve
sidewalks, streetlights, street furniture public spaces, and pedestrian safety
in Pennsylvania’s older downtown areas.
LERTA: Acronym for
Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance, a
RFP: A Request for Proposals; in
the BDAP, this means a request from developers to offer a package to purchase and develop public
property, or private property in partnership with the city and present owner.
TIF: Acronym for Tax
Incremental Financing, which allows a municipality to finance future
improvements based upon a capture area
of development that benefits from new infrastructure. Businesses within a TIF
district know that a portion of their real estate taxes directly benefit them.
TND: Traditional Neighborhood
Development, both a movement to build better neighborhoods based upon historic examples, and a
legal form of unified development allowed by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code.
TRID: An acronym for the Transit Revitalization
Investment District; a state act that allows transit facilities to be a partner
in a TIF District.
Meadville
Business District Action Plan Update
Project History and Introduction: This document represents an update to the City of
Meadville Business District Action Plan
(BDAP). The purpose of the BDAP is to serve as a relatively brief, action-oriented
planning document.
As the title
indicates, this is actually an update of an existing Business District Action
Plan. That plan was prepared
and adopted in 1997. This Plan attempts to build upon that foundation, rather
than repeating that effort. The main
difference in approach was a greater emphasis on urban design issues.
The decision to
update the Business District Action Plan coincided with a multi-municipal
comprehensive plan
update that involved the City of
The first part of the BDAP update looks
at four issues:
·
Market Area
Demographics
·
Regional Retail
Economics
·
Other
Socio-Economic Issues
·
Physical
Development Issues
This section
comprises a snapshot of existing conditions at the time of this update. The
data collected was
used to develop the actual Action Plan recommendations, which comprises Part 2
of this document. The Action Plan
contains lists of possible activities, and an explanation of the specific
public policies and actions for continuing the revitalization of the heart of
Part 1 -- The
Market Area Demographics
The most basic measurement of retail
capacity is the population of the Study Area. The number of people who comprise
the market are important in calculating possible retail market size, and
whether the market is growing or declining. Much of the following data was collected
for the multi-municipal comprehensive plan background report.
Population Change: For the study communities of Conneaut Lake Borough, Meadville City, and Sadsbury and Vernon Townships, the population has been
in a state of flux ever since 1960. In that year,
Twenty years later,
the booming manufacturing economy of northwestern
However, the seeds
of the Region’s decline were already planted by 1980. The beginning of the
national recession of the early 1980s could be seen in western
|
Population
of Crawford Central Region, |
|||||||||
|
|
1960 |
1970 |
Percent Change |
1980 |
Percent Change |
1990 |
Percent Change |
2000 |
Percent Change |
|
|
700 |
745 |
6.0 |
767 |
3.0 |
699 |
8.9 |
708 |
1.3 |
|
|
16,671 |
16,573 |
-0.6 |
15,544 |
-6.2 |
14,318 |
-7.9 |
13,685 |
-4.4 |
|
|
1,601 |
2,221 |
38.7 |
2,702 |
21.7 |
2,575 |
-4.7 |
2,941 |
12.4 |
|
|
4,589 |
5,264 |
14.7 |
6,348 |
20.6 |
5,605 |
-11.7 |
5,499 |
-1.9 |
|
Regional Totals |
23,561 |
24,803 |
5.3 |
25,361 |
2.2 |
23,197 |
-8.5 |
22,833 |
-1.6 |
|
|
77,956 |
81,342 |
4.3 |
88,869 |
9.25 |
86,169 |
-3.0 |
90,366 |
4.2 |
|
|
11,319,366 |
11,793,909 |
4.9 |
11,863,895 |
0.6 |
11,881,643 |
0.1 |
12,281,054 |
3.4 |
|
Source: |
|||||||||
Age patterns within a population have an
enormous effect on future population growth. Populations with higher
proportions of people beyond childbearing have more difficulty in replacing persons,
and can begin declining. The next table compares the multi-municipal plan study
communities with the county and state over the past two decennial census
counts.
|
Age
Groups, 1990 |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
City |
|
|
Study
Area |
|
Under 5 Years |
6.7% |
6.8% |
5.6% |
5.5% |
6.2% |
5.3% |
5.5% |
|
5 to 19 Years |
19.9% |
22.8% |
19.3% |
22.1% |
17.6% |
18.2% |
20.6% |
|
20 to 34 Years |
23.4% |
21.0% |
21.9% |
24.5% |
20.3% |
19.4% |
22.7% |
|
35 to 64 Years |
34.7% |
34.0% |
32.8% |
28.5% |
40.1% |
39.0% |
32.5% |
|
65 Years and Older |
15.4% |
15.4% |
20.5% |
19.3% |
15.7% |
18.1% |
18.6% |
|
Total |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
|
Age Groups, 2000 |
|||||||
|
Under 5 Years |
5.9% |
5.9% |
4.2% |
5.5% |
4.0% |
5.0% |
5.2% |
|
5 to 19 Years |
20.7% |
22.0% |
19.1% |
21.1% |
19.1% |
17.7% |
20.0% |
|
20 to 34 Years |
18.8% |
17.7% |
17.1% |
23.6% |
14.4% |
15.2% |
20.2% |
|
35 to 64 Years |
39.0% |
38.7% |
40.8% |
31.0% |
45.3% |
43.9% |
36.3% |
|
65 Years and Older |
15.6% |
15.6% |
18.8% |
18.7% |
17.1% |
18.1% |
18.3% |
|
Total |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
100.0% |
|
Source: |
|||||||
The first thing one
sees is that there is a noticeable lack of young people in the overall
community.
When looking at the individual
communities, the low percentage in the young adult age group is troubling. In
the two Townships and Conneaut Lake Borough, the size of the group is well
below statewide norms. This is the age group
that forms new families. They are very mobile until family formation begins,
then the young adults tend to want consistency for their children,
especially once schooling has begun. It makes future population expansion
difficult without significant in-migration.
Key Facts
·
The City faces a pattern of continual population loss. The reality for
retail businesses is that the size of the local market is shrinking, and will be more
dependent on the greater region
and tourism.
·
The Region now faces a long-term demographic crisis. If trends continue,
the situation will not be one of a core community surrounded by demographic growth, but a
rapidly declining city surrounded
by stagnating townships.
·
City Residents are much more likely to be elderly. From a market
vantage, this creates opportunities
in health-related businesses, and certain services.
·
The City does maintain a large proportion of young persons, though many
are associated with
Demographics and
Regional Retail Performance: From the perspective of planning for retail businesses and related
services, a key statistic is household income. This will dictate how much
potential
income residents of
the market area have to spend on retail goods and service. It can also be used
to establish
marketing and geodemographic profiling measurements that move beyond how much a
household has to spend and can project
how the household will spend money.
Median household
income for the City in the 1990 Census was $18,624. By the 2000 Census, this
had changed to
$25,402. Household income raised $6,778 over ten years. The economic
performance of the City’s
households stayed virtually constant to inflation (the adjusted 1990 Census
median household income to 1999 dollars
would be $25,453). However, the median remains the lowest in the Region.
|
Comparative
MHI: Selected Communities |
|
|
Community |
MHI |
|
|
$38,264 |
|
|
$34,306 |
|
|
$35,250 |
|
|
$25,402 |
|
|
$41,793 |
|
|
$39,702 |
|
|
$38,207 |
|
|
$33,560 |
Since median household income is only a general
indicator, it is useful to examine income by specific levels for the City’s households. The next table compares income for the
last two census counts, with no adjustment for inflation.
|
Detailed Household Income: City of |
|||||
|
|
1989 Number |
1989 Percent |
1999 Number |
1999 Percent |
Number Change |
|
Less Than $10,000 |
1,679 |
28.96 |
938 |
17.3 |
-741 |
|
$10,000 to $14,999 |
750 |
12.94 |
657 |
12.1 |
-93 |
|
$15,000 to $49,999 |
2,719 |
46.91 |
2,504 |
46.2 |
-215 |
|
$50,000 to $74,999 |
333 |
5.74 |
617 |
11.4 |
284 |
|
$75,000 to $99,999 |
165 |
2.85 |
336 |
6.2 |
171 |
|
$100,000+ |
151 |
2.6 |
361 |
6.7 |
210 |
It is interesting to
note that while there are still large numbers of low income households, higher
income households have risen significantly
within the City.
This pattern of
gaining high income households is confirmed when the City is compared to
neighboring communities.
The next table is from the Central Crawford Intergovernmental Action Plan. It
compares
1999 (Census of
2000) annual household income for regional communities. Proportionally,
|
1999 Household
Income by Percentage: Central Crawford Region |
|||||
|
Annual
Income |
|
|
|
|
City of |
|
Less than $10,000 |
3.9 |
5.3 |
2.5 |
2.2 |
8.6 |
|
$10-000-$14,999 |
3.9 |
4.8 |
4.0 |
3.5 |
6.8 |
|
$15,000-$24,999 |
12.2 |
14.9 |
13.4 |
13.9 |
18.1 |
|
$25,000-$34,999 |
19.3 |
16.5 |
17.6 |
14.0 |
13.3 |
|
$35,000-$49,999 |
21.5 |
20.9 |
16.4 |
21.8 |
10.8 |
|
$50,000-$74,999 |
22.1 |
21.8 |
22.7 |
23.0 |
18.2 |
|
$75,000-$99,000 |
14.9 |
8.8 |
9.5 |
12.5 |
9.9 |
|
$100,000-$149,999 |
0.6 |
4.8 |
6.5 |
5.7 |
6.6 |
|
$150,000+ |
1.7 |
2.2 |
3.1 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
Key Facts
·
Residents of
the City are much more likely to have low incomes than Regional residents. In simple terms, this means they will have less money
to spend. For many retailers, this increases the dependency on the
Region as a whole.
·
At the other end of the spectrum, slightly over 10 percent of City
residents enjoy an annual income of over $100,000 per year. This small, but
crucial, demographic remains a significant
local resource for retail market development.
·
The missing
local demographic among City residents are middle income households.
Regional
Retail Economics
In addition to
counting people and houses every ten years, the Census Bureau also conducts an economic census of various
industries every five years. Since a business cycle can typically run seven years, this type of analysis can be valuable to
analyze both long-term historic data, or to compare geographic data for more than one community, or a community within a
county. For this study, the most important
of these is the Census of Retail Trade, with secondary importance of the
Service Industries Census of Food and
Accommodations. One challenge is that there are changes to reporting and tabulation between economic census series years.
Thus, in addition to normal Census weaknesses as a data source, there is
sometimes difficulty making absolute direct correlations, due to changes in categorization and classification. However, the
Economic Census Series remains one of the best analytical tools
available.
When the Census of Retail Trade is examined, one of
the most striking features is how much change has affected
rose. By 1987, the
City was still the dominant retail center of
The next table compares City performance
within the context of the County from 1997 to 2002.
|
Retail
Sales in |
||||||
|
Place |
1997
Stores |
1997 Sales |
2002
Stores |
2002 Sales |
Store
Change |
Sales Change |
|
|
148 |
$350,091,000 |
127 |
$279,797,000 |
-21 |
-$70,294,000 |
|
|
65 |
$110,949,000 |
48 |
$82,698,000 |
-17 |
-$28,251,000 |
|
Balance of |
147 |
$167,710,000 |
192 |
$412,287,000 |
+45 |
+$244,577,000 |
|
Crawford |
360 |
$628,750,000 |
367 |
$774,782,000 |
+7 |
+$146,032,000 |
As this table shows,
sometime in the late 1990s or early 21st century, and perhaps for
the first time in the County’s history, the rural portions of
This analysis from
the late 1980s to 2002 does not account for the changing value of sales through
inflation. Analyzing
this can be helpful to understand the larger regional context of retail
performance, and can
be a clue to market leakage. Over the long range (from 1987 to 2002), the
County gained retail sales faster than
the rate of inflation. This means that the proportion of stores to consumers
rose. From an analytical perspective, this
means the City was competing more with other
Important
information can also be derived from shifts in retail type within the City, as
illustrated by the next table. It must be noted that retail trade information in the preceding
table and the next table is based upon the
business itself. Occasionally, respondents confuse the zip code address with
the municipality. There may be
over-reporting of certain categories where businesses in a neighboring township
are thus ascribed to
|
Retail Sales by
Type: City of |
||||||
|
Retail
Category |
1997
Stores |
1997 Sales |
2002
Stores |
2002 Sales |
Change in Stores |
Change
in
Sales |
|
Motor vehicles, auto parts, etc. |
17 |
$80,635,000 |
12 |
$14,006,000 |
-5 |
-$66,629,000 |
|
Furniture, home items
related |
5 |
$5,235,000 |
5 |
$2,221,000 |
0 |
-$3,014,000 |
|
Electronics, appliances cameras,
etc. |
8 |
$6,354,000 |
7 |
$5,609,000 |
-1 |
-$745,000 |
|
Building
materials supplies, garden items etc |
17 |
$28,820,000 |
11 |
$21,846 |
-6 |
-$28,798,154 |
|
Food and beverage (not restaurants) |
13 |
$70,072,000 |
12 |
$37,779,000 |
-1 |
-$32,293,000 |
|
Health and personal
care |
16 |
$20,021,000 |
12 |
$20,345,000 |
-4 |
$324,000 |
|
Gas stations
and convenience stores
with gas |
11 |
$24,845,000 |
11 |
$29,011,000 |
0 |
$4,166,000 |
|
Clothing and
accessories (including luggage, jewelry, etc.) |
20 |
$14,604,000 |
18 |
$9,505,000 |
-2 |
-$5,099,000 |
|
Sporting goods, hobbies,
(including news dealers, books ) |
8 |
$2,415,000 |
7 |
$2,905,000 |
-1 |
$490,000 |
|
General retail |
8 |
$72,535,000 |
9 |
$110,801,000 |
1 |
$38,266,000 |
|
Miscellaneous
retail (including gifts) |
20 |
$10,171,000 |
18 |
NA |
-2 |
NA |
The largest single
area of loss was in the automotive category. In fact, the loss of this industry
alone would account for the vast majority of the City’s $70 million retail
decline. The other area of significant loss
was food sales, and building material/garden centers and related stores. This
is probably due to the loss of a major farm
supply store and a supermarket. While these were a very negative impact on the City, these were not in the downtown. Among the
growth areas, there may be some misreporting of general retail, which would account for $40 to $90 million in sales.
Among the other growth categories, the
modest gains in health and personal care-related sales did not keep pace with inflation.
The most discernable areas of real growth (in sales, not stores) were in
gasoline sales, and sporting goods/hobbies, news dealers/books, both of which saw sales grow and significantly
higher levels of growth than inflation rates.
This would point to the possibility of real economic growth in these two
sectors. Overall, national sales at
convenience stores with gas stations has surged, as these stores now typically
offer a range of prepared foods and other items for sale.
The sale of prepared
food at convenience stores related to another growth area in both local and
national buying trends, the accommodation/food services industry. This is a
separate category of analysis in the Economic
Census Series. In
|
Prepared Food
and Beverage Sales, |
||||||
|
Place |
1997 Stores |
1997 Sales |
2002 Stores |
2002 Sales |
Store |
Sales
Change |
|
|
61 |
$3,4325,000 |
65 |
$44,101,000 |
+4 |
+$9,776,000 |
|
|
26 |
$9,694,000 |
27 |
$8,937,000 |
-1 |
-$757,000 |
|
Balance of County |
93 |
$23,321,000 |
108 |
$30,626,000 |
+15 |
+$7,305,000 |
|
|
180 |
$67,340,000 |
200 |
$83,664,000 |
+20 |
+$16,324,000 |
Key Facts
·
For perhaps the first time in the history of
·
It appears that
many recent retail business losses were not from the downtown, but from other
business districts within the City.
·
The only retail growth sectors were in health care related retail (this
sector fits demographics) and
miscellaneous small businesses.
·
There has
been substantial growth in food and beverage service businesses within the City
(restaurants, bars, take out prepared food).
Other
Socio-Economic Issues
This section of the
BDAP tries to focus on less objective measurements of current trends within the
Business District.
These include previous planning initiatives for the area, and a series of
attitude surveys that
were conducted by the City Planning and Zoning Commission, with Redevelopment
Authority assistance.
Previous and
Related Planning Initiatives: The City has been focusing on downtown planning
activities for at
least the past decade. A comprehensive plan was adopted in 1993. The first
Business District Action
Plan was prepared in 1997. The
The 1993 City
Comprehensive Plan included an examination of the retail market from decennial
and economic
census series data. At that time, the City was losing population, but still
dominated
The Land Use Plan (upon which the
present City zoning is based) characterized downtown
The Academy Theatre
The existing Market
House and Market Alley renovation Shopping
in the downtown
A future museum on
Kenneth A. Beers, Jr. Bicentennial Park
Cabin
The comprehensive plan contained
a proposed downtown projects map that recommended nine specific projects. These are listed in the next table, with
the subsequent results.
|
1993
Comprehensive Plan Recommendation |
2006 Status and Results |
|
County
Museum/Historical Society headquarters (located at present National Guard Armory) |
Historical Society facility was located
in gifted property outside downtown.
Armory remains in original site. Closure is still likely. |
|
Contingency Plan for flexible education facility if
the Middle School is closed. |
Middle School was closed.
Zoning ordinance was amended to create more possible uses. Building currently being renovated for
multi-family residential uses and
office space. |
|
Proposed DEP facility and parking
garage |
Constructed and open. Probably
has contributed to growth of Food Services sector. |
|
Potential site of Central Fire Station |
Built on alternate site. Former
fire station is now a restaurant. |
|
Market Alley |
Design complete, nearing construction. |
|
|
Design complete, nearing construction as part of
comprehensive North Street Penn DOT project. |
|
Traffic directional changes at Downtown
Mall |
Studied and determined not to be
feasible. |
|
On-Street free parking areas |
Seasonal implementation. |
After the comprehensive plan was adopted
in 1993, the City amended and updated its zoning ordinance to be generally
consistent with the plan. Key features of the new zoning ordinance included the
creation of transitional districts around
the business district. The City also pursued further implementation by preparing its first Business District Action Plan
in 1997. This plan set a vision completion year of 2001, and was
actually entitled Meadville 2001, a Business District Action Plan.
|
1997 BDAP Goals |
2006 Results/Status |
|
Tax base and land use issues |
|
|
Fill empty storefronts |
Ongoing, no active recruitment
program. At the bank a successful private-sector
model. |
|
Encourage second
floor uses |
Ongoing (i.e.,
Mark Reed condos, Career Link re-location), no active recruitment or
assistance provided |
|
Upgrade infrastructure |
Ongoing (i.e., new paving, extended
streetscape/lighting, new curb ramps, parking garage) |
|
|
|
|
Increased community commitment |
|
|
Extend existing
volunteer programs |
Needs
improvement. New group of downtown stakeholders working on parking
issues. |
|
Encourage positive community self-image |
Needs improvement. Image Committee no longer active. |
|
|
|
|
Improved urban design |
|
|
Improve awareness
of parking availability |
Ongoing. New
public parking signs provided with Barco funding. New
|
|
Save/rehabilitate existing buildings |
Ongoing (i.e., Kepler Hotel, Mark Reed condos, Jr.
High, at the bank, Meadville Town Tavern) |
|
Continued
improvement of streetscapes |
Ongoing. Continued
extension of streetscape/lighting/brick improvements surrounding
IMPACT |
|
|
|
|
Unified marketing |
|
|
Create a plan to market downtown as a destination |
Needs improvement. No cohesive marketing plan under
way. Some assistance provided by CCCVB. |
|
|
|
|
1997
Buildings/Projects |
2006 Status/Results |
|
|
Privately owned
and occupied by ARC of Crawford County. |
|
Wolff’s Building |
Privately owned by Norman LaBruzzo, fully occupied
by Allegro Dance Arts and Tonix Night Club. |
|
Market Alley |
Ongoing. Funding
secured. Construction Summer 2007. |
|
|
Privately owned by local law firm, first floor
retail tenant. |
|
|
Privately owned
and occupied by Bill Lawrence. |
|
|
Privately owned by CCDC. Four
second floor apartments fully rented, vacant
first floor retail space. |
|
|
Privately owned by
CC Coalition on Housing Needs, including all apartments fully
occupied. |
|
Market House |
1997 renovation complete, with
more recent window replacement, painting
and first floor restroom complete. |
|
Kepler Block |
Former
Kepler Hotel renovation and new addition complete—7 retail
spaces and 30 condo units. Second phase of townhouse construction planned for Spring 2007.
Development of two new commercial
buildings pending. |
The County was also
active in economic development that included downtown commercial areas. The Crawford County Economic
Roadmap was adopted in 2004 to create a better systemic approach to economic development
in the County. The 128-page document primarily deals with the economic
development delivery system of local governments and non-profits. However, it
has chosen some overall
economic priorities.
The document established “Downtown Development” as one of six local priority areas. The document set several indicators for
downtown progress.
Downtown Development Priorities from
the County Economic Roadmap
·
Public- and
private-sector dollars invested in downtown areas
·
New investment
leads generated
·
New investments
made by existing and new companies in
·
Job creation by
expanding and newly located firms in
·
Positive change
in the perception of
·
Increase in
tourism visitors to the County’s downtowns, and increased spending from these
visitors
The Action Plan section recommended that
5 percent of all economic development resources be directed toward improving these downtown indicators.
However, it also recommended that this phase of the Action Plan agenda not be pursued immediately. This means
that long-term assistance may be expected from the County’s economic development network. However, significant
short-term assistance should not be expected from countywide
organizations.
The most recent
planning effort in the Region led to this BDAP update. In 2005, the City agreed
to participate in a multi-municipal comprehensive plan, which would also cover
the Borough of Conneaut Lake and the two
townships of Sadsbury and
Simultaneous
to this effort, the French Creek project has also undertaken a detailed study
and analysis of the Meadville Market House. This study will be important, as it
will strengthen a key historic and economic resource in the heart of the business district.
Public Input –
Surveys of the Community
Surveys: Surveys were undertaken to
augment information available from statistical sources and published plans. Economic statistics
collected on a national level only tell a part of the story of economic performance. These sources tend
to miss nuances. For example, many sole proprietorship businesses are not included in the retail
trade series because they do not have payrolls. The Census also simply calculates employment, payroll, and sales data. It
does not attempt to measure optimism, satisfaction, or attitudes.
Merchant Survey: In order to fill out the knowledge base, it was
decided to distribute a survey to every merchant
and business owner in the project area. A five-page survey was prepared. It was
distributed and tabulated by a
Meadville Redevelopment Authority intern from
One of the most striking aspects of the
merchant’s survey was the level of pessimism. The response to the question, What’s the first word or phrase
that comes to mind when you think of downtown
In total, there were
53 negative responses, and only 23 positive responses. Negative responses
tended to emphasize
empty storefronts and lack of business. Positive responses focused on the
Market House, new stores coming in,
positive attitudes, potential, and a physically attractive community.
In spite of the general pessimism,
merchants were generally satisfied with many basic City services.
|
Merchants
Survey Response to Public Services in Downtown |
|||||
|
|
Excellent |
Good |
Fair |
Poor |
Total |
|
Police and Fire Protection |
38 |
50 |
4 |
0 |
92 |
|
Local Tax Rates |
4 |
20 |
46 |
18 |
88 |
|
Local Government Business Assistance |
7 |
23 |
31 |
19 |
80 |
|
Litter Control |
9 |
39 |
21 |
18 |
87 |
|
Zoning and Code Enforcement |
4 |
45 |
24 |
3 |
76 |
|
Snow Removal |
13 |
51 |
19 |
4 |
87 |
|
Parking Enforcement |
19 |
45 |
16 |
7 |
87 |
The merchants also
believed that targeted activities could improve the downtown. Merchants prioritized
several activities:
High Priority Merchant Suggestions:
·
Attract large
developers to undertake new commercial or residential buildings
·
Provide
technical and financial assistance to businesses
·
Undertake
marketing and promotion of the downtown
·
Sponsor more
festivals, entertainment, and events
Moderate Priority Merchant
Suggestions:
·
Undertake
targeted litter and code enforcement
·
Develop bicycle
and pedestrian trails to connect the downtown to other areas
·
Develop more public
space for events or passive recreation, such as places for people to sit
·
Develop uniform
street signs, street lighting, and sidewalk appearances
·
Develop more
historic and arts attractions
Low Priority Merchant Suggestions:
·
Develop more
space for parking
In terms of
business development, a majority of local business owners would like to see
more restaurants and retail stores.
There is not overall resentment of potential competition.
Three quarters of survey respondents
stated they would like to see the City re-enter the Main Street Program. However, only 10 percent offered
financial support (though more stated they would consider it if given
more information).
A small core of businesses expressed a
willingness to participate in a variety of ways.
|
|
Which of the
Following Actions would Business Owners Support? |
||||
|
|
Strongly Support |
Somewhat |
Do Not
Support |
Not Sure |
Total |
|
Offer letters
of support and meet with state and federal officials on grants to improve the downtown? |
40 |
24 |
4 |
11 |
79 |
|
Private cash donation
towards a match for state or federal
grants for projects to improve the downtown? |
8 |
21 |
30 |
18 |
77 |
|
Private donation of services toward
revitalization. |
12 |
14 |
22 |
25 |
73 |
|
Establish a business improvement district, where a portion of real estate taxes
would only be spent within the downtown. |
40 |
22 |
5 |
12 |
79 |
|
Provide a cash match to a grant to rehabilitate
the façade of the building your business is located in. |
17 |
16 |
27 |
15 |
75 |
Shopper Survey: Economic statistics are one measure of how well the
downtown functions. Another is to gauge the satisfaction of the people who are actually
living, working, or shopping in the Business District. Toward that end, a downtown shopper’s survey was distributed. It was not
meant to be a scientific random
sample. The survey was set up to allow any interested person to participate. It
was also meant to
function as a tool
of community development by expanding interest in the Business District and
potential activities.
It was a very brief survey with only four questions. There were 157 responses.
The first question was about overall
frequency of time respondents typically spend in the Business District. The
most common response is highlighted.
|
How often do you visit downtown |
||||||
|
Good or
Service |
Almost
Everyday |
Weekly |
Once Per |
1-4 Times Per Year |
Never |
Total |
|
To buy convenience food or snacks |
26 |
59 |
49 |
10 |
13 |
157 |
|
To shop for
groceries or produce |
11 |
80 |
29 |
8 |
14 |
142 |
|
To pay bills or do banking |
17 |
66 |
||||