The Downtown Chico Renaissance

Three years ago this March, our world changed completely when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Suddenly, you couldn’t visit a restaurant or a bar; sitting down and ordering a meal or a cocktail quickly became a distant memory. People fought over paper goods and flour in the aisles of the supermarket while mandates came down from the upper echelons of the government, forcing businesses not deemed essential to close while the world was plunged into quarantine. Those were eerie, quiet days where no cars drove through town, and life basically just stopped. You would be hard pressed to find a single person who was not affected in some way by the pandemic, and most of us are just starting to remember what life was like before it.

The pandemic certainly didn’t help Chico’s downtown community, which was shuttered for almost a year while its businesses tried to find creative ways to survive in the chaos. “The events that bring people into downtown were put on hold indefinitely, and the city lost a lot of money,” says Audrey Taylor, a local businesswoman who volunteers with the Downtown Chico Business Association.

Among those events are some most will immediately recognize, like the Thursday Night Market and Slice of Chico. The DCBA has partnered with the City of Chico since its inception in 1975 to market and promote the downtown, helping it thrive and providing support for business owners, but during the pandemic, the DCBA board lost members and money as its revenue sources dried up. Then, in 2021, its long-time director, Melanie Bassett, retired after 9 years at the helm, and the organization found itself at a crossroads.

Downtowns are critical centers of economic diversity and often function as the heart and soul of a community. Chico’s is no exception. Blocks of unique boutiques and restaurants make it a special place to dine out, buy a gift, get your shoes repaired, or pick up a new bicycle. The beautiful old buildings evoke a feeling that you’re immersed in the history of the city in a way that few other places in town do. Strolling up Broadway and marveling at the beautiful old buildings, seeing the enormous old trees, or catching a glimpse of the I.O.O.F letters on a building on Third Street remind us that there was a Chico that existed before cars, before cell phones, and before electric light.

We are fortunate to have these glimpses into our history. Many downtowns all over the country have been razed, or have collapsed in on themselves and been forgotten about completely. Make no mistake, our town and the DCBA have definitely had a rough go of it in recent years, but it appears, finally, that the sun may be coming out. With the world finally emerging from the strange and somewhat apocalyptic feeling of the pandemic and Chico State students back in classes, the downtown is definitely beginning to fill up again. Businesses are open, restaurants seem fuller, and the sidewalks once again have pedestrians strolling up and down, enjoying the sunshine and fresh air.

Beginning in 2022, the DCBA began meeting to discuss an injection of funds from the City into its coffers to revitalize and reenergize Downtown Chico, which would, in turn, revitalize and reenergize the organization itself. In January, the City Council voted to allocate $422,000 to the DCBA over the next three years for a variety of projects outlined in a business plan that was approved by the city’s finance committee. The organization also has a re-energized board, with 7 of its 15 members new to the organization. They include Liza Tedesco of Chico Natural Foods Co-Op, Emma Martin of The Allies

New Energy

New faces are bringing new energy and a variety of businesses to Downtown Chico!

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Molly Macarthy-Openshaw of Hydration Happens, Pat Macias of the Museum of Northern California Art, and Steven Stull of Cal Water. The DCBA is also working more closely with Chico State, which has representation on its board, on issues and projects of mutual interest.

Chico State relies heavily on downtown, without question. It plays a large part in the decision many families make to send their students to the university, and it provides a place for out-of-town guests to visit when they come to campus for events like Parents Week and Wildcat Weekend. “We have thousands of parents and families that come to Chico State and Downtown for events like graduation and summer orientation for new students,”

Shari Anderson says. Shari is the vice president of the DCBA, as well as the director of alumni and parent programs at Chico State, and she is passionate about Downtown Chico. Before she embarked on her career at the university in 2007, Shari was the director of the Thursday Night Market. “I am especially passionate about the connection between Downtown Chico and Chico State, and it’s really important to me to make downtown the best it can be,” she says. “I’m very passionate about finding ways that Chico State can partner with businesses and the DCBA to help make that happen.”

The DCBA has created a comprehensive three-year plan that includes ideas for beautification, historical preservation, and maintaining the traditions that have become part of the fabric of life in Chico. They’ll also be implementing listening sessions to find out how they can best support downtown businesses, the first of which is slated to happen soon. At the outset, there won’t be much to see, but after three years, the DCBA hopes that by focusing on certain priorities, it will be able to give Chico a much-

What’s up with the Downtown meters?!

Having heard this question from businesses and patrons alike, we found this information exactly where you’d expect it, on the DCBA website (www.downtownchico.com/parking.htm). We hope you enjoyed the free parking for the month or so while it was in transition, and that this information helps when you next visit downtown and see these new IPS Group Pay Stations.

Conveniently pay with a credit card, cash, or coins using smart kiosks that replace individual parking meters in specific Downtown Chico parking lots.

improved downtown. These priorities are outlined in the plan as marketing and promotions, events, beautification (or “place development”) and economic vitality. They hope to be able to give the citizens of Chico and the downtown business owners a feeling that they are back in the downtown of yesteryear, where people flocked to local businesses, and restaurants thrived without fear of the future. We can’t wait to see their vision come to fruition.

Read more about the DCBA’s proposal for downtown on their website, www.dcba.org.

How do I use these dang things?!