Mayor's Roundtable: Revitalizing Glendora's Downtown

Glendora Mayor Doug Tessitor fields your community questions and answers them in a weekly column. In Glendora Patch’s Mayor’s Roundtable, you are invited in an ongoing dialogue about issues and concerns you have regarding your city. Share your ideas and voice your opinion.

Have a question you'd like Mayor Tessitor to answer? E-mail hazel.lodevicotoo@patch.com

Question:

"I've always thought our downtown as a sleepy, kind of outdated place that closes way too early in the day. With the Gold Line making its way to the downtown area, shouldn't we be working on revitalizing our downtown with more destination-type businesses and venues?

I feel like we should be actively trying attract modern restaurants and shops, the kinds you would want to frequent on a weekend or after a work day. Sure, the Gold Line could bring more people to the downtown area, but it's not going to help if there's nothing there to make people want to keep coming back. I look at the downtowns at Claremont and Pasadena and I think there's so much potential for our Glendora downtown. What is your vision for the growth of our downtown with the arrival of Gold Line?"

Answer:

I could not agree more!

Your question has been asked again and again over the years and not just because of the potential of the Gold Line. There has been concern for many years, that the Village has been populated by too many real estate offices and beauty salons.  There has also been concern that many of the businesses are run too casually – not keeping regular hours, closing too soon in the day, etc. – in other words, they are “hobby businesses”.

The advent of the Business Improvement District (BID) should have a lot of impact on this over time. As the Village becomes more businesslike, more businesses will follow the example set by Andrew’s, Fiorina, Village Goldsmith, Village Color, and Under Covers (to name a few) and will seek space in the area. Hobby businesses will feel increasing pressure to more fully participate in the commercial life of the Village - to their benefit and ours!

The Village has made progress in the last few years.  A casual observer can easily recognize the increased activity caused by the advent of new restaurants in town.  T. Philips, Frisella’s, Kara’s Korner, Sushi n I and The Parlor are all recent additions and are well patronized. Classic Coffee and Domenico’s provide additional reasons to visit the Village. Progress IS being made!

The Gold Line will add additional incentive and customers for the Village. It will also create the impetus to draw new development to the immediate area. I believe that over time, the Village will expand southward on Glendora Avenue toward the future Gold Line Station. New transit oriented housing opportunities currently planned will create additional foot traffic - the lifeblood of commerce - in the Village.

The BID and the City Government and the Citizens need to create the environment that will result in “revitalization” and help create the environment that will attract the “destination-type businesses and venues.”  Part of my vision for the growth of our downtown IS the arrival of the Gold Line!  It is a key component that will help to create the demand that will encourage entrepreneurs to look to Glendora for opportunity.  It is why I have invested so much energy and time trying to make it a reality, sooner, rather than later!

Most importantly, the residents of Glendora - all of us - need to consciously decide to patronize our local Village businesses.  Successful local businesses will breed more successful local businesses.  The City Council can’t dictate the recruitment of certain types of businesses, nor can the BID.  Only we, the residents and consumers of Glendora, can create the environment that will attract “destination-type businesses and venues”!  Let’s do it!

The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of Doug Tessitor alone.  They are not to be construed to represent official positions of the city or the opinions of any other council member.