Mid-August in the Puget Sound region can be a wonderfuly warm and carefree time, can it be that the inevitably sodden skies of fall are just around the corner?
With the coming deluge will be the annual back-to-school trudge for tens of thousands of students, but first, there is back-to-school shopping to be done for this reluctant army.
Credit-card and checkbook wielding parents may not be aware of a subtle, but real change occurring in their communities: the stores are getting closer.
Officials in every city in North King and South Snohomish counties have some sort of economic development project either underway or on the books that will coalesce retail and other business interests into their vision of a town center.
Here’s a quick rundown:
• Edmonds – The downtown height issue is laid to rest and redevelopment is already occurring, not to mention the Highway 99 International District.
• Lake Forest Park – The Towne Center mall has sold and redevelopment guidelines are in place.
• Lynnwood – City center zoning is over the biggest hurdle; can the next downtown Bellevue be far away?
• Mill Creek – Town Center is well on its way to creating its own quaint version of shopper gravity.
• Mountlake Terrace looks to be making real headway in revitalizing the city’s core.
• Shoreline – The disruption along Aurora Ave. won’t last forever and the result will be the setting for real change. Similar change is already paying benefits in North City.
The “why” of this phenomenon has a bit of a chicken-or-egg feel to it. But, regardless of whether density or demand came first, there is no denying the benefits to the consumer: more choice, closer to home which adds up to a real opportunity to “buy local.”
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