Commentary

August 21st, 2008

Downtown Escondido Swims Against the Tide

What was as recently as three years ago a destination city, Escondido now appears to have come upon hard times. Among the former prized attractions were exciting, colorful and talented artists and their galleries, blended with classy restaurants. The restaurants are still here but many of the very attractive, well known art galleries have closed their doors and moved on. What is left in the way of art galleries is a small percentage of what was once here. There are still some top notch artists in the area, but most of them have moved from downtown.

The BID (Business Improvement District) shows as of an August 2008 survey, 21 businesses shuttered. On Grand Avenue alone, the heart of downtown, we counted over 14 closed businesses. The city of Escondido figures state 21 and 14, respectively. We do not dispute those figures. The Escondido DBA (Downtown Business Association) has tried a number of maneuvers to increase traffic and attract new businesses, none of which appear to have succeeded.

First, they took over the once successful “Cruisin’ Grand” promotion, founded and administered, successfully, by Steve Waldron. The DBA thought they could improve participation and increase traffic, and do it better than the orignator. They have done neither. One police department source told The Paper “they had 11 officers down one Friday night for ‘Cruisin’ Grand.’ They could have had only two and have had zero problems with crowd control.’

Many of the former ‘Cruisin’ Grand’ participants have moved on to Temecula, where participation and crowds are reported to be brisk. Recently, the DBA persuaded the Escondido City Council to close Grand Avenue to vehicular traffic for six blocks. This in an attempt to develop a semi-pedestrian mall-like flavor to make foot traffic more convenient. It’s too soon to tell whether this promotion will pay off or not. This promotion begins tomorrow and runs through the September closing.

Most recently, they have implemented Saturday “sidewalk sales” on Grand Avenue. The DBA had hoped for around 100 businesses to participate. Only 20 stores participated. Again, it is too early to tell whether this promotion will breathe life into the downtown Escondido area or not. Thay are scheduled to run from noon to 5pm.

Another activity that is happening is the active involvement of a real estate investor, a retired cardiologist from Chicago, Dr. Sy Mousavi, who is buying up a number of downtown properties and increasing rents dramatically. So far, the rents have been so high he has been unable to attract many businesses. It is reported that the investor plans on holding the properties until the proposed new hotel comes into downtown Escondido. At that time he feels the market demand for storefront businesses will be high and he will be able to recoup his investment. He is apparently willng to sit on the empty buildings until the hotel is built, which is at least two years away. Meantime, all those empty buildings in downtown Escondido does not build confidence in shoppers or potential new businesses. Unfortunately, that scenario is beyond the ability of the DBA, or city officials for that matter, to control or influence other than trying persuasion.

We hope the downtown situation improves. We would much prefer to talk about the positive things happening in a community, rather than report the continued downward trend. But, in the end, we report and comment on what we see, hear and feel. That is what is known as Opinion.

If you have ideas that you think would help downtown Escondido, let’s hear ‘em! We’ll be happy to forward them to Debra Rosen and the DBA. Just send them to: thepaper@cox.net.