Downtowns Are For Women

Women are earning, spending, and influencing buying decisions at a pace greater than men, and that's good news for downtowns. The nation's women have become an economic powerhouse, making or influencing over 85% of all household purchasing decision.  The data are compelling:

Women Are Now 50% of the Workforce  In October 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported women held 49.9% of all nonfarm labor jobs and 51.5% of high-paying management and professional positions.  

Women Are Earning More Than Men  The average American woman is expected to earn more than the average American male by 2028.  In the U.S, 51% of private wealth is currently controlled by women; they account for over 50% of all stock ownership and control more than 60% of all personal wealth.

Women Are More Educated Than Men For every two men who graduate from college or get a higher degree, three women do. By 2021, women will earn 58.0% of undergraduate degrees, 60% of master's degrees and 54% of doctoral degrees
Women are downtown Burlington's most important customers. Why?  We are blessed with the region's highest concentration of women's clothing and accessories stores, from national brands in the privately-owned shopping mall, Burlington Town Center, to locally-owned women's boutiques on Church Street and throughout downtown. Women are also the force behind the decisions families make about attending our popular festivals and events -- from Discover Jazz to First Night Burlington.  A substantial share of our downtown workforce are women.  While we don't know the exact percentage, there's no question in my mind women are in the majority. 

"We are reading clues all the time. 

If the clues say 'bad space,' we don't come back." 

Dr. Carol Becker of Hamline University

To keep our female customers happy and coming back, we have to listen to what they're saying, and deliver on it.  Women clearly have higher standards than men.  They demand environments that look and feel both clean and safe.  They demand clean restrooms where they can perform a range of tasks -- from checking make up and hair, to changing a diaper or managing the bathroom needs of multiple children. They demand parking garages that are well-lit and free of trash and graffiti. They feel unsafe when they pass groups of panhandlers who are being aggressive, especially if they are walking alone.  We put our downtowns in peril when we don't attend to the needs of women who want to enjoy our downtown. "We are reading clues all the time," says Dr. Carol Becker of Hamline University and proponent of including women in design decisions.  "If the clues say "bad space," we don't come back."  Go to any popular public space and you'll see that women determine whether that space is safe.  If at least half of the people in a public space are female, you know that space is safe.  If there are fewer than 20%, it's probably a space you want to avoid.

David Feehan, downtown consultant and past president of the International Downtown Association, has been advocating for cities to bring women into the decision making process before public infrastructure is designed and built.  See this PowerPoint presentation, Design Your Business District for Women.

"If you want a vibrant downtown,

you first have to make women feel comfortable there.

Everything else — families, men — will then flow naturally." 

David Feehan, Civitas Consultants

In his forthcoming book, "Design Downtowns for Women -- Men Will Follow," Feehan writes "if you want a vibrant downtown, you first have to make women feel comfortable there. Everything else — families, men — will then flow naturally."  Adds Feehan, “Women are such a powerful force, but where are they in terms of decision making?”  Feehan's right.  Women are our most important customers, but men are still designing our downtowns.  Nationwide statistics support his point.
--37% of working urban planners are women
--24% of architects are women
--10% of civil engineers are women
--3% of all engineers are women

A quick review of our region's landscape and urban designers, architects, planners engineers and construction firms in our community and you'll discover the majority are male. Even the federal and state agencies we interact with (Vtrans, Federal Highway Administration) are predominantly male. 

On the Marketplace, we've been intentional about our design of tree grates and drains to make sure they're not "high heel catchers."  But we lost ground when the Pearl Street improvements included the addition of uneven granite blocks in green belts.  

If women are the new economic powerhouse, what is happening to men?  What does it mean to our society and to economies around the world?  If you want to dig deeper on this subject, check out the Hanna Rosin's book, The End of Men: And the Rise of Women.

Read more:
Woman Power: The Rise of the Sheconomy - TIME

she-conomy.com, a guy's guide to marketing to women, created by Stephanie Holland, President/Executive Creative Director, Holland and Holland Advertising

Three Steps for a Community Christmas Tree

Nation's first community Christmas tree goes up in New York
City's Madison Square Garden, 1912. Library of Congress

New York, Rio de Janeiro and Berlin all host community Christmas trees for the public to enjoy.  But travel beyond the Americas and Europe, and you’ll discover this downtown tradition is practiced in cities around the world, from Lagos and Beirut to Seoul and Jakarta.  

 

New York City is where the tradition started, say NYC historians Greg Young and Tom Meyers.  It was 1912 when Madison Square Garden hosted a 60 foot tree from the Adirondacks, set in a block of cement and decorated with 1,200 colored lights, donated by the Edison Electric Light Company. The New York Times reported more than 25,000 showed up for the night-time lighting ceremony.

Burlington's tradition has been around for at least 75 years -- possibly longer. The Marketplace, our region's commercial and community center, has been the location for the City's community Christmas tree since our founding in 1981. Over the past thirty years, we've boiled down the way we find and place a tree on Church Street into important three steps.

Step One:  Find a Family

The Hayes Family of Colchester donated
Church Street's community Christmas tree in 2013

There's still an abundance of majestic blue spruce trees within easy striking distance of Church Street.  And, thankfully, our community is generous and loves Church Street. 

 

Every year, families call us to offer up the trees in their yards.  Some send us digital pictures.  Others request a personal visit. Jim Daly, Church Street’s maintenance foreman, inspects every tree offered up and makes the final decision, based on size, shape, location (away from power lines, accessible to our crane) and ease of transport.  The shape is important because people look at the tree from every angle, and it's the backdrop for thousands of photos. Height is also important.  We look for trees to be from 40 to 50 feet tall.

 

Properly thanking families is important, too, especially when a tree offered isn't a fit for Church Street.  When we finally select THE tree, we know there’s a unique story that comes with it.  Grandparents or parents may have planted the tree.  Young children most likely climbed it and the family wrapped it with lights every holiday season.  There's a lot of meaning associated with each tree donated and acknowledging a family's donation is important.  Each year, we attach a thank you card on a low branch that acknowledges the family donating the tree.

Step Two:  Assemble the Team

 

The big day for cutting down and transporting the tree is ALWAYS the Friday before Black Friday.  The day requires months of preparation.


Jim Daly, Church Street's always
 "upbeat" maintenance foreman,
leads the team

Our team of seasoned contractors -- some who have been on our team for more than a decade -- assemble on the street in front of our donor’s house. The family meets us on their front lawn and everyone is welcomed and introduced. 





The local news media are on hand, thanks to behind the scenes work by Church Street's long-serving marketing consultant, Becky Cassidy.





Church Street's hard-working maintenance foreman Jim Daly leads our team. Years and years of working together pay off.  Everyone knows their role and every one is focused and on task.  Few words are exchanged. 

 

With great precision, BJ Barrett of Barrett’s Tree Service leads the cutting, while Dave Demag of Demag Riggers swings his 70 foot construction crane into place to lift the tree up and onto a waiting FairPoint Communications flatbed. 

A Demag Riggers crane lifts Church Street's
Tree from a FairPoint flatbed truck
 to Church Street's concrete tree stand

Time and attention are taken to insure the tree is properly secured to the flatbed. Our team then forms a procession of vehicles, and the tree moves from the neighborhood to Church Street, with a Burlington Police cruiser leading the way.  



Once on Church Street, Dave Demag, with great precision, lifts the tree up and off the flatbed, then swings it around and down, into a large concrete culvert, donated by S.D. Ireland. 

Billy Bellew of A. Marcelino & Company arrives with a load of gravel to fill in around the root of the tree. 

Our top block, where the tree is placed, is notoriously windy.  Cables are secured around the trunk of the tree and secured to one of four concrete anchors positioned around the base of the tree.

In 2002, because our tree was not properly anchored and it fell over -- twice!  Needless to say, and knock on wood, we learned our lesson! 



Step Three:  Delight the community: 

Mother and child react to lighting of Church Street's
Community Christmas Tree.  Photo courtesy Burlington Free Press

The instant our tree goes up -- even before we string the 30,000 colored lights -- the photographing begins.  When we see people having their pictures taken in front of the tree, we know we've made an important connection with the community.  Photos start showing up on Flickr, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Amateur photographers have produced some of the most stunning photos of our tree and of Church Street during the holiday season.

On the night of our lighting ceremony, just before we turn on the 200,000 white lights up and down Church Street, there's always a dedicated crowd huddled around tree, located on our top block.  Families and friends stand patiently in the cold, waiting for tree's 30,000 colored LED lights to be turned on.  Seeing this each year reminds us just how important the event is to our community. 

Included below is a photo of Church Street during the holidays, plus community Christmas Trees from around the world.



Church Street Marketplace, Burlington, Vermont






Rockefeller Center, New York City

 

Christmas Tree in Praça do Comércio,
Lisbon, Portugal. LA Times

100 metre-tall Christmas tree illuminated on Tokyo's
Akasaka Grand Prince Hotel.  AFP/Getty Images

 Christmas tree lighting ceremony,
City Hall, Seoul 
AP / Yonhap, Han Sang-kyun

Christmas tree in downtown Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square,
across from Mohammed Al Amin Mosque 



Philadelphia

Puerta del Sol, Madrid, Spain

Monterrey, Mexico

Weird is Good

What is W e I r D ???

Healthy, vibrant downtowns need to be places where diverse groups and opinions converge.  Where new ideas are born and shaped.  Where social tolerance is embraced and cultural diversity is celebrated.    Where people of all incomes, ages, races, ethnicities and sexual orientations can rub shoulders.  Where we can celebrate "weird."

Not "science fiction" weird.  But "unique, different and authentic" weird.  Downtowns need to be places that offer and promote authentic experiences -- in contrast to the bland similarities the suburbs offer. 



The People's Republic:
Vermont and the Sanders
Revolution by Greg Guma

Downtowns are where our community's cultural identity is preserved and celebrated -- those weird, unique attributes that make a community stand out.  

In Burlington, our history of progressive politics and social tolerance are part of our cultural identity.  Our historic buildings, art galleries, farmer's market, Church Street characters, and locally-owned stores contribute to our cultural identity, as well as our vibrant music and art scene and our popular community-based festivals. The more unique, original, quirky and weird, the better! 

What Does Weird Look Like?   Here are some of the ways weird infiltrates our cultural identity.

Locally-Owned

In 2000, a grassroots movement was started in Austin called "Keep Austin Weird.” born out of concerns that the city's rapid development would result in a loss of the community's cultural identity. 

Portland, Oregon embraced the weird bandwagon in 2003 with its own campaign, Keep Portland Weird.
Both campaigns have become a clarion call for promoting locally-owned businesses.

Burlington's downtown has the unique advantage -- a balance of national retail chains (located primarily in Burlington Town Center) and locally-owned stores and restaurants (located on Church Street and in the downtown).  Our local retailers have learned to leverage the marketing muscle of national chains by locating near them.  They understand that consumers are drawn to the national brands, and wind up discovering their locally-owned stores.  The key to being a successful local retailer is offering products and services that complement what the nationals are offering.  Our local retailers tell us everyone can benefit in this setting.

Nationals do help to draw people to our downtown, but locally-owned stores are a reflection of our community; it's crucial that we nurture them. Compared to national chains, locally-owned businesses recycle a larger share of their revenues back into the local economy.  They support a variety of other local business by creating opportunities for accountants, advertisers, purchased goods from local companies.  A dollar spent at a locally owned business sends a ripple of economic benefits throughout the community.  To learn more about the importance of locally-owned businesses, see 10 Reasons Why Vermont’s Homegrown Economy Matters: And 50 Proven Ways to Revive It, a 2003 collaboration from Stacey Mitchell of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and The Preservation Trust of Vermont.  

Rebellious Non-Conformity  



Occupy Wall Street protesters march north
on Church Street Marketplace, October 2011.

Healthy downtowns need growth -- growth in business, growth in residents, growth in visitors.  Growing the tax base allows a city to provide the services that sustain a good quality of life for citizens.  But downtowns must balance that growth with a wariness for gentrification, income inequality and social polarlization.  In her book Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places, Sharon Zukin cautions against an over-pursuit of "authenticity." The very people who bring authenticity to a city -- immigrants, working class, and artists, for example -- can be easily driven out if real estate prices escalate.
Downtowns must be inviting for everyone, and growth and development must be tempered with social tolerance and multi-culturalism.  Church Street is a commercial center, AND a community center.  As Burlington's town square, it's the place for protests, vigils, rallies, non-profit tabling and non-profit solicitation.  Following the murder of Travon Martin, for example, Church Street became the natural meeting place for a community vigil. 

Burlington has the highest concentration of retail and dining businesses in the region.  It also has the highest concentration of social services in the state.  Where else but Burlington would you find a high end retail store within a few feet of a shelter for homeless youth? Or, a needle exchange program in a residential neighborhood?  Love it or hate it, you'll experience this kind of diversity in our downtown. To be successful, there needs to be a healthy balance of both.  If the balance tips one way or the other, we risk creating an atmosphere that is either sterile or unsafe. 

Events Designed for Locals

Rule number one for creating a downtown event:  build it for locals and others will come.  Tourists make up a smaller percentage of those who visit our downtown.  At any time during the year, locals are always in the majority.  So, it makes sense to create events and activities for residents.  Tourists are drawn to our events, precisely because they're designed for a local audience.  We have some pretty weird events that occur throughout the year.



Santa 5K Run to benefit Make-A-Wish Vermont Chapter,
Church Street Marketplace



Vermont Special Olympics Penguin Plunge, Burlington's Waterfront

Outright Vermont's Annual Fire Truck Pull, Church Street Marketplace

St. Patrick's Day Concrete Mixer Parade,
to benefit the S.D. Ireland Cancer Research Fund. 
Church Street Marketplace



Magic Hat Mardi Gras Parade
& Festival, Burlington, Vermont

Yoga on Church Street, to benefit Prevent Child Abuse Vermont

Dragonboat Festival, Burlington's Waterfront

Festival of Fools, produced by Burlington City Arts
 



Taiko Drummers at KeyBank Vermont City Marathon

What are your thoughts about weird?  Is weird good?  What's weird about your downtown?

Panhandling: Changing Your Downtown’s Culture of Giving

It's all about balance 

 Managing panhandling and panhandlers means balancing an individual's free speech rights with a municipality's right to give its citizens unobstructed passage to and from their destinations.  While U.S. courts have determined that panhandling is a form of free speech and constitutionally protected, local governments are allowed to place time, place and manner restrictions on panhandling. 

There's a difference between panhandling and aggressive panhandling, for which there are no protections. U.S. cities have ordinances in place to protect its citizens from aggressive panhandling -- which includes intimidating behavior (profane, abusive, violent or threatening language or gestures), blocking a person’s free passage, touching or following them, and panhandling while intoxicated.

Knowing who is panhandling and why

Poverty, lack of affordable housing, substance abuse and the cyclical nature of mental illness all contribute to the presence of panhandling.  Our downtown's very engaged Street Outreach Team and our police department, coupled with our city’s small population, means we have the benefit of knowing the names and current circumstances of our panhandlers—which can be off-putting to new panhandlers who come into our downtown. It’s difficult to remain anonymous!

The Street Outreach Team gives all new panhandlers a two-sided information card with an Aggressive Begging, Panhandling and Solicitation Ordinance (21-8), plus information on shelter, food and services.  Our smallness also gives us a leg up in our efforts to connect panhandlers with services.  Surprisingly, the majority of panhandlers in our downtown are not homeless.  

A day in the life

 

On any day, there can be as few as five and as many as 15 panhandlers working in our Downtown Business District, primarily on or around the Church Street Marketplace. Some make as little as $5, while others can make $80 to $100 on a good day. Like all cities, we have specific types of panhandlers:  Our “lifestyle” panhandlers do it for money and for the social interaction with friends and strangers.  Our “basic need” panhandlers might need money for food, a motel room that night, or it’s the middle of the month and they’re out of money. Our “service resistant” panhandlers are generally not interested in working and have settled on panhandling as a way to make money.  And, some panhandle because they need money for alcohol, substances and nicotine.

A few of our more seasoned panhandlers tell us successful panhandling requires skill, patience, persistence and knowing the best locations, the best time of day to work, and how to maximize donations. Unlike a regular job, earnings won’t be consistent, and there will be good days and bad days. This is a day to day existence; unfortunately very few of our panhandlers will seek support from our Street Outreach team, and focus on short term goals for treatment, housing and regular pay checks.  

Our regular panhandlers don’t like aggressive panhandlers, as they hinder their business and bring scrutiny on them. Our panhandlers are generally well behaved and within their rights when they quietly panhandle for money. The problem arises when their daily frustrations are played out in public, when they’re victimized by others, or when they are joined by others who have less respect for the community.  Aggressive panhandlers can very quickly create fear and disorder, especially when they're openly victimizing each other or intimidating or threatening people around them.  Their behaviors can drive people away from an area, which in turn makes it less safe, and violence and vandalism escalate.  There should be zero tolerance for aggressive panhandling -- residents, employees, students and visitors all deserve better. Municipalities are wise to employ ordinances that prohibit it.
 

Changing the Culture of Giving

Rather than focus energies entirely on regulating panhandling, many U.S. downtowns are changing the culture of giving by encouraging residents, employees, customers, students, and visitors to give directly to non-profit agencies.  The rationale: when you give to a panhandler, you don’t know where the money is going.  When you give to a reputable non-profit serving those most in need, you can be assured your donation is a meaningful act of charity.  Check out Seattle's successful "Have a Heart, Give Smart" campaign, launched in 2007 by the Downtown Seattle Association/Metropolitan Improvement District and now being used in cities like Rideau, Edmonton, Boise and Ann Arbor.  The campaign's message is smart and direct, and the creative sharp.  Contact the Downtown Seattle Association about gaining permission to use campaign collateral (graphics, copy, slogan).
U.S. cities, including Burlington, are also forging partnerships with local homeless shelters and social service agencies to collect funds on the street.  Repurposed parking meters and collection boxes have been popping up in downtowns, where people can deposit change to support programs that assist the homeless and others in need.



The “Denver’s Road Home” project with Mile High United Way, generates in excess of $100,000 annually through sponsorships and donations to its 86 downtown parking meters. Downtown Nashville’s Adopt-A-Meter program features 26 blue donation meters in high-foot-traffic areas and offers one-year sponsorships for $1,000 per meter.

Santa Monica's "Dolphin Change Program"

Santa Monica's “Dolphin Change Program,” takes a different approach, using sculpted bronze and aluminum cast dolphins on the Third Street Promenade and elsewhere as collection boxes for donations to end street homelessness.  Inspired by Santa Monica, we built two collection boxes fashioned after Champ, the mythical monster of Lake Champlain.  Our "Champ," and sister "Champette" collection boxes have already raised thousands for the Committee On Temporary Shelter.

Church Street's "Champ"



Church Street's "Champette"















How communities address panhandling can be a reflection of its culture, values and priorities, the capacity of social service agencies, level of community tolerance, and the degree of trust and collaboration that exists between a downtown's public, private and non-profit sectors. When a community's social bonds and social networks are strong, people are less apt to panhandle. 

The Center for Problem Oriented Policing's Panhandling Guide is an excellent resource for analyzing your community's panhandling problem and how to address it comprehensively.  And, although it was published in 1993, "A Guide to Regulating Panhandling," a handbook produced the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation is still a very thoughtful and useful guide when developing policy and strategies to address panhandling.