Downtown Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs, New York seems to be doing all the right things. It has a great mix of local and national retailers. The buildings along Broadway, the main street, are generally of high quality vernacular late 19th and early 20th Century architecture. More recent additions have been designed, for the most part, to be consistent with the existing architectural vocabulary. The city even boasts a major new development by national real estate investor/developers. Broadway sports wide sidewalks and some decent site furnishings and horticultural amenities. It has a lively pedestrian presence both day and night. It has all the things economic development professionals are seeking for their communities. Being there is simply a great experience. It is a place with a distinct identity. It provides a range of options. It feels safe and pleasant. It is simply all the things we want a public space experience to be.
Those of us in public space revitalization frequently focus on whats wrong with places. But Saratoga Springs presents an opportunity to look at what’s right. It would be well worthwhile for those of us interested in downtown economic development to take a close look at the programs and forces that brought this positive turn of events into being. I can’t think of a more appealing small city downtown anywhere. Generally, small town great main streets don’t spontaneously generate.
A lively downtown hasn’t always been the case in Saratoga Springs. We visited the city in the late 80’s and early 90’s and found it run down. During the racing seasons at the historic thoroughbred racetrack, from mid-July through the end of August, hospitality amenities in town were grossly over-priced. On one trip to Saratoga Springs about 25 years ago we stayed in one of the most disgusting hotel rooms in our thirty years of extensive travel. We took a dated, uncomfortable room with a shared bath in a rooming house during the race season for over $400. This year our stay was in a brand new Embassy Suites, which was part of a development including off-street retail adjacent to, but not in, the hotel. Continue reading