Restaurants as drivers of commercial district revitalization

"It was really the restaurants, they were the traffic pull, which in turn led to specialty shop development," Matson said.

From the article "Seminary Street provides the model: Built on restaurants, pubs, specialty stores," about the Main Street commercial district in Galesburg, Illinois. Galesburg was one of the three initial pilot communities where the Main Street model was developed and tested in the late 1970s.

And this reiterates the importance of restaurants as places to eat and to gather (and a place to go to the restroom!) as necessary components of commercial district revitalization. You can't have a "complete destination" without places to eat and refresh yourself. (Also see the "third place" work of Ray Oldenburg.)

From the article:

According to the history of the National Trust, during the three-year demonstration project, 30 new businesses opened in downtown Galesburg and downtown occupancy rose to 95 percent. Tying in tourism by donating the lot at Mulberry and Seminary streets for the Galesburg Railroad Museum also was part of the Seminary Street concept. That has since expanded with a new depot-style railroad museum and the nearby Discovery Depot children's museum...

"From that one business, we now have two or three or four coffee businesses," Matson said. "Typically that's a healthy sign when you get more people competing. "One of the things that's attractive to downtown Galesburg is the diversity, the complexity," Matson said, adding that the food and beverage district downtown is impressive.

Index Keywords: retail; restaurants; Main-Street