SOS rally encourages a a lot more organization-welcoming Walkable Main Street

A group of downtown business owners and citizens have banded together to type Preserve Our Saturdays (SOS), which advocates boosting area companies by generating a vital modification to the City of Edmonds’ Walkable Main Street application: limiting the road closure to Sundays only. And on Saturday afternoon, supporters took to the downtown streets to carry signs, distribute flyers and have interaction citizens about their proposal.

Edmonds embarked on the Walkable Primary Street program final calendar year to bring a a great deal-wanted financial increase to downtown places to eat and companies right after the COVID shutdown compelled several to shut doorways, lay off team, and endure crushing economic losses. Walkable Main Street aimed to tackle this by closing Principal Avenue to targeted visitors each individual weekend from Saturday early morning to Sunday night, thereby developing a pedestrian-only zone that would persuade people to return to downtown in a COVID-safe and sound way. Dining places were the 1st to profit, as they pivoted to conquer social distancing requirements and restrictions on indoor eating with appropriately placed outside seating and a vast range of get-out food stuff alternatives.

SOS supporters sustain that though this served dining establishments, numerous retail corporations — presently reeling from COVID — have been strike still again by Walkable Main Avenue as reduction of downtown parking intended much less customers in their retailers.

“The effect on us was direct and swift,” suggests Phyllis Carlton of Treasures and Teas, located a stone’s throw from the downtown fountain. “When Walkable Key Avenue started, our figures dropped instantly. Guaranteed, the atmosphere was enjoyment and awesome, but our shoppers simply couldn’t entry our company. It desires to be excellent for all of us. It’s time to lift everyone up.”

Jenny Murphy has operated Seem Styles at Fifth and Main for the previous 35 yrs.

“Our organization promptly fell off by at least 50%,” she said. “After the Farmers Sector closed on Saturday afternoons, downtown was a dead zone. You could practically roll a bowling ball by means of listed here.”

Andy Cline of Cline Jewelers echoed this.

“Last yr lots of customers told us that they simply just would not arrive downtown on weekends,” he claimed. “Lack of parking was their range-a single reason.”

In accordance to Murphy, SOS is searching forward to getting assist for their proposal by means of additional council testimony (see My Edmonds Information protection of final week’s Council meeting right here), extra general public outreach, and additional people to indication on to their petition.

“We want to get the job done alongside one another,” Murphy pressured.  “We’ve designed this city by operating collectively, but just lately there is been a disturbing divide. We want it to function for all people. We are a group and want to stay a local community. This is not about places to eat pitted versus shops – that is not what it is all about – it is about making it get the job done for all of us.”

“Last calendar year it was the ideal time to support our eating places,” added Cline. “They experienced been hit definitely tricky. But now it’s the suitable time to compromise and make downtown additional obtainable [on Saturdays] for buyers to arrive and store, and leave Sunday as ‘fun day.’ Recall, this is our livelihood. These are authentic problems, and we’re proposing this compromise to deal with these.”

— Tale and images by Larry Vogel