Telluride's historic main street is in economic trouble, with businesses squeezed between high real estate costs and low traffic, as Amy Levek reported in the first of a three-part series of stories last Friday. In the second story, which ran on Tuesday, Levek, a former Telluride planning director and a former Telluride mayor, reported that the problems are not unique to Telluride, with communities across the nation struggling to keep their downtown districts vibrant in the face of malls and sprawl and Internet commerce. In the concluding story of the series, Levek considers steps Telluride might consider to address the problem.

Telluride realized long ago that it would need a summer economy if the town was going to survive its transition from mining town to resort community. In the early 1970s, residents created a string of diverse festivals celebrating everything from film to bluegrass to chamber music. Today the busy summer festival season, with its myriad cultural offerings, is the envy of other communities. Its economic contributions keep downtown alive.

The fragility of the local economy is obvious to main street merchants, however, when the weather wreaks havoc and the festivarians don't show up. A no-snow winter can bring some marginal businesses to their knees. All it takes is one bad season to throw many businesses into a tailspin. Economic security is elusive.

With the nature of retail changing, and with a shifting visitor demographics and accompanying demands, what should Telluride do, if anything, to ensure a more robust and stable year-round economy?

"Downtown is very fragile. You can't leave it to chance or take it for granted," says Nolan Rosall, partner in RRC Associates and chairman of the Boulder Downtown Management Commission. Boulder learned long ago that it must take an active role, tinkering with the elements that comprise its commercial district, in order to have a healthy downtown.

Telluride's town planners and the Telluride Planning and Zoning Commission understand that main street and the commercial district are crucially important to the town's sustainability. Telluride's main street is the anchor of its historic district, which is one of the region's prime tourist attractions. Thus a failing main street with meager shopping opportunities would surely hurt tourism. Main street also provides jobs, not to mention goods and services, to residents. And main street generates sales tax upon which the town depends. Given main street's undoubted importance to the community, the Telluride Master Plan revision, currently in draft form and undergoing scrutiny, proposes a host of policies that, if enacted, are intended to ensure the viability of main street.

But that's just the risk. The recommendations must be put into action for them to have any chance of success. Town government needs to take decisive and steady actions to coddle, encourage and protect the downtown economy. And the private sector needs to be equally engaged.

With an "issue d' jour" approach to governing sometimes irresistible to elected officials, government and private interests easily get distracted. If downtown appears to be holding its own, it's easy to let measures needed to preserve it slip to the bottom of the municipal agenda. This is particularly true because part of main street's appeal is its 19th-century character, and in the 19th-century, businesses succeeded or failed according to the rules of a free market economy. There may be a degree of squeamishness about government intervention in that free market, as if by doing so government is overstepping its bounds.

And yet, just as resort towns long ago intervened in their local economies by purchasing land for open space and by creating affordable housing, and by supporting summer festivals and other special events, so, too, more of them are deepening their involvement with the workings of their retail districts.

"Maybe we take main street for granted. It's beautiful, it's a sure hit," says Erik Dalton of Jagged Edge. "But maybe it's not."

When Downtown Dies…

"Lots of communities around the world are paying attention to their downtowns," says Bob Kunkel, Durango's Central Business District Events and Business Coordinator. "They realize that when downtown dies, their community dies."

With retail and restaurant businesses responsible for over 67 percent of the town's sales tax revenues, which in itself funds between 25 and 30 percent of town activities and purchases, the Town of Telluride cannot afford to leave main street's future to chance.

But what can local government do?

Ranging from simple and relatively inexpensive remedies to a radically different role for both government and private interests, there are a number of fixes Telluride should consider, most planners agree. Probably the simplest is to help downtown interests find their voice through creation of an advocate or coordinator for downtown. Having someone who could represent business needs by providing input in public policy decisions would enable downtown merchants' voices be heard.

"Business owners work hard. They get burned out," notes Town Manager Jay Harrington. "It's tough without an active chamber of commerce to represent their views and have good representation in public discussions." Harrington rues the lack of merchant input in helping shape council policy.

"When we have an issue, people come out to discuss it," says Kristin Holbrook of Two Skirts of merchants meetings. "I just wish more people would participate more often."

A downtown advocate or active merchants association could also help coordinate activities and raise expectations of downtown businesses, being involved in everything from events to trash cleanup and sidewalk treatment to street furniture and beyond. Preparation of regular surveys and reports on sales tax and customer expectations would help both businesses and government understand how main street is doing.

A "buy locally" program is something merchants associations elsewhere have successfully implemented to both raise awareness, and also capture more local business. "We need more locals supporting locals," observes Holbrook. "More people should value local stores and support them."

Some communities, like Port Townsend, Washington, promote "buy local" to create a sense of connection in their community, but have also found it helps the town compete with nearby shopping malls. "The program has given Port Townsend more of a year-round economy," says Mari Mullen, Executive Director of Port Townsend Main Street Program.

According to ASAP Accounting and Payroll's Richard Betts, a strong merchants association could provide some unity among local businesses and help them police themselves to get things done. An organized merchants group may also find that through working with town government, an effective downtown plan with specific recommendations for future improvements would help eliminate the issue d' jour approach to action, truly focusing on a clear road map, with funding, for the future.

Even with a clear vision for how to manage main street, dedicated funding would be critical to implement it. A downtown business improvement district, tax increment financing, or dedication of a portion of sales tax could provide the necessary dollars to get things done. With funds in hand, improvements like wider sidewalks, additional parking and other infrastructure could be financed. Funding could also support a downtown advocate, increased marketing of events, whatever advocates believe will lead to a healthier and vibrant main street.

"We have a ten-year strategic plan for Ithaca," says Gary Ferguson of Ithaca, New York, Downtown Partnership. "It's a very useful framework that helps guide our investment in downtown." Ithaca has embarked on a series of infrastructure improvements and partnerships with developers to bring people downtown and make them want to return.

Equally important is finding the right balance of retail and other uses. About 15 years ago, Telluride town government considered banning first floor offices. When the political smoke cleared, the regulatory changes lay dead in the corner. Other towns continue to evaluate these kinds of zoning changes, including Aspen, which recently adopted a phasing out of offices on the first floor.

"Aspen is trying to help retailers by eliminating the availability of ground level space for offices," notes Holbrook, adding, "Telluride should consider doing the same, if it's feasible."

Town government could also use zoning to ensure that certain services remain downtown. Telluride has long subsidized the rent of the Nugget Theater, for example, on the theory that a movie theater is an anchor tenant that brings people to main street, and is also a service to locals and visitors. The preservation of the Nugget enables events like Mountainfilm and the Telluride Film Festival to operate more easily in town, attracting still more vitality.

When Timberline Hardware expanded several years ago, town government recognized the importance of keeping the hardware store downtown.

"The town was great with our remodel," says co-owner Tom Mortell. Meeting employee housing mitigation requirements, while important, can often thwart building expansion. For Timberline, the town and the hardware store examined how the expansion would affect operations and employee needs, and found a solution acceptable to both.

Jerry Greene, owner of Baked in Telluride, advocates a changed marketing emphasis, one that touts the benefits of being in Telluride equally with the Mountain Village. With a lively main street historic district as an amenity and plenty of lodging on this side of the mountain, he believes Telluride has its own virtues. They deserve as much promotion as those in Mountain Village.

Public-Private Partnerships

Chris Cares of RRC Associates is helping the town revise its master plan. With close to a twenty-year planning relationship with the town, Cares believes "the best way for the town to support main street is to use the land it owns to establish partnerships. The town should take a leadership role to ensure it gets what it needs."

With town-owned parcels on Pacific Avenue slated for development of the new town hall, and additional land (the SMPA lot currently housing the marshals) near privately owned property, which the owners are evaluating for development, the town can use its land to help shape the future. Boulder, Aspen, Ithaca, and Jackson, Wyoming have all used this approach to either attract certain uses or construct facilities, like parking, concurrent with private development to support their downtowns.

"Boulder created a number of parking solutions, one of which has a retail wrap," notes Cares. As an owner of the building, "the city can ensure certain uses are in place." Jackson partnered with a performing arts group to build parking in conjunction with construction of a new performing arts center, contributing resources that ensured location of the theater downtown.

Using town land as part of an overall deal can help leverage creation of things the town wants – meeting space, grocery stores in the center of town – the list goes on. The town also has the ability to bring funding to projects it considers essential, at interest rates not available to private developers. If structured correctly, both the public and private win.

Mayor John Pryor suggests another approach, potentially involving a building trust for downtown that would ensure affordable space for essential businesses that serve local needs like grocery and hardware stores. Using a model similar to what The Nature Conservancy or San Miguel Conservation Foundation use for preserving open space lands, a building trust could offer tax incentives to owners to ensure the preservation of critical commercial uses.

"A conservation easement type formula which allows a write-off for deed-restricting the property could work," he proposes. "Organizations like TNC find conservation buyers which works for high income people." Pryor thinks a similar approach could be applied to commercial property. "Our greatest asset is our people who help themselves and help the town," he adds. "I'll bet we could find people who would be interested."

Festivals and special events help keep main street alive, with the summer sales tax being only slightly less than the winter ski season. With statewide surveys indicating that every ticket purchased has a multiplying effect of 2.1, the economic benefit of people attending special events is obvious. The town's economic wellbeing depends on events and cultural offerings. Communities have learned that facilities downtown increase gathering and liveliness. They make people want to be there.

Through the Telluride Commission for Community Assistance, Arts and Special Events, the town has taken an active role in ensuring the viability of its events. Other towns are following Telluride's lead, pouring dollars into events designed to draw visitors. But CCAASE funding has remained relatively static, in spite of the soaring cost of living in Telluride. Increasing funding for its special events could help infuse vitality into local offerings, so essential to main street's social and economic vitality. Help with marketing through the newly formed Marketing Telluride, Inc., which receives funding from all three local governments, could also help the overall economy.

Boulder and Frisco both invest in their downtowns by creating outdoor areas supporting events – small stages, lighting and electrical power – the kinds of infrastructure that enable people to gather.

"With pre-designed event spaces, and awning systems on stands in front of the courthouse, Boulder can do events all summer," notes Cares. "The ideas have legs in Telluride for places like Oak Street and maybe for the Farmers Market."

Ask any festival producer about labor needed to set up or string electricity to a stage, and you'll get an earful. Improvements to downtown festival facilities can make it easier to produce events, freeing up precious festival capital to programming and marketing.

Small fixes to facilities, additional meeting space and expanded marketing may also help reduce the seasonality of the local economy. Encouraging or seeding smaller off-season events that don't attract massive crowds or need outdoor venues can give people a reason to be in town.

"The off seasons are becoming busier, but could still use some attention," notes Two Skirts owner and Marketing Telluride Inc. board member Holbrook.

With its remote location, getting visitors to town has always been Telluride's most obvious challenge. Downtown merchants pay into the airline guarantee program, but some advocates believe the program should be expanded and supported more broadly. "Landlords also need to understand the fragile nature of a 'cruise ship' economy like Telluride's," advises Betts. "They also need to understand the importance of the airline guarantee program."

Betts also thinks it's incumbent "to improve the shopping experience for our visitors: Widen the sidewalks on the south side of main street, improve the transportation system with ten minute headways and make it user friendly." And deal with traffic and trucks and congestion on main street.

Beyond that, one thing government can do much more effectively than downtown interests is build more employee housing or offer incentives to others to build housing. "Employee housing is critical," says Betts. Without people to work in their shops, retailers cannot survive. "It's a challenge to get good people to stay, with the high cost of living," adds Town Manager Harrington.

There are also simple things government does well that business owners want to see continued.

"There are simple things like keeping the streets and sidewalks clean, providing parking," says Paragon Sports' J. Michael Brown. "And maybe make main street non-smoking."

Only time will tell whether true sustainability is possible in a remote resort with breathtaking real estate prices. Telluride, however, has a history of diving creatively and determinedly into efforts that other towns lack the courage to try.

As Gary Ferguson of Ithaca says, "If we don't fight for what we need downtown, it will go elsewhere."

Harrington is even more blunt: "If you want the streets paved and plowed, and the marshals at your door when you need them, it depends on main street being successful."