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Community Corner

Get SMART

Have a say in the next phase of downtown.

On June 15, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the City of San Rafael will hold the second public workshop regarding its plans for the downtown San Rafael Station area. San Rafael wants to be ready for the 2014 arrival of SMART, as the commuter train – and related commercial and residential development – will be the primary determining factor impacting the short and long-term success or failure of San Rafael’s downtown.

“The city’s Downtown San Rafael Station Area Plan will set the stage to create a mixed-use, livable area supported by a mix of transit opportunities, including commuter rail service,” says a city release about the upcoming workshop. San Rafael received a $528,000 grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to create a pair of plans. The June 15 workshop will be the last opportunity for public input before the project moves forward.

I’m here to urge you to attend Wednesday’s meeting, but not because if you don’t, The Man will have his way with your city. Go to the workshop to get excited about the possibilities for the future of downtown. Adding a pair of commuter train stops to an established city like San Rafael is nice, a perk. Turning those stations into the nucleus of a modern, functioning, transit-friendly downtown is another thing altogether.

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Last week brought with it a pair of stories about San Rafael. One – news that the its operations from Novato to a building on Civic Center Drive – was positive. The other story, about the closure of Heller’s for Children, was not. Seemingly unconnected, both items point to the importance of the coming SMART stations. I won’t say that Downtown Station Area is “make it or break it,” but I will say that it is an opportunity that, if handled well, could mean a renaissance for downtown and San Rafael.

Herbert Heller opened his eponymous children’s store in 1958, well into the automotive age but before the Walgreen’s era. In 1964, Heller’s moved to 514 Fourth Street, where it has remained since. Now, citing pressures from the recession and competition from online and big-box retailers, Heller’s daughter, Linda Levy, is forced to close.

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It’s not an uncommon story. Generations of locals grow up with a downtown store, only to abandon it in favor of more convenient mall and big-box shopping. And though local governments have begun paying much more attention to their downtowns, most of the recent “downtown renaissances” are built on the backs of bars and restaurants, not service-oriented businesses. Why? Because nobody lives downtown.

The Downtown Station Area Plan will add transit-oriented, mixed-use development to downtown. In doing so, it will bring residents back downtown and, if other cities’ Transit Oriented Development movements are any indication, it will re-introduce service-oriented businesses – grocery stores, dry cleaners, drug stores – to the area as well. It may turn out that Heller’s came up just a few years short of survival.

To me, the I-J’s relocation doesn’t happen without SMART. Sure, they wanted more room, but look at what else they get: by moving to a spot near the proposed Civic Center SMART Station – and around two miles from a significant amount of new, transit-friendly housing, the paper makes itself more attractive to potential and existing employees.  And lets not forget that, until 1981, the I-J’s offices were located in downtown San Rafael. Welcome home, I-J.

So go to the workshop on June 15. Get excited about what could be. You could be looking at a key catalyst for San Rafael’s future.

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