Royal Oak’s move to close a section of Main Street in the downtown on Friday evenings for random family friendly gatherings this summer got high marks from residents, but the city will work business owners before continuing the gatherings.
‘Some of the bars and restaurants and bars said they didn’t have a good night on those Fridays,’ said Judy Davids, the city’s community engagement specialist who worked with Police Chief Corrigan O’Donohue to get the Friday Main Street closings underway. ‘We heard it was great for some businesses but not others. We feel that it has to be positive for businesses, too.’
Described as part city block party and part town square gathering, about 1,000 residents turned out for each of the Friday gatherings on Main Street, which was closed to traffic from 11 Mile Road to Fourth Street. The spontaneous closings were dependent on the weather and took place four evenings between May 12 and June 16 after being announced on the city’s Facebook and website pages.
The events ‘made Main Street a real place for the community,’ said City Commissioner Kyle DuBuc after learning that 92 percent of residents surveyed gave the events a favorable rating. ‘If residents like it this much we’re on to something.’
Royal Oak spent no money for programming in which street musicians, a magician and others voluntarily took part. The only cost associated with the Friday events was for the labor and equipment needed by city workers to close Main Street from 6-10 p.m.
‘Part of the charm of it was that people could bring their kids and see where they were without losing them in a big crowd,’ Davids said. ‘Every week we had different street performers and Oakland County provided a mobile recreation unit with rock climbing and a trailer of retro games along with jump ropes and balls.’
Area neighbors, bicyclists and pedestrians gravitated to the non-programmed gatherings, visiting some businesses and talking to each other.
‘You couldn’t go 15 paces without running into someone you knew but maybe hadn’t seen in awhile,’ Davids said.
Davids gave a report to the City Commission this week on the Main Street closings that included results from a survey of 400 people that attended the events.
Just over 90 percent of residents surveyed gave the street closings a rating from good to excellent — the same number who said they shopped or ate while they were downtown on those Friday evenings.
‘My family and I were able to ride our bikes to the event and loved not having to dodge people on the sidewalk,’ said one respondent. ‘We absolutely loved the family atmosphere, the restaurants serving food outside (and) the street performers.’
It ‘brought the community downtown and together in a family friendly event,’ said another attendee in the survey.
Businesses such as Toyology and Lole did toy and exercise demonstrations, respectively, while some restaurants had food offerings or barbecue setups outside.
Less than 10 percent of survey respondents were unimpressed.
‘Personally I don’t see the need,’ said one. ‘It seems a multi-modal space can be created to engage all areas of Royal Oak downtown life without closing off a section,’ of Main Street.
Davids said 68 percent of businesses that took part in the survey reported they had a decrease in sales when Main Street was closed on Fridays. Nearly half of them said the event might work better on a Sunday. Twenty-eight percent of businesses rated the event as good to excellent.
City Commissioner Jeremy Mahrle said most retailers were closed during the Friday events.
‘For such little investment I think it was amazing what we were able to do,’ he said.
Mayor Michael Fournier was among those who visited the events and said it was different each time. He added that the downtown belongs to residents and not just businesses and visitors.
The city is considering closing Main Street for another event, probably on a Sunday, in October. Davids said the closings are expected to continue next year after she and others find a way to involve more business owners and address their concerns.