THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 29, 1994 TAG: 9407270098
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
It's the age-old question of the chicken and the egg.
Which comes first?
City Councilman Cameron Pitts and I have an ongoing discussion about how to make Portsmouth prosperous.
Do you get people here and hope business will follow? Or do you seek businesses to attract people needed to support the city financially?
By the time we get through these discussions, I think we both agree that it probably has to be a combination.
I lean more toward the idea of setting out to establish so-called ``upscale'' business areas to attract ``upscale'' people. We need their money to survive.
Portsmouth's large number of poor people must be offset by dollars from out-of-town and ultimately by enlarging the pool of upscale residents who will pay more taxes and support more businesses.
As far as I can see, we have enough average businesses to service residents unable or unwilling to spend more money in the city. We don't need more mediocre businesses that do not offer goods and services desired by those with more money to spend.
We've lost the stores most likely to be patronized by the most people - Leggetts, K-Mart, Circuit City, Woolworth's, Roses and the like.
We have enough of the so-called dollar stores to take care of the people who like them.
What we don't have are upscale shops to capture both visitors and residents who want to shop for unusual items in stores that offer good taste and personal service.
Those kinds of stores do work well when the owners keep their eyes on the market and know how to run businesses.
Cindi's Boutique in Churchland is less than two years old, but it's thriving right here in Portsmouth. Local women, as well as those from other Hampton Roads cities, spend plenty of money on clothes there because the owners aim for a market and they know how to please them.
There are a number of downtown shops surviving because they found niches and they go after their customers. From downtown to Churchland, there are many businesses that cater to a specific market and win.
But, despite the scattered successes, we don't have enough stores to attract enough customers from out-of-town on a regular basis - or even to keep our own residents buying at home.
Most of all, we won't have enough variety of upscale business to make living here easier.
We do have good restaurants, both downtown and about town. We do have good florists all over the city, many of whom make an effort to attract more business by carrying gift items. We have a few good food stores, but most are some distance from a large segment of population stretching from downtown to the Churchland bridge on the north side of town. We have art galleries, a bookstore and some furniture stores. And we have the Commodore.
However, we're still missing a lot of businesses that would make living in Portsmouth easier and more more interesting - and therefore more attractive as a residence to newcomers.
Councilman Pitts wants to attract people but more as tourists than as residents, I think. I couldn't agree more that we must get people who are visiting in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg.
His idea of a colorfully lighted water spout on Crawford Bay is intriguing and certainly would draw people across the river. However, we still need more places here for them to spend money.
For the long term, we really must have new and younger residents moving in. We must make it easy for them to buy and live in some of our wonderful older homes.
The way to pull them into town is to deliberately encourage the notion that this is an upscale place to live. Certainly, downtown never again will be a commercial area that offers all things to all people.
We must recognize that. We must declare that downtown and other areas are going to be upscale and work toward that end.
I don't know if that's the chicken or the egg. It for sure is the only way to pay the bills in the future. by CNB