“A couple signs” won’t necessarily bring people

Dear Editor,

Over the last 40-50 years Imlay City’s downtown has been superseded by commercial activity along M-53. It’s not a unique story.

Many small towns that aren’t fading into obscurity have seen the rise of commercial activity along their edges.

However, not all of them have seen their downtowns become virtual ghost towns.

Fenton, Milford, Brighton and Howell have all seen an explosion of shopping plazas and big box stores on their fringes, but their downtowns are just as vibrant as ever.

Nearly all the businesses that were in those downtowns in the mid-20 century, the furniture stores, grocers, shoe stores and such, are gone.

They’ve been replaced by restaurants, bars and specialty shops. In those downtowns there’s a reason to walk from one end of the block to another.

In Imlay City, if you buy a drink at Third and Main, you have mostly empty buildings to walk past.

In 2011 the Imlay City Commission gave the city’s DDA authority superseded to approve up to 23 redevelopment liquor licenses within the DDA’s boundaries. I’m not sure if any of them were ever issued.

I have, however, seen proposals to bring Port Huron’s ThumbCoast Brewing Company (2016) and Memphis’ Sage Creek Winery (2024) go south.

There is at least one building that remains unused downtown due to environmental issues.

Putting up signs marking a social district isn’t going to solve downtown Imlay City’s problems.

During my career I’ve seen DDAs that have worked actively to recruit new businesses to their district.

The city needs an inventory of every vacant building within the DDA, including the buildings’ sizes, features and owner’s contact information.

The DDA should also use a portion of its budget to promote investment in Imlay City in business publications such as Crain’s Detroit.

The city should actively seek out companies that are expanding in Michigan and encourage them to consider Imlay City.

If you build it, they will come is a great line in a Kevin Costner movie.

But if you just put up a couple of signs, they won’t necessarily come.

— Phil Foley,
Attica Township

 

Editor’s Note: I recently drove through one of the town’s the author mentions. Fenton – along with Milford, Brighton and Howell, certainly have a far different demographic, both financially and economically, than Imlay City does.

Clearly, not a fair comparison in my opinion, for a lot of reasons.

But, there are other communities, similar to Imlay City, closer to home and just down the road in most any direction, that fit the description Mr. Foley mentions.

Businesses locating outside of the downtown district, taking foot traffic away from the original downtown districts.

While Imlay City does continue to struggle with how to best market and promote their downtown district like others – kudos to those who have been bold enough to take the first steps in changing the image and culture. It doesn’t happen overnight.