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DOWNTOWN Sonoma County
By Vesta Copestakes
I don’t get out much and I’m not fond of shopping, so doing this guide every
year to promote LOCAL shopping is an adventure in itself. I find different ways each year to encourage readers to shop at our locally-owned stores for holiday shopping, and this year I have chosen DOWNTOWNS as my focus.
Local business owners know how important holiday shoppers are for their ability to survive through the dark days of winter. All of us have suffered enough from the fires and then the power shutdown, so this year we’re just about begging people to understand that keeping your shopping dollars LOCAL is the only way so many will survive.
I did some research into WHY people enjoy shopping in
stores they can walk into. Part of it is the pleasure of getting out of normal routines. Retail Therapy is a term because people get real pleasure out of shopping. Holiday shopping is especially pleasurable because we think about the people we love. When we find something they will enjoy, we get a mini-thrill.
Today while I was in Petaluma a couple walked past one store and the husband got excited about a hand woven reindeer in the window. The wife was having none of it, but he was determined to get it for his mother. It was sweet to watching him bring the clerk out to take it from the window and wrap it
for his Mom. To the wife it was just more stuff. To the husband it giving his mother something she would enjoy...and getting her off his list!
While I was in Petaluma I noticed that there are no parking meters downtown. I have heard so many people complain about the meters in Santa Rosa that they refuse to shop downtown. I rather like the high traffic meters that are right there where your car is. 50 cents an hour instead of 25.
But in Petaluma they use parking patrols who drive by with a camera that photographs your license plate. You get two hours free on the street and four hours downstairs at the pubic garages, 10 hours upstairs. This encourages meandering, shopping, eating, etc. Very smart for a downtown!
Of course, our small towns don’t have this issue because unincorporated villages don’t have a government to collect the meter money! Just another reason to get out to the wide open spaces, breathe fresh, clean air and remember what it’s like to feel your shoulders come down a notch. I’d like
you to tale the Chowder Trail (page 6 & 7) Peter Posert wrote about out on the coast. If there’s anything that changes a stressed attitude, it’s listening to ocean waves on the beach, sitting on a deck overlooking the waterfront and eating clam chowder. Ya gotta do it! That’s Downtown on the Coast!
My favorite downtown is Petaluma because it reminds me of where I grew up, Philadelphia. There’s a river running through it so there are plenty of cafés, etc. Healdsburg and Sonoma have the same gentle atmosphere with a large plaza bringing everyone together. These are really well-placed and designed to encourage people to spend time downtown. Thumbs-up on these plazas!
Santa Rosa is trying to thrive. They rebuilt Courthouse Square to be one of these gathering places. It’s going to take years for the trees to grow back so please don’t ignore it until they do!
I really want to encourage people to go there because it has wonderful stores, you can park in a garage if street parking scares you with meters, and there are shops you will find
nowhere else.
I take my granddaughter to Crossing the Jordan to shop. It not only has great merchandise but also helps women who need a hand-up getting their life together. One day I was shopping with Destiny and three of the saleswomen launched into singing along with the music in the store. The song was
about ditching the bad guy and getting on with your life high on yourself. They related to that and sang at the top of their lungs. I was elated hearing them celebrate the new lives they were forming. You don’t get this kind of experience shopping online.
So what’s the bottom line on WHY go OUT to shop? Aside from supporting your local economy? Because you get tactile experiences: touching, hearing, seeing what you buy. And because you get instant gratification. Along with all that, you have an EXPERIENCE. And if you really want to have fun, do it with people you enjoy. Win/Win all around.
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Time together, instant results. It doesn’t get any better than this!