AS I SEE IT: Santa Claus and SIDs in Princeton

By Anne Waldron Neumann
   How many holiday presents did you buy on Nassau Street this year? What about things you needed yourself? A few? None? So what’s wrong with shopping downtown? According to Princetonians, a lot. Many of us never shop there.
   That is, we live in a community whose downtown many of us feel doesn’t belong to us. I’m sure you can think of exceptions: please let me know. But in general Nassau Street and Palmer Square have become too expensive. And the goods offered are not things we need to replace weekly. They’re mostly things that make our town a shopping destination, things to tempt the many visitors drawn by Princeton’s charm, university or history.
   The record number of patrons at the public library’s temporary shopping center site, and the outcry from some when it returned, demonstrate our downtown’s failure to attract its natural, if not quite its captive market.
   So which came first, the chicken of rising commercial rents or the egg of moms and pops who decided to retire and couldn’t persuade sons and daughters-in-law to take over backbreaking, marginal retail businesses? Did tourists start coming first, or did Princetonians start saving money at the register (while spending it on gas and carbon emissions) by shopping at Walmart and Home Depot?
   Whatever was cause, whatever was effect, many downtown stores where Princetonians once shopped — Clayton’s Notions and Dry Goods (zippers and pillowcases), Urken’s Hardware (pliers and dish drainers), Davidson’s Supermarket (canned peaches and hamburger), Woolworth’s Five and Ten (stockings and alarm clocks) — disappeared from downtown in a single generation.
   Is your excuse for avoiding downtown that you find it hard to park? I don’t. We’re Princetonians after all: we know where to park (and when to avoid trying). I use the Spring Street garage regularly, for example, and always find space.
   Moreover, our Smart Card parking system is the best thing to happen to downtown in years. Not sure how long you’ll be? Pay for two hours and reinsert your card when you return: remaining time will be refunded. And did you know you get 11 minutes more after the meter reaches zero?
   Tell your friends, because preserving our downtown will be even more important after consolidation.
   We might be on the verge of an experiment that could begin to take our downtown back, however. In January, Borough Council may pass an ordinance creating a SID, or Special Improvement District, on University Place. That University Place SID could serve as a model for one on Nassau Street.
   But what exactly is a SID (or, better, a BID: a Business Improvement District)? First, it’s a cooperative that furthers local business — an organization as well as a district, governed by a board that typically includes both some of the elected officials who created it and some of the business owners who are its members. Second, a SID assesses each property owner in the district it covers. This assessment is not a tax because the money collected goes to benefit the businesses from which it’s collected rather than the community as a whole.
   A modest assessment might cover joint holiday advertising, for example. Palmer Square, which functions something like a SID, has placed such ads in The New Yorker. A slightly larger assessment might pay for flower baskets in summer and snow removal in winter. Again, Palmer Square provides these benefits to its tenants. A higher assessment could buy weekend garbage collection, private security, joint office services or a full-time manager.
   A SID might also purchase office supplies or health insurance for its members at a better rate. And, for downtowns that need major improvement, a SID could pay to renovate buildings within its boundaries, thereby attracting new merchants and customers to empty storefronts. Red Bank successfully revitalized its downtown with this kind of SID.
   A SID’s boundaries, assessment and budget are set by a town’s mayor and municipal council (subject to public comment and review). Both a University Place SID and a Nassau Street SID could include Princeton University, which, however assessment is calculated, would pay a tiger’s share for the benefit of other members.
   In fact, Borough Council sees University Place as a transportation-corridor SID, intended to implement the university’s commitment to mass transit improvements along the Dinky corridor. Many of us don’t want the Dinky “improved.” But, if a University Place SID flourishes, so might one on Nassau Street.
   Dei sub numine viget: Princeton University flourishes not only under God’s numen or spirit but also when our community flourishes. And a vibrant downtown benefits the whole community, not just local businesses. A more imaginative way to look at a SID would be to hope it encourages economic development by:
   * helping existing businesses thrive.
   * facilitating the entry of new and needed local-serving businesses.
   * helping to create employment and multiply the local dollar.
   * increasing a town’s social capital by building a sense of community.
   Yes, it’s nice to meet some of our neighbors at McCaffrey’s sometimes. And, no, we can’t recapture the era of Clayton’s. But why not try?
   Anne Waldron Neumann is author of “Should You Read Shakespeare?” and teaches creative writing in Princeton.