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here is an old economic development saying: retail follows rooftops. It means that in order for retail businesses to thrive, there need to be a certain number of homes in proximity to the business. The rule of thumb for a corner store is 1,000 households within a mile, 2,500 for a convenience center with multiple stores, even more for a supermarket. In general, these rules are understood only viscerally, described in a single term: Walkability. Yet the term is rarely explained in detail—neither its economic impacts, nor the measures which define it. These measures are universal, and rules of thumb such as those based on housing described above may help explain why so many downtowns and neighborhood centers struggled or failed over the past decades as housing preferences shifted to the suburbs. They may also help us understand how to bring them back. Housing development, like so many other things, is driven by market demand. And the profile of housing demand looks much different today than it did three generations ago when the suburban experiment began. Driven by a desire for privacy and enabled by cheap transportation, young baby boomer families migrated from their urban homes to the relative tranquility of the countryside. Today’s housing market shows a strong preference for mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods, and contemporary housing trends are the source of a nationwide revitalization of downtowns. Arkansas mirrors national observations, with successful downtown revitalizations already successful or underway in a number of cities. In Jonesboro, the resurgence of downtown has been nothing less than stunning. Young Investments is one of the companies serving Jonesboro’s downtown market. They manage 51 lofts, 20 storefronts and five restaurants on Main Street in Jonesboro. Owner Clay Young says they still don’t have enough supply to meet the demand. When Young started investing in Jonesboro’s downtown, most developers were doing strip centers and suburban plats. Young says he took the risk for the community so “everybody could get to enjoy seeing something being transformed into what it looked like back in 1887.” It turned out to be a smart investment. Today there is a waiting list to move into Young’s properties and his lofts command higher rents than anywhere else in the city. That’s not just good for Young—tax contributions from downtown properties recovered after the recession faster than outlying neighborhoods. Jonesboro’s trend is one observed almost everywhere. In 2011 and again in 2013, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Consumer Preference Survey showed at least 50 percent of the nation preferred to live in a walkable neighborhood. Preservationists and urbanists have long argued that the quality of life in downtown settings meant they were preferred by city residents, but the NAR’s Consumer Preference Survey is hard data which can’t be easily brushed off.
What’s interesting about NAR’s 2013 survey is what it shows about the nation’s housing preferences on a deeper level. It’s not surprising that an overwhelming majority (76%) of Americans would prefer to live in a bigger house with a yard. But when respondents were asked if they would be willing to trade the big yard, a large home and a commute in the burbs for a smaller home near destinations they could walk to, almost two-thirds of the respondents preferred the walkable neighborhood, which was defined as a place where shopping, restaurants, a library and/or a school were within walking distance. While this is a nationwide statistic and there isn’t any city-level data for Arkansas communities, the success of Young’s properties indicate Jonesboro residents have similar preferences. Of course, the recent success of Jonesboro’s Main Street doesn’t tell the whole story. It’s clear that downtown Jonesboro has hit a tipping point. It’s vibrant. It has both nightlife and daytime foot traffic. But it’s important to recognize a few dozen loft apartments aren’t capable of sustaining the more than 20 storefronts and halfdozen restaurants thriving now. In order to understand their success, we need a wider perspective. Jonesboro’s downtown had its ups and its downs, but it was never dead. The neighborhood surrounding Main Street kept it alive. To the south and west of Jonesboro’s most active blocks lies one of the essential components for a vibrant downtown: a compact neighborhood. It’s a neighborhood that mixes houses and apartments and everything in between. White collar and working class families are both welcome. Its residential streets have a slower pace that welcomes dog walkers. It’s got all of the ingredients, including proximity, that have made it a meaningful contributor to Downtown Jonesboro’s ability to survive.
SUPERCEDED The first step for any city looking to increase foot traffic is to make walking routes safe, and that requires more than a police presence. Jane Jacobs, a neighborhood advocate who wrote The Death and Life of Great American Cities, argued the presence of buildings close to the street conveyed a sense of safety to pedestrians on its sidewalks, precisely because the people within those buildings were able to observe the street and report anything unusual. In order to achieve this eyes on the street effect, cities must embrace historic housing densities and building arrangements. Most World War II era neighborhoods meet that threshold—high-rises not required. The task for cities is thus to repair the remnant urban fabric of these neighborhoods with appropriately scaled infill development and restore the reciprocal relationships Jacobs observed. Fill in the gaps, and walking becomes safer. Ensure new neighborhoods are modeled after that historic development pattern, and walking will be rewarded from the beginning. continued on page 48
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