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Solution in Search of a Problem: Permanent Street Closures Create New Problems, Hurt Businesses

Banks are known as the “Titans of Industry”. In Northville two local bank branches have closed. Both during street closures,“due to lack of patronage”. First Merchants’ Bank announced its closing on 2/8/23. Bank of America, directly across the street, closed 6/15/21. Both were at Main & Hutton, where some 60% of the previous daily retail traffic has been eliminated. Please pay attention: Banks are often canaries in the coal mine.

Closing streets to vehicles in a downtown shopping district is called a “Pedestrian Mall”. These walkers-only malls popular in the ‘70s and ‘80s, largely failed. Partly this was due to inappropriate comparisons to Europe. Also, many cities failed to possess important characteristics.

Why European Plazas Succeed & Why Ours Don’t

• Cities were built AROUND car-less city plazas centuries ago (dating from Medieval era)

• Good public transportation links

• A population with a cultural inclination to walk

• Streets that are too narrow to accommodate cars

There is a second model, Pedestrian-Transit Mall, that is more successful. It has pedestrians + mass transit vehicles (buses & cabs) in the right of way lane. (Pojani/Territorio)

(Journal of Urbanism, 2020) This assumes a town HAS mass transit: Northville DOES NOT. In 2021, researchers determined these factors for a successful pedestrian mall:

When It’s Over, It’s Over…

During 2020, there was a resurgence of Pedestrian Malls due to restrictions. During the closures, outdoor/ street dining + activities was a viable alternative to keep businesses afloat. However, just as there was an art to a city’s timing opening a pedestrian mall, there is just as much savvy required in knowing when to stop.

Over 200 cities, large and small, have tried. The vast majority are reopened fully or partially to traffic. Researchers estimate that in a 50-year span, only 5-9% have survived. As of 4/22, only 15 existed: they all were the PedestrianTransit model. However, like The Pearl in Boulder, Colorado, these malls meet most of the Pedestrian Mall Success List criteria. Even our hired consultants, Grissim, Metz, Andriese & Assoc., on 10/27/22 warned us NOT to remove our curbs, street light structures, and any infrastructure that would preclude us from returning to normal streets quickly. This is because the probability of risk

NUMBER OF SUCCESSFUL PEDESTRIAN MALLS IN MICHIGAN 0 taxpayer money is very high. Some towns, such as Madison Wisconsin, also decided if infrastructure changes (sidewalks & streets) were made the success would increase. Although efforts were taken to preserve access for existing businesses, construction was disruptive to merchants and some did not survive the process. Yet, this is what is being proposed in Northville! More recently, Plymouth, MI and Fenton, MI tried the concepts during Covid and decided to lift the closures after 16 months, due to a negative impact on Retail and traffic. Ann Arbor’s is only open Thursday-Sundays.

There are only 2 existing successful Pedestrian Malls

• One has a beach, a warm climate & tourists: Lincoln Street Mall, South Beach, Miami, FLA

• One has an ocean, historic landmarks & tourists: Washington Street Mall, Cape May, NJ

RESULTS OF OTHER MICHIGAN CITIES THAT HAVE TRIED PEDESTRIAN MALLS

(Fresno Future/Cole E. Judge, 2013, excerpt)

These Michigan Pedestrian Malls were all unsuccessful:

MALL NAME CITY

Macomb Place Mount Clemens

Market Street Mall Kalamazoo

Michigan Mall Battle Creek

Monroe Mall Grand Rapids

Pearl Street Grand Rapids

Progress Place Jackson

Washington Square Lansing

Is closing Northville’s Downtown a good idea?

Thank you for your avalanche of letters and support.

To request a form letter template or to get a lawn sign, please email: LetsOpenNorthville@gmail.com

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Complaint Form: Scan here if you or a friend can’t get a close drop-off or parking space due to closures

Northville City Council Meeting Calendar: Bring your letters!

NPD Transparency Dashboard: Shows # of service and direct calls has increased