The Madera Theater, Shebelut Chevrolet, Madera Drug Store, JC Penney, Madera Furniture, Gil’s Men’s Wear, Bonander Buick Pontiac GMC Cadillac, Spangler McClure Furniture, William & Carol Clothing, Decesari Stationers, Massetti Bros. Appliances, Cerioni’s Men’s & Women’s Wear, Brammer Shoe Store, Madera Flower Shop, Brunos, Western Auto, Madera Unfinished Furniture, Martin & Mortimer, The Mexican Kitchen, House of Fabrics, Sno White Drive In, Yosemite Drug Store, Price’s, KHOT/KUUL Radio, Chicago Title, McMahan’s Furniture, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Goodyear Tires, The Gas Station, Chase Bank, Green, Green & Rigby, Habitat for Humanity Store, World Savings, Madera Disco, Lucca’s Restaurant & Bar, Pete’s Sport Shop, Madera Bowling, Maria’s Maya Restaurant.
These businesses are among those that have closed in downtown Madera during the last 50 years. They leave behind empty lots, closed store fronts, and dilapidated 100-year-old buildings.
And a Mayor and City Council with no vision for our downtown’s future, notwithstanding their photo-ops.
Downtown Madera used to be a vibrant business community with retail shopping, entertainment, eateries and easy parking. I worked there for a while. I used to know most of the business owners.
The good news is that approximately $28 million in taxpayers’ money is being spent in the next two years to transform Yosemite Avenue into a beautiful street.
The bad news is that when you and I cruise that beautiful street the “empty lots, closed store fronts, and dilapidated 100-year-old buildings” will become absurdly obvious, as will the fact that we suffer from the consequences of “a Mayor and City Council with no vision for our downtown’s future.”
The improved Yosemite Avenue will mimic Alaska’s bridge to nowhere.
The city leaders with whom I’ve spoken admit that they have no plan to take advantage of the huge street improvement project by also revitalizing the downtown business community. They express the opinion that the beautiful street will magically encourage current property owners to spend their own money to refurbish their properties to encourage new businesses to compete with them. You know-civic pride over money. And/or they believe that new potential business owners will hear a voice that whispers “build it and they will come.” You know-ghost town nostalgia.
Prove me wrong. Please! Prove me wrong. What is the City of Madera’s plan to revitalize the downtown business community? Prove me wrong in actions, not rationalizations, lame excuses and other cheap words during this election cycle.
I invite you to read the Fall 2025 issue of the Urbanist: Downtown Revitalization. Its conclusions are consistent with a dozen other articles that I’ve read on revitalizing downtowns of all sizes. In relevant part it says that market forces DO NOT unilaterally improve our cities. Cities that ignore downtown businesses see shoppers abandon downtowns, business tax revenues decline, stores close, and downtowns fail.
It also says that “(T)he public sector plays a crucial role in downtown economic development, primarily by providing regulatory relief and offering economic incentives for revitalization projects.”
We see occasional uncoordinated progress. The Waffle Spot will move downtown this fall. There is new housing for veterans. A few murals have been painted.
Vision 2025, an action plan adopted by the City Council in 2009, prophesied that Downtown Madera would be “the lively heart and soul of the community with diverse businesses, dining, entertainment and cultural opportunities” in 2025. The majority of the optimistic 2009 council members who voted for our city’s future have not lived to experience the failures of their successors.
It’s one thing to pose with shovels in a photo-op. It’s something else to get the job done. All of it. Who has the competence to do that?
— Chuck Wieland,
Madera