Summer is a good season for getting outside and walking around. The warm summer nights could afford many an opportunity to walk around in the downtown. Many times people walk around and really do not pay much attention to anything but the path in front of them.

I would like to suggest the next time you take a walk, do it in your downtown.  You will be surprised at what you see if you pay a little attention to detail.  Towns change over time but some things just remain the same.

I remember when I was in DuBois working as the Main Street Manager. I walked the town regularly and although I passed a corner every day, one day I saw something new. It was not something new to the area, just to my stream of consciousness. It was a huge wooden railroad bridge. Later, when I looked at the picture of a funeral train that had passed through DuBois decades before, I saw the bridge was a relevant part of the town. Now it was decaying wood with some vines growing over them. I later secured a grant to demolish that bridge.

Decaying remnants of the past abound in all downtowns. This is especially true in towns that are in need of revitalization. Also in DuBois, I found the remnants of a 19th century streetscape with cool streetlights that were abandoned when they built a bridge over an area that persistently flooded. There were brick sidewalks and other amenities like a rusted metal bench that was close to disintegrating.

One of the most interesting things to check out during the walk downtown is the architecture of buildings. Private ownership makes for many interesting combinations in architecture. When I was in Baltimore, they put form stone over all of the bricks (which was not preferable) but normally it covered the entire building. Commercial buildings bring a completely new level of creativity to the process of slip covering buildings.

If a merchant wants to make improvements to a store that is rented, there is normally just a make over of the street level portion of the building. If it is a property owner making the improvements, many times the upper floor windows are blocked down or the cornice is aluminum sided. Most times when a building is remodeled, there is only a portion of the building that is renewed and it is not an entire restoration or rehabilitation.

As you are walking around, check out all of the contrasting styles that have been forced on the building. Most of the buildings that have a great presentation on the ground floor, have the upper portion of the building lacking improvements.

There are also the artifacts from another era. Poles that were installed and now serve no purpose can be interesting to look at because many times the poles were part of a design scheme that has vanished over the years. Signs that were put up without anyone’s approval will offer you services like roofing by someone who is hungry or discount lawn cutting.    

In Phoenixville, I remember when I installed streetlight poles and tried to get the borough to go along with a “no signs on the poles” policy. One day I am walking around and I see that some church had put signs on the poles with a metal fastening bracket breaking the seal of the powder coating that protected the pole.  Indignation corresponded with the removal of the church signs… but I never thought I would get to heaven anyway.

Vacant lots can also be interesting as you take the shortcut home. It is interesting to see paths that have been created where people cut through and create a different foot traffic pattern for the downtown. Some lots are full of junk and trash but some are nicely kept and many have gardens or plantings.

Probably the best things to observe are are the people that are hanging out in the downtown in the early evening. Many times the most interesting characters on the face of the earth hang out in the downtown. In my days as a downtown manager, I have made many long lasting friends in downtowns across Pennsylvania.

Problem for many people is they do not value the local colorful characters because they are different. It is important to understand that they are no different than the anachronistic bridge or the re-muddled renovations in the downtown.  It is what gives a downtown character.

Everything that you read anymore shows that mall style shopping is on the wane. Malls created a sanitized version of life that in many ways seemed like Disney Land. People are shying away from this kind of environment and seek a walkable solution the presents the essence of American life. Downtowns do present the essence, long neglected artifacts of the past, buildings that have lost their architectural basis and unique character and characters. 

I suggest you explore your downtown and see what you town is all about and remember the past that it left behind.

Barry Cassidy is a freelance grant and economic development consultant. He can be reached at barrycassidy@comcast.net.