A catalyst for change.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Springfield voters will have to make up their minds by Nov. 6 about whether to create an urban renewal zone in their downtown area. A number of questions will need to be answered, such as whether the zone would be the right size and whether the proposed uses of renewal funds properly reflect the community's priorities. But voters should not allow their perceptions of what exists downtown to obscure their visions of what could be.

That danger was made apparent in a Sept. 24 article by The Register-Guard's Jack Moran describing some critics' reservations about the urban renewal proposal. Former City Councilor Greg Shaver and others note that downtown Springfield has become a hub for seedy enterprises, with five strip clubs, an adult book store and a number of bars where the patrons aren't drinking for the taste. As long as downtown Springfield's atmosphere is flavored by those types of businesses, they say, urban renewal can never succeed.

They have a point. A variant of Gresham's law applies: just as bad money drives out good, less desirable businesses keep more desirable businesses away. Retailers, restaurants and housing developments don't want neighboring businesses to make their customers and residents uncomfortable.

But to believe that downtown Springfield won't improve until the mix of businesses changes dooms the area to a vicious circle. The strip joints and the shot-and-a-beer bars have found homes in the city's core because rents are low. They'll stay as long as the price is right. And rents won't begin to rise as long as some businesses and developments shun downtown Springfield as lacking a climate that is friendly to families and women. This line of thinking leads to the conclusion that downtown Springfield will never improve.

It's necessary to pause for a moment and remind everyone that downtown Springfield does not, in fact, resemble the New Jersey neighborhood that was home to Tony Soprano's Bada Bing Club. Parts of the downtown area are doing well commercially, and the core area has a stock of buildings that the city across the river has reason to envy. Aunt Mildred could walk for blocks along Main Street without passing an establishment that would offend her sensibilities.

Yet the perceptions are rooted in reality: Anyone looking for an adult entertainment district would start his search in downtown Springfield. This perception can induce other types of businesses to locate elsewhere.

That's where urban renewal comes in. Successful urban renewal projects are catalysts for change. They improve the atmosphere of a place in ways that result in more and different types of commercial and residential development. Such development results in higher property values. Higher property values price the low-end tenants out of the market. The process is called gentrification, and it is often accompanied by a need to be concerned about the effects on residents and businesses that can't afford high rents.

In Springfield's case, gentrification would chase away some bottom feeders who wouldn't be missed.

Other factors will influence Springfield voters' decision about a downtown renewal district. But voters shouldn't adopt the defeatist attitude that downtown Springfield never can improve as long as it remains as it is now. Such prophecies of decay and decline can be self-fulfilling. The only things that are guaranteed to fail are those things that are never tried.