Where is the commercial center of Anderson?

One place I disagree with the current mayor is about the commerical center of Anderson. He thinks it can or should be downtown. It is not and cannot be is my opinion.

Banks and offices and government offices dominate the downtown. You want to find retail stores then go out to Scatterfield Road between 19th Street and I-69. The chain stores are there and so are the big boxes of Lowes, Wal-Mart, and Meijer. And everyone knows what the big box stores do to small businesses that compete with them. And what else besides small businesses are there room for in downtown Anderson?

So why try to remake downtown Anderson as the business center for Anderson? I have not heard a good answer to that.

Who wants to come down just to shop? The Herald-Bulletin's articles never really say who is coming to downtown Anderson to what businesses. See here and here and here and here. The comments show the same curious attitude towards the downtown as I do. Only the changes to 13th Street seem likely and they have support from at least one business in the area.

Personally, I hope they bring back the scramble lights.

So when the mayor talks about a big business coming downtown does he know something that no one else knows or is that he has no idea of what he is talking about? Frankly, I cannot imagine any real estate available downtown for a business big enough to disrupt the traffic flow. So right now, I do not think there is something he knows that we do not.

Whatever businesses do locate downtown will need to have an edge that keeps them from being eaten alive by Wal-Mart and the chain stores. If we are talking retail, they will need to be specialized, niche operations. I am not sure that there is room enough downtown for much retail development. Service businesses might have more room to operate (is the Union Building filled to capacity? The old savings and loan at 11th and Jackson is still pretty much empty) but they will not necessarily bring people downtown.

Take a look at Noblesville and Muncie and even Indianapolis. Those cities have a better downtown than we do. What are they composed of? A mixture of business and government and entertainment. Take a run over to Muncie and check out Vera Mae's and Heorot and Doc's on Walnut Street and then compare them with what we have on Meridian Street. All are quality places (and while at Heorot check out the raspberry beer) unlike anything we have right now.

But when you do come back to Anderson, take a look at The State and The Paramount and think of how things could be here. Count in the Mainstage Theater. And this new Italian restaurant (Yes, we finally have a real Italian restaurant. I got to try it out in the next month.). And then consider whatever that place is that has taken over the old Elliott's (or old San Francison or old Interurban, depending on your age). Perhaps with some competition and a boost from the city, Pelltrino's and the Caboose can clean up a bit. In short, make the downtown a destination.