Life Of Jason

It’s amazing how many things can come to mind to share when you go for a lunch walk.  Here’s a few things in no particular order:

First, I have to admit being surprised that I had five bucks stolen from me at the Park Central Branch Library today.  I know…you can have money stolen from you anywhere but it just seemed so out of place at the shiny, new downtown library that a thief would already be able to have cased the place enough to feel comfortable to ply his evil trade.   I have no idea who it was and, of course, no one saw anything.

If you need a haircut, I recommend the great folks at Moda Salon just off Campbell (although they’re moving to South Street next to South Avenue Pizza fairly soon.)

Their prices are very reasonable for salon treatment compared to the other downtown hair salons which in some places was almost twice what Moda was charging!  They take appointments although they will fit in “walk-ins” (pun intended) if they’re available.  (864-0200 if you’re interested and no, they didn’t give me anything for this other than a great haircut a few months back I paid to get.  It’s also not because they’ve cut the hair of a pitcher for the greatest baseball team in God’s creation.)

I saw the station van for Clear Channel owned ESPN 1400 parked in a residential neighborhood.  (I don’t listen to ESPN Radio since Dan Patrick hung up his ESPN microphone but I digress…)

That was one thing that always irritated me when I was in day to day radio.  You spent money for a van or other vehicle, pay for all kinds of graphics on it and then you sit it in the parking lot until you have someone pay you for a remote broadcast.  These things are giant rolling billboards that if you let a staffer drive them around during the day you’ll expose your logo and station to more people than you will in a month sitting in your parking lot (even the one on Glenstone near Sunshine.)

Take one less TV ad or billboard out of your ad campaign, use it for gas and get your intern to drive around in the van when they’re getting your lattes every morning.  It’s a great promotional tool!  Use it to the full!

Finally, I was walking along College Street, just a few blocks from downtown and the starkness of the street struck me in a new way:

Let me start by saying I have nothing against Commercial Street.  It’s just when I hear folks from Commercial Street talking about they should be considered a part of downtown I think of a place like this which is significantly closer to downtown than many parts of Commercial Street.  Where’s the economic revitalization package for this part of the downtown area?

There’s empty storefronts lining that side of the street pictured.  The homes on the other side are mostly for sale and in need of renovation for the most part.  This is a road that people will turn on to get straight downtown from Kansas Expressway…and it looks like they’re driving through a broken down and forgotten part of town.

That may not be the case…I’m just saying how it looks when I walk past it.  I see a snapshot of the economic troubles we all face and a Springfield that needs more than just a downtown square and new movie theatre.  Commercial Street doesn’t lead to downtown if you get on Commercial and drive straight through on it.   College Street leads right to downtown.  Wouldn’t it be better in terms of initial impression to have a vibrant streetscape and open businesses leading to downtown instead of boarded up buildings and signs of businesses long since gone?

I’m sure someone out there who’s into real estate or construction as a business can tell me why this part of town isn’t viable for revitalization but it seems to this simple Springfield resident that if we want to make downtown vibrant we need a strong corridor to downtown on streets that bring the people directly into it.

Oh…and I almost forgot…the Wellspring Cafe downtown (half a block west of the late, great O’Connell’s Deli) has closed down.  I’m sure the Urban Districts Alliance or Downtown Springfield Association will have stats to show me where I’m wrong but it sure feels sometimes like downtown’s a place where businesses are really closing up fast.  I just hope The Bakehouse stays open at least nine more days!  We had enough fun with our wedding’s florist going out of business last week!