Staunton Green 2020

Picture if you will blocks of charmingly appointed storefronts, elegant eateries and bustling pubs set on a wide avenue paved in herringbone brick. See in your mind’s eye casually strolling pedestrians ambling the decorative paths as diners take in a meal on patios under shade trees and theater-goers line up for an evening’s show.

The gracious environment offers relaxing ease for all participants, who indulge in their chosen activity on the human scale, in community with one another and entirely unfettered by either passing car exhaust or the mindless indifference of a cell-phone addicted driver. Even children meander without arousing parental fear because this quasi-urbanized mixed-use space is car-free, a true walker’s mall.

If, like me, you can envision this hip mini-metropolis on a revived Staunton’s historic Beverley Street, then welcome to the future. Only, in reality, welcome to it a few miles east of downtown, astride Interstate 81 and tucked onto State-conveyed landed adjacent to the Museum of the American Frontier Culture .

On 40 acres (no mule) of that land, the development firm of Petrie Ross Ventures intends to build what its website calls a mixed-use facility slated to include, “…retail, banking, restaurants, theater/artisans center, museum and hospitality.” And if all that walking gets to you, know that “…sidewalks and trails will join with those of the museum to compliment the tram with its stops along the boulevard.” Oooh, le ‘boulevard,’ sounds tres chic, n’est pas?

Yet all this mixed-use gives me mixed-feelings. Why, I wonder, does the center of Staunton need an imitation of itself on the edge of town? And more importantly, how will an imitation of the center of Staunton affect business, tourism and development in the real center of Staunton, in its reviving but still fragile downtown?

Don’t get me wrong. As an entrepreneur, small-business owner and erstwhile contract worker, I dig business. I like the creativity of it, making sales and building entities that serve both my needs and those of my community.

I also recognize that, beyond legitimate concerns, such as the environmental impact of such a project, the real threat to downtown vitality and development geared to a dying car culture, there exists the potential for some immediate economic gains, such as increased tax revenue, more jobs, and the potential for the project to actually increase tourist traffic to Staunton, potentially spilling over to its downtown (though I’d like to see some real statistics there, and not just happy spin.)

In spite of my willingness to remain cautiously open-minded about the proposed plan, and more than a little willing to envision a closer proximity to an Ann Taylor store, better angels keep whispering in my ear that we’ve seen this kind of promising development in the past, when out-sized suburban development projects of both shopping meccas and McMansionvilles spawned urban flight and the subsequent decay of once-vibrant downtowns.

While some social observers contend that such trends are now in a reversal, with debt-saddled suburbanites fleeing their vinyl-sided castles for more walkable (and livable, not just shoppable) urban communities, one wonders if ambitious developers just don’t get it, or just don’t care.

Developers, of course, are not the only players here. In the case of public/private partnerships, where a state agency such as the Museum of the American Frontier Culture directly benefits from its lease agreement with developers, its worth asking Executive Director John Avoli how he sees such a plan benefiting Staunton as whole, in a long-term and integrated manner across several key fronts–notably in the areas of environmental impact, economic benefits, the wisdom (or lack of wisdom) in building for the car culture and the impact on the nearby and already walkable downtown.

And we consumers are culpable as well; to what extent are we continuing to turn a blind-eye to larger issues of our changing energy and environmental issues while contenting ourselves with our little efforts, such as bringing our own bags to the market and recycling once a week. Huge-scale new development is rarely “green,” particularly when it is car-dependent, however cleverly those cars are concealed behind the deceptive veneer of a “town center.”

These questions, between how a city benefits and loses when we continue to build in a “business as usual” manner have to be answered with more than the “we all win” spin of developers’ and state-agencies’ marketing wizards.

One of the first questions that comes to my mind is why not bring on a Petrie Ross Ventures type group to revitalize existing buildings within Staunton’s universally acknowledged charming downtown? Why not three floors of a Crate and Barrel up above the Mill Street Grill? If we’re pining for national retailers, why not Banana Republic in the old Celebrate building , an Apple Store on the Wharf and a mini Dean and DeLuca type deli in the retail space at 101 West Beverley ?

There are twenty or more great properties sprinkled throughout Satunton’s downtown corridor that are just ripe for established firms to come into in a way that minimizes environmental impact while contributing to historic preservation and fueling economic revitalization. Do we really need to eradicate another swath of precious meadowland to erect a mild replica of downtown for the Interstate set? Why not go with a Georgetown type model, adopting existing structures and preserving the city’s character while bringing on upscale shopping within those spaces? A plan in that vein fits right in with enterprise zone development and Main Street America objectives.

National retailers are also not the only ones consumers crave. In Virginia there are many established retailers who may be looking to expand operations, or willing to entertain such a venture. Think of Charlottesville’s Plow and Hearth or Under the Roof , two firms that can rival a Pottery Barn while really keeping revenue local and regional . How about Richmond’s Capital Ale House , one fine example of a brew pub that gets it right from beer choice to menu items. Or for luxury home wares, Leesburg’s Earth and Fire Gallery ? I could go on, but you get the point. Why are we thinking of tearing up more land for more driving to bring on more shopping of been-there-done-that brands when we could be using all that creativity and passion to make what we’ve already got work better?

I get that the I-81/Rt.250 entry corridor to Staunton could use a face life. Heaven knows I’d hate to see it looking like Charlottesville’s 29 North, laden-down by asphalt, concrete structures, blinding signage and barren of trees. But that begs the question of whether another mall is needed on the City border, or at all? Why not make an entry corridor that speaks to our cultural elements? Think of the Neptune sculpture erected in Virginia Beach, or the Brown’s Island River Headman in Richmond, both by Virginia artist Paul DiPasquale ? Let’s erect city border beauty, nurture city’s edge gardens, and then send ‘em downtown where we really need them and where local entrepreneurs are chomping at the bit to serve them.

Since gas is not yet ten bucks a gallon, perhaps all this long-term thinking and a focus on downtown seems a little less-pressing than I’m making it out to be. But the real point is whether we are developing a strategically planned future for long-term economic and environmental prosperity.

We can already walk downtown, a great place to burn off some calories while shopping and dining in an existing charming environment. And if rail services are improved, future local and passing travelers can come right into the downtown platform and walk to shop.

Instead of a behemouth roadside project, lets brick pave Beverley Street, plant some shade trees down the center and open up Staunton Grocery and L’Italia and The Clock Tower and Zynodoa to outdoor patios. Lets plant big old central pots with three season flowers and shrubs to adorn the street, and get those empty spaces filled with the kind of retail that will compliment Crown Jewelers and Design @ Nine She Salon and Space and The Emporium and Turtle Lane and the rest.

Simply put, developers know that shoppers, consumers, citizens and their dogs like to amble on walkers’ paths in pleasant environments while people watching and grabbing a bite to eat. That’s why they’re making what amounts to line-by-line copies of our villages while often killing our villages in the process. This is not the forward-thinking direction our development should be taking when we know that energy prices and environmental impact will increasingly force changes in our behavior and our planning and our success.

I’ll entertain an outside chance that the “Centre at Staunton” can compliment and enhance the prospects of downtown Statunton, the center of Staunton proper. But let me ask you, how many of you when you cruise to the outlet malls in Leesburg or Williamsburg bother to go anymore to their historic downtown areas too? Will downtown really be helped by tis coming mall, or really be hurt?

I, for one, am not thrilled about the prospect of Staunton becoming known as a great stop off 81 where all a driver needs exists within a half mile, and where national retailers and a few low-end service job holders are the only ones to really benefit. And beyond that, it just doesn’t make a heckuva lot of sense for a world that is clearly changing, where business as usual just isn’t going to cut it in the long run, where we are going to have to walk to shop and eat where we already live for us to make a reproduction Staunton within Staunton.

As the Brady kids once sung from their gleeful suburban haven, “Its time to change, you’ve got to rearrange, a who you are and a what you’re gonna be.” That’s a clarion call not only to the developers who would use us while they can, but to all the stakeholders within Staunton who need to stand up and claim our rightful participation in revitalizing the city we’ve got.