Yikes! If you were to take the recent reports at face value about downtown Jackson from this paper and now even KCRA, you'd think that the city had nothing but blight and "crud" and that no one goes there unless they are in the area to visit the casino. Even though I am not a downtown merchant, I believe that someone needs to come to their defense. It needs to be clearly stated that, despite some empty storefronts, there are some fine shops on Main Street whose owners clearly take a lot of pride in how they present their business. Some pretty broad strokes of negativity are being painted these days. Instead, we should look at Main Street as a "diamond in the rough" that is due for some faceting and polishing.
Although long-term plans are in discussion to upgrade Main Street, an easy-to-do shot in the arm would be to make parking easier for potential shoppers. Most folks don't like parallel parking. Redo one lane of parallel parking on Main Street and replace it with diagonal parking, as the vice mayor suggested. Her suggestion of one-way traffic may be tough to make happen quickly, though. But getting one lane of traffic converted to diagonal parking, like it used to be in the old days, is a quick fix that won't cost much at all.
Finally, to reply to a Jan. 11 letter to the editor stating that Home Depot would be a much needed "anchor" to draw people into Jackson and as a help for Main Street, I would like to say: "huh?" First, it is impossible to reconcile a big box store with the preservation of our historic past. It would only be a detriment. In particular, our area does not need yet another big box home improvement retailer. Yet, although I don't want to encourage a big national chain, what is lacking in our community is a family clothing store such as a Mervyn's, J.C. Penny's, Kohl's, or etc. A store like this would not likely hurt the existing boutique apparel stores either, due to the great differentiation. Perhaps this is where some attention should be paid instead of on a Home Depot that only duplicates what its arch rival Lowe's already sells. Regardless of which big store we're talking about, this is not the solution to Main Street's woes. Many cities across America that went all out with big retail stores have rediscovered the importance of Main Street and have spruced them up. "Main Street USA" is different and it's meant to be different. Big national chain stores are not the solution but instead are part of the problem of Main Streets across the country, so being discerning as to what store is welcomed into our community is not "anti-growth."