Downtown in Blue
Bl'reader,Something's happening here.
By here, I mean downtown.
And when I say downtown, I mean North Dargan Street.
We're all accustomed to the development in downtown, but mostly at the Cheves-Dargan intersection. The Performing Arts Center is firmly established in the minds of many Florentines.
Yet, for a few weeks I was passing by the development on North Dargan Street somewhat flabbergasted.
What was happening there?
Private development is what's happening.
Local pediatrician Dr. John Keith, who remembers the Downtown Florence of his youth in the late seventies and early eighties, longs for the DT (street slang for Downtown) to be returned to its former glory. He also happens to be on the Downtown Development Corporation board. Keith invested a sizable amount of money at 112 and 114 N. Dargan Street, property he plans to develop into a barber shop and the frequently mentioned Downtown police substation.
Downtown Police Substation?
Yes, a consistent police presence downtown and a rebuttal to all the naysayers of the downtown revitalization who say it'll never work because of criminal activity.
A little mythbusting here, bl'reader (you don't mind, do you?).
Chief Shells assured me an interview earlier this week that crime statistics in the downtown area were no different than any other area of town.
Most of the crime, he said, occurs during the day.
There is rarely any crime occurring at night, he said.
At night?
Isn't that when hoodlums and heffalumps roam the streets?
Well, according to Chief Shells, there's no one downtown to commit crimes at night.
No people. No crimes.
As for the crime that's already downtown?
Petty larceny, he said. (Squatting also happens to be a tendency among some of the residence-less residents, but that's only a crime if the only property owner complains). If you're a property owner it means taking paying greater attention to your property.
With the establishment of a constant police presence in downtown, the cogs are set in motion to improve the overall feel of downtown as a much safer place.
And that is the key to a successful revitalization with the support of the community.
Posted by
on 05/21 at 03:30 PM
