Downtown Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs, New York seems to be doing all the right things. It has a great mix of local and national retailers. The buildings along Broadway, the main street, are generally of high quality vernacular late 19th and early 20th Century architecture. More recent additions have been designed, for the most part, to be consistent with the existing architectural vocabulary. The city even boasts a major new development by national real estate investor/developers. Broadway sports wide sidewalks and some decent site furnishings and horticultural amenities. It has a lively pedestrian presence both day and night. It has all the things economic development professionals are seeking for their communities. Being there is simply a great experience. It is a place with a distinct identity. It provides a range of options. It feels safe and pleasant. It is simply all the things we want a public space experience to be.
Those of us in public space revitalization frequently focus on whats wrong with places. But Saratoga Springs presents an opportunity to look at what’s right. It would be well worthwhile for those of us interested in downtown economic development to take a close look at the programs and forces that brought this positive turn of events into being. I can’t think of a more appealing small city downtown anywhere. Generally, small town great main streets don’t spontaneously generate.
A lively downtown hasn’t always been the case in Saratoga Springs. We visited the city in the late 80’s and early 90’s and found it run down. During the racing seasons at the historic thoroughbred racetrack, from mid-July through the end of August, hospitality amenities in town were grossly over-priced. On one trip to Saratoga Springs about 25 years ago we stayed in one of the most disgusting hotel rooms in our thirty years of extensive travel. We took a dated, uncomfortable room with a shared bath in a rooming house during the race season for over $400. This year our stay was in a brand new Embassy Suites, which was part of a development including off-street retail adjacent to, but not in, the hotel.
The thoroughbred track at Saratoga
In the 19th Century the town was famous for its mineral springs, and became an exclusive (read: no Jews) summer destination for the very rich – with patrons enjoying the baths and the racing season. A number of famous American families created a presence there. Today going to the track in Saratoga Springs is a unique experience. The track has an elegance about it that is hard to find in many public places. Men wear suits and ties, women wear dresses and hats. There is a champagne breakfast available during the morning workouts. [I should also disclose that I had my best day ever in my limited parimutuel thoroughbred wagering experience at the Saratoga track – picking the winner in eight of nine races and clearing over $300 for the day on two dollar bets, something I have never again come close to achieving. That has absolutely nothing to do with my fondness for the place!]
In the twenties, New York Governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt saw the neglected mineral spring bath houses as an underperforming asset, and developed an elaborate series of federal style structures around the springs, He created a state park to support them. The park remains reasonably well maintained. It hosts the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) built in the 60’s to present The Philadelphia Orchestra, The New York City Ballet and the New York City Opera in a summer season. In recent years the operation of SPAC has been turned over to a commercial concert promoter, while some high art offerings remain.
The Victorian Pool at Saratoga Springs State Park
But there is nothing about the apparent economy of this city of under 30,000 people, half an hour north of Albany and three hours north of New York City, which would seem to justify the level of commercial activity to be found there. It is certainly a summer destination for horse-racing, concerts and spa treatments. It is also the gateway to the extensive Adirondack State Park, which brings a smattering of tourists year round. It is the ancestral home of notably wealthy American families like the Whitneys, Trasks and Wilmots – particularly those with an interest in thoroughbreds. It is also the home of a fine small college, Skidmore. But even all of these things together don’t seem to me sufficient to support retailers like Ann Taylor, Eddie Bauer, Jos A. Bank and Banana Republic twelves months a year. I’m sure there is a sizable market for $75 aged strip steaks and $125 bottles of tempranillo in August at David Burke’s Salt and Char in the historic Adelphi Hotel. But who in Saratoga is buying those hunks of cow in deepest February?
It would be tremendously useful for other downtowns to know what has happened in Saratoga – to learn what contributed to making it a year round destination, the demographics of the local shoppers and visitors and how they have been drawn to the downtown. It may have something to do with the lack of a high quality urban shopping experience in Albany, a nearby city with a population of 100,000. But there must be more to it than that.
Broadway isn’t perfect. It’s a high traffic street that appears to have been re-engineered to maximize automobile throughput. While the sidewalk on the west side of the street appears to be about 40 feet wide, the east side seems to have sacrificed sidewalk space to create a traffic lane. But, because of the high number of traffic lights, cars are unable to go very fast through the downtown, anyway. There is no benefit, even to drivers, to engineering Broadway for speed and capacity given the traffic lights. The nearby throughway provides plenty of north/south speed for those heading to and from the Adirondacks and Canada. There is no need to encourage drivers to motor through the downtown on Route 9.
I would certainly give the sidewalk on the east side back that 15 feet or so and give up the traffic lane. While there are quite a few bars and restaurants on the strip, only a minority of them appear to have sidewalk tables and chairs – the feature that makes a main street really lively. So, I would recommend encouraging restauranteurs to add tables outside. This encourages people to linger in the downtown — and provides visible evidence of the liveliness of the corridor. There are some plantings and a pretty good wayfinding system, but I would definitely look to expand and improve the plantings as well as upgrade the design and condition of the street furnishings. The trash baskets need an refresh and more benches would be welcome.
But these are quibbles. The street works quite well as it is. Particularly impressive is the number of local and regional retailers, including both jewelers and distinctive stores selling women’s clothing. It even has an independent bookseller. That means the relationship between asking rents and the capacity to generate sales per square foot is in balance. I’d be very interested to know more about how those sales are being generated and who those customers are in a small city whose tourist attractions have a short season. Gloversville (14,500), about which I’ve written extensively, is 45 minutes away and has similar physical assets – but nowhere near the level of economic activity. Hudson (6,000 and a thriving local second home market) and Cooperstown (1,700 and the Baseball Hall of Fame) have similarly successful small city downtowns in the same region – but not nearly to the degree of Saratoga Springs. It would be good to know more about who its customers are and where they are coming from – as well as what actions local officials feel they have taken to support this success. But however they are doing it, I’d be glad to put $50 on Saratoga Springs to win in the eighth.
Broadway