If you moved the facades of the Park Street commercial corridor into the middle of an asphalt nowhere and covered it with a
huge roof you could fill it up with box stores, large and small, and rename it the "Hometown Mall." This is precisely what mall
designers attempt to simulate with their souless creations; places that look like somewhere when they are nowhere at all.
Park Street in Alameda is the real thing, with real people conducting their real lives within an amicable civic context. It isn't perfect of course as citizens grumble about the lack of variety in its mixture of businesses. They'd like to see more new and interesting things along the street, but change comes slowly to this puzzle of patronage.
Anyone courageous or foolish enough to go into business is acutely aware of the risk involved. Risk has a tendency to
create commercial areas often filled with safe, tried and true, cookie-cutter ideas. The business community is not to be blamed
for taking the safest route to profitability, it is after all their necks that are on the block. There are sacrifices to be made on
both sides of the equation of home town prosperity, but it the case of our island home such sacrifice is worth while if it
succeeds in creating a more lively and interesting place to live.
We must solve this puzzle as a community by seeking solutions that address not only the commercial aspirations of business or the political aspirations of a burgeoning tax-base, but most importantly a civic aspiration to preserve the character and sense of place that defines Alameda as a special community. Imagine what might become possible if a couple of simple civic improvements were added to the scheme.
The first might be a city-funded small business loan program that would offer loans to people seeking to create small businesses along the street at terms to encourage their development. Criteria for qualification would include experience as well as originality and potential marketability of business concepts. It might also be possible to create partnerships through this program where varied talents could be joined to increase the probability of success.
The second would be the creation of a free community shuttle service, electrically powered, maintained and operated by Alameda Power & Telecom. Such a service, used to link the commercial centers of Park and Webster streets to the community at large, would reduce traffic as well as increase accessibility. Easy and free access to our local centers of commerce would be huge incentive for patronage that would have the added benefits of reduced congestion and pollution.
These are only a couple of thoughts, certain to be fraught with difficulties. They are meant to be examples of things we might do as a community to preserve our city and make it more prosperous as well. The best and most direct way to make things happen is to take steps to insure that community patronage enriches our town.
If you have some ideas or thoughts to put forward your civic government offers a place online to receive your thoughts.
