The news that Westfield is in negotiations to build a
1.5-million-square-foot mall in Gilroy is an opportunity cloaked as
a threat to downtown merchants in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and
Hollister.
Downtowns have been pushed to the point of extinction since the
first shopping mall broke ground in the 1950s. No longer did
shoppers drive downtown, pull right up in front of a store and get
out and stroll the shops gathering their food, clothing and various
old-fashioned sundries.
The news that Westfield is in negotiations to build a 1.5-million-square-foot mall in Gilroy is an opportunity cloaked as a threat to downtown merchants in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and Hollister.
Downtowns have been pushed to the point of extinction since the first shopping mall broke ground in the 1950s. No longer did shoppers drive downtown, pull right up in front of a store and get out and stroll the shops gathering their food, clothing and various old-fashioned sundries.
They drove to the suburbs, parked in acres of white-striped asphalt and entered air-conditioned malls like fighter pilots executing a surgical strike. Get in, get out, mission accomplished.
Fifty years later, we all need to accept the world of modern retail. Those who accept it first and take proactive positioning will flourish. Those who do not will perish.
Whatever you say about malls, you must concede they are efficient. Regardless of their marketing, they are not conducive to a leisurely stroll. Mall management can pipe in bad recordings of “Jingle Bells” all they want and it still won’t temper the shrill screams of teen girls, the boisterous bravado of teen boys, and the collective bee-hive-like buzz of thousands of often surly shoppers staggering out of the way of souped-up baby carriages – or whatever they’re called today.
Peaceful strolling is not an option. Charm is not obtainable.
Some downtowns recognized that fact and capitalized on it in the truest sense of the word.
Visionary city leaders looked at what the malls offered, and creatively crafted the anti-mall.
Lofts and apartments above tree-lined sidewalks, novel eateries, shops offering clothes you will not find in Macy’s, art houses, clubs and other entertainment venues combined to craft a unique downtown experience – the fun evening out. Santa Cruz, Palo Alto, Los Gatos – they all get it.
Morgan Hill is already moving in that direction, and Gilroy and Hollister have visionary planners and downtown advocates who understand the opportunities of blank canvases. Gilroy’s Downtown Specific Plan is a perfect charcoal drawing of that vision. But it takes a village. Business owners, building owners, elected officials and the broader public must all work collaboratively.
That’s a tall order. It will require strong and united leadership to forge disparate interests into one cohesive plan. People will need to compromise in order to realize a greater good. What’s our choice? There is no turning back the clock to a romanticized America that died along with Eisenhower.
The clock is ticking. The specter of more than 3 million square feet of retail space looms in Gilroy. And with it will come the invariable gridlock of traffic as tens of thousands of motorists vie for finite parking as all the stores come online.
We have faith that city planners in Gilroy will do a thorough job of mapping out all the infrastructure improvements needed to bring Westfield’s mall to fruition. But they can’t do it in a vacuum. While Gilroy will reap the benefits of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue, it will also make decisions that have the potential to severely affect its neighbors to the north and south.
Will Gilroy insist Westfield build the overpasses and widen the highways to prevent a nightmarish commute for Hollister residents just trying to get to work? Will Gilroy consult with Morgan Hill to understand its concerns about the retail mix in the proposed center, or it will merely shrug its considerable shoulders and say “tough, we got Westfield, you didn’t, take a hike?”
Since everything from traffic and water to air quality and housing will be altered on a regional basis, should Gilroy consider some sort of municipal profit sharing so its neighbors can afford to mitigate these effects?
One of the first orders of business should be a task force comprised of representatives of all the communities, including San Martin and San Juan Bautista, to ask the tough questions and approach solutions in a collaborative environment like the downtowns must do.
The clock is ticking.
