Gibbs considered several different factors when evaluating a Main Street design. One of the most interesting factors he mentioned was sidewalk design and material. The pavement of the most successful downtown shopping areas in the country is plain, undecorated cement. While many downtowns favor more decorative materials, including bricks or stone, these materials are less effective construction materials for several reasons. First of all, the more intricate the sidewalk, the more likely the shopper will look at the ground as opposed to the storefronts. In addition, sidewalks made of porous, spaced apart materials are more difficult to clean, and overtime contribute to a dirty appearance. Another interesting consideration was storefront display. It takes the average Main Street shopper about eight seconds to walk past a store front, meaning that the store has no more than eight seconds to draw the pedestrian-shopper's attention. Since downtown shopping centers also have automobile traffic, stores have only about one second to draw the attention of car shoppers. The size of the window display was also an important element of Main Street design. Stores that have large, open window displays typically indicate less expensive items, while stores that have small, confined displays like Tiffany's usually sell more expensive, high quality, exclusive products. Gibbs called this idea the price-point-to-aperture ratio. Gibbs also focused on the placement and organization of tables and benches in the downtown shopping area. For example, benches and tables that are placed very close together, like at an outdoor cafe, can often be a turnoff to female shoppers. This is because when people are sitting on the benches, pedestrians need to squeeze between people, often resulting in physical contact. Additionally, excessive seating areas may look appealing during the daytime, but they can also attract teenagers and other loiterers, which contributes to uneasiness among shoppers. In evaluating Main Street design, Gibbs also gave great attention to streets that ran through the area. An effective downtown shopping area is located at the intersection of the two busiest streets. Cars should not move quickly through this intersection; instead, it should be heavily trafficked. Finally, Gibbs evaluated the differences in location of restaurants and retail stores in the Main Street area. Restaurants should not face west, so the setting sun does not interfere with the dining experience. Restaurants can also be located on side-streets, since restaurants are usually destinations, as opposed to impulse stops. Retail stores, on the other hand, should not face south, because clothes displayed in the window will fade and lose color. Retail stores should also be located in high traffic areas to attract drop-in business.
I do not think Main Street should be a mall. All of the uniqueness of walking through a nice downtown area would be lost if it was transformed into a mall-like atmosphere. There are several cities with very nice downtown areas near my home, including Birmingham, Royal Oak, and Rochester. At the same time, we also have Somerset Mall in Troy, which is one of the largest, fanciest malls in Michigan, and the Village of Rochester Hills, an upscale outdoor shopping mall that is extremely popular in the area. While both the mall and the Main Street shopping area have many appeals, they are extremely different, and experiencing only one of the two would get very tedious. Going to a shopping mall is usually not a relaxing experience. It is usually very crowded and full of other shoppers, but it is excellent if you need to browse through large amounts of clothes. When you go into a mall, you know that the primary purpose of the visit is to spend money. On the other hand, walking through downtown Birmingham can be a very relaxing, peaceful experience. There are many different possibilities, because you can go shopping, go to a restaurant, watch a movie at the theater, or simply enjoy a walk along Old Woodward Avenue. However, this is not the best option if you have a great deal of shopping to do and limited time. I think that the contrast between the shopping mall and Main Street experiences is something that should not be lost. I found the following quote from the article very intriguing: "Gibbs' prescriptions for the streets of West Palm Beach and of other American towns and small cities borrow so heavily from the mall that it becomes difficult to see how, except the absence of a roof over its streets, a place reconstructed along such lines would differ from a mall. It might be a town, but would it be a community?" This is an excellent point, and one we must carefully consider. Personally, I love Somerset Mall, but it does not define where I live or the person who I am. In other words, I have no personal attachment to the mall, since it is so similar to hundreds of other malls throughout the country. However, I feel a deep personal connection to the streets of downtown Birmingham. These streets and the surrounding community are unique, and they say so much about who I am and what I have experienced. Every downtown is different, and it would hurt communities to lose this unique nature.
I think the most important consideration when evaluating Main Street design is cohesion of the buildings that comprise the downtown area. Buildings should be made of similar materials with similar colors. This can be a challenge for older cities, where buildings constructed many years ago stand side by side modern buildings. I have seen downtown areas that completely fail in terms of design because the construction materials of side-by-side buildings clash unappealingly. I think that bringing natural elements into the Main Street design is very important. Nice downtown areas have trees in planters in the sidewalks. These trees provide beauty during the day time, and can also be prominent features at nighttime, when they are often hung with Christmas lights. Trees and other plants truly distinguish the Main Street shopping experience from simply walking down any other street. They give a "special" feel to the area. I also think having a wide variety of stores is critical to the success of Main Street. There must be a blend of clothing stores, restaurants, cafes, ice cream and snack stores, movie theaters, apartment building, banks, and offices. While shoppers are not likely to stop in banks, apartments, and offices during a routine shopping experience, these kinds of features add the very important unique feel to downtown areas, and give shoppers a sense of community, instead of simply retail store after retail store.
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