Comments on: 4th of July and questions about downtown

By: The Elgin Walkabout « Lovin Elgin

The Elgin Walkabout « Lovin Elgin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:04:42 +0000

[...] Elgin Walkabout Posted on August 7, 2008 by lovinelgin Back on July 6th, I wrote this post about the virtues of having the fireworks downtown, the question of just what is happening downtown [...]

By: Noreen

Noreen — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:58:32 +0000

I too live very close to downtown. I find that local businesses are not open when I want them to be. Most of the restaurants downtown are closed on Sunday. I am never able to make it to the farmers market because it is only during the day on Thursday.

By: Crysta

Crysta — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 03:57:41 +0000

I agree. I live within walking distance to downtown and would LOVE to support local downtown businesses – if there was anything worth supporting! I understand that any business owners take a risk being among the first to move into a revitalizing downtown, and it’s tough to justify moving in – and having lots of convenient hours – if there’s not enough traffic to justify it. It’s easy for me to say, “If you build it, they will come,” when it’s not my capital on the line. But more festivals might be the right vehicle to get people into downtown to discover everything there. Plus, if potential business owners knew that every weekend between May and October there was guaranteed foot traffic, they might be more willing to take a chance.

And plus, for my own selfish reasons – having fireworks downtown (like for FoxFireFest) is AWESOME. It’s right on the bike path – encourage family biking. Heck, on Independence Day or other festivals, light the whole bike path a mile north and south, encourage families to bike or walk, and voila – your parking problem is dissipated.

By: elgin

elgin — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:47:56 +0000

Great post, Paula.

I think moving the fireworks downtown is definitely worth considering if it’s logistically possible. And I love the idea of busking and street vendors, etc.

Hopefully ArtSpace will be a catalyst for that vision…