Missing Middle Businesses
Nov. 28th, 2020 08:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe "missing middle" of construction affects residences, but also businesses. In order to have a thriving local economy, you need a wide range of places from cheap and simple to expensive and fancy where businesses can offer their goods and services.
Here's a look at the spectrum of business spaces. That's a pretty complete ladder with some nice bottom rungs. I'll add a few more things.
* Covered temporary and semi-permanent spaces.
** Temporary booths at a mall or other indoor location, such as seen in trade shows and craft fairs.
** Semi-permanent booths or stalls at an antique mall or other indoor locations, in which the framing is fairly static but usually not fastened to the floors, and the renters may change quickly or quite slowly.
** Semi-permanent kiosks, like the holiday ones that last for several months and then go away.
** Almost-permanent kiosks, like the charm-bracelet dealers and the soft-pretzel kiosks, which often stay for years but are not built in like stores.
* Value-added thematic additions. These are things which enhance the usefulness of the surrounding property even though they do something different. The classic example is an ice cream stand in a park, which may be seasonal or year-round, static or mobile. A smarter approach is to use the same shell to sell ice cream and smoothies in summer, then hot nuts and cider in winter. Often the same benefits can be obtained by portable versions such as food carts or trucks. The key here is that it requires some foresight in regulations to allow for a difference that enhances the surroundings -- you have to spot that "lack of food" might be a limiting factor in how often or long people use a park, such that filling the gap would remove that barrier, even though a business isn't a park's primary function.
* Accessory commercial units. Many businesses can operate from a small outbuilding (ceramics or glass kiln, metal shop), a garage (band, small engine repair, woodshop), front porch (plant or planter sales), basement (mushroom farm, cattery), or attic (art studio, home office). As long as the business does not produce stenches, hazards, or howling noise during typical sleep hours, then it poses little disruption to a neighborhood. Traffic problems are unlikely given the scope of a business that only takes up 1-2 rooms, as they serve primarily neighboring customers and rarely hold more than a few customers at the same time.
* Housing > business > housing > business. Often a building created for one purpose can be reinterpreted into another. A former house makes an excellent location for many small businesses such as a used bookstore, consignment clothing boutique, thrift store, day care, or salon. Conversely, a former commercial unit may be reconfigured for living space, as in loft apartments -- a great way to diversify the size of residence and thus the income range of a neighborhood. These require a little more forethought, because they can attract somewhat more traffic. It is advantageous if they have a few extra parking spaces, say 2-3 beyond the staff parking, and they definitely benefit from a bike rack. For this reason, they are best positioned on block corners, but they can appear in the middle too.
Consider the difference between public-facing and private businesses. A public-facing business is one that people can walk up to and use. A private one generates income for the owner but does not interact directly with the neighborhood. An artist who paints with the garage door open and sells those paintings to curious neighbors -- perhaps doing the occasional commission for a living room ceiling or nursery wall -- has a public business. People walking by will stop to chat with the artist, sometimes folks will drive over to buy a painting, so it has a little impact. The same artist painting with the garage door shut, and only selling through a downtown gallery or online, has a private business. It has no impact on the neighborhood, other than perhaps making that artist a little less poor and more able to keep up with rent or mortgage.
So there is little justification to restrict private businesses. Restricting small public-facing businesses usually does more harm than good. Thus it often makes more sense to allow them, and if one individual business causes a problem, you can tell them to fix it, move, or shut down.
In order to encourage local businesses, you need to have a ladder with all the rungs on it. Start by examining the bottom. If someone wants to start a business, where can they do that? Many people start with a temporary booth, stall, cart, etc. Do you have a park, plaza, or parking lot that regularly or at least occasionally holds sell-your-stuff events? Does your local mall or event venue have trade shows, craft faires, or holiday kiosks? Is there a shared front for people who offer services and can't afford to rent a whole store? Another common beginning is a home business. Do your neighborhoods include residences with a "nook" or "flex space" that could work as an office or craft room? Check out this flex unit condo; the studio part has an office area. Can people run businesses out of their garage or porch? Can they put a workshed in their yard? Once they outgrow that, they will look for a semi-permanent or permanent location but it probably needs to be small and cheap. Really small. A hole-in-the-wall restaurant or shop may only be 100-200 square feet. From there, successful businesses can move up to larger spaces.
What can you do to support start-ups in your area? First, check the regulations. Remove as many barriers as possible -- from funding or other areas -- and provide a liaison to help people get started. Streamline the zoning. Second, check the financing. Does your local bank or chamber of commerce offer microloans? If not, add that service somehow. Regarding space, often the best boost you can give is to launch a makerspace, coworking area, antique mall, or community kitchen -- anywhere that gives people cheap, easy access to space where they can make and/or sell things. If you're worried about parking, mess, or other problems then there's something to be said for centralizing it. But then you have to make sure people can reach it. Put it on your transit line and include a shelter for travelers. Offer both car and bicycle parking. If you want to capitalize on this to assist disadvantaged groups, then use a sliding scale. Employed white men can afford to pay more; women, minorities, the poor or unemployed, etc. would get discounted or free use. Want to kill two birds with one stone? Discount or waive license fees for businesses based on bicycle carts, since they necessarily boost fitness. Plus you don't have to worry about traffic issues, because they travel.
Take a look at a well-designed mall. It has store space ranging from tiny to huge under one roof. Especially notice that small stores cover most of the width of larger stores, leaving only room for the entrance of the large store. That makes the mall more walkable so you aren't hiking past just one store for a long time. It also has kiosks. There is enough open floor space in the hallways to throw a faire without people tripping over each other. It includes a food court, which helps to grow new eateries -- they could go from a cart or kiosk to the food court and then to a full-size restaurant. With a food court and bathrooms, people can meet their needs so they don't have to leave early.
Suppose that Sears closes. Instead of wringing their hands and crying, the mall owners go around to area businesses that are outgrowing their midsize locations. The owner of the local antique store, crammed into a former house, is interested in expanding but doesn't need that much space and could barely afford the new rent. The mall owners and antique dealer discuss this and agree that the dealer will directly rent the smaller lobe of Sears for her store, and they will rent out the larger lobe to many people by dividing it into semi-permanent stalls, splitting the proceeds. The antique dealer will manage the stalls so the mall owners don't have to deal with 100+ new tenants. Suddenly the community has space for way more retailers, and shoppers get way more variety. It's easy for start-ups to get space -- or for people to downsize from full business to hobby business when they retire.
Then JC Penny closes. The mall doesn't need more stall space. Instead the owners look at the small, booked-for-6-months-ahead Community Room. They decide to make the old Penny's into community space. Now you can rent the whole thing for your school dance, wedding reception, company training event, etc. If you don't need that much space, you can split it with some other group(s) and divvy the rent by square footage. Also the mall can throw its flea markets and holiday faires in there, instead of filling the hallways.
After a year or few of this, people decide that it would be Even! Better! if there were bleachers, risers, tables, chairs, portable walls, and other modular elements available in the event space. The mall owners sense an opportunity and host, for free, a fundraiser that brings in $$$$$. They use that to purchase the most-requested equipment, which they make available to renters for a small added fee. You can then save time by renting stuff there, or save money by hauling your own gear. When not in use, the folding tables and chairs get crammed into the odd corner of the event space, and the bigger stuff goes in Store #400 that went under because nobody walked down there after Penny's closed. It's already empty, might as well use the space for something. However, its facing space #222 becomes a party supply store, catering to the new customers of the event space. The party store is a joint venture by a paper vendor and a compostable tableware vendor who outgrew their booths. They haul in a couple of other reception desks to front a caterer and an entertainment gig booker. A formerly dead wing of the mall is now bustling.
For a Terramagne-American example, see Arcadia East. It started out as a giant shopping mall. Then it became live-work space with a mall on the main floor, housing above, and mostly resident amenities in the basement. A majority of businesses in the mall belong to residents. By the time people outgrow that store space -- because most of the slots are smallish -- they're usually ready to move into a larger apartment and storefront elsewhere.
Here's a look at the spectrum of business spaces. That's a pretty complete ladder with some nice bottom rungs. I'll add a few more things.
* Covered temporary and semi-permanent spaces.
** Temporary booths at a mall or other indoor location, such as seen in trade shows and craft fairs.
** Semi-permanent booths or stalls at an antique mall or other indoor locations, in which the framing is fairly static but usually not fastened to the floors, and the renters may change quickly or quite slowly.
** Semi-permanent kiosks, like the holiday ones that last for several months and then go away.
** Almost-permanent kiosks, like the charm-bracelet dealers and the soft-pretzel kiosks, which often stay for years but are not built in like stores.
* Value-added thematic additions. These are things which enhance the usefulness of the surrounding property even though they do something different. The classic example is an ice cream stand in a park, which may be seasonal or year-round, static or mobile. A smarter approach is to use the same shell to sell ice cream and smoothies in summer, then hot nuts and cider in winter. Often the same benefits can be obtained by portable versions such as food carts or trucks. The key here is that it requires some foresight in regulations to allow for a difference that enhances the surroundings -- you have to spot that "lack of food" might be a limiting factor in how often or long people use a park, such that filling the gap would remove that barrier, even though a business isn't a park's primary function.
* Accessory commercial units. Many businesses can operate from a small outbuilding (ceramics or glass kiln, metal shop), a garage (band, small engine repair, woodshop), front porch (plant or planter sales), basement (mushroom farm, cattery), or attic (art studio, home office). As long as the business does not produce stenches, hazards, or howling noise during typical sleep hours, then it poses little disruption to a neighborhood. Traffic problems are unlikely given the scope of a business that only takes up 1-2 rooms, as they serve primarily neighboring customers and rarely hold more than a few customers at the same time.
* Housing > business > housing > business. Often a building created for one purpose can be reinterpreted into another. A former house makes an excellent location for many small businesses such as a used bookstore, consignment clothing boutique, thrift store, day care, or salon. Conversely, a former commercial unit may be reconfigured for living space, as in loft apartments -- a great way to diversify the size of residence and thus the income range of a neighborhood. These require a little more forethought, because they can attract somewhat more traffic. It is advantageous if they have a few extra parking spaces, say 2-3 beyond the staff parking, and they definitely benefit from a bike rack. For this reason, they are best positioned on block corners, but they can appear in the middle too.
Consider the difference between public-facing and private businesses. A public-facing business is one that people can walk up to and use. A private one generates income for the owner but does not interact directly with the neighborhood. An artist who paints with the garage door open and sells those paintings to curious neighbors -- perhaps doing the occasional commission for a living room ceiling or nursery wall -- has a public business. People walking by will stop to chat with the artist, sometimes folks will drive over to buy a painting, so it has a little impact. The same artist painting with the garage door shut, and only selling through a downtown gallery or online, has a private business. It has no impact on the neighborhood, other than perhaps making that artist a little less poor and more able to keep up with rent or mortgage.
So there is little justification to restrict private businesses. Restricting small public-facing businesses usually does more harm than good. Thus it often makes more sense to allow them, and if one individual business causes a problem, you can tell them to fix it, move, or shut down.
In order to encourage local businesses, you need to have a ladder with all the rungs on it. Start by examining the bottom. If someone wants to start a business, where can they do that? Many people start with a temporary booth, stall, cart, etc. Do you have a park, plaza, or parking lot that regularly or at least occasionally holds sell-your-stuff events? Does your local mall or event venue have trade shows, craft faires, or holiday kiosks? Is there a shared front for people who offer services and can't afford to rent a whole store? Another common beginning is a home business. Do your neighborhoods include residences with a "nook" or "flex space" that could work as an office or craft room? Check out this flex unit condo; the studio part has an office area. Can people run businesses out of their garage or porch? Can they put a workshed in their yard? Once they outgrow that, they will look for a semi-permanent or permanent location but it probably needs to be small and cheap. Really small. A hole-in-the-wall restaurant or shop may only be 100-200 square feet. From there, successful businesses can move up to larger spaces.
What can you do to support start-ups in your area? First, check the regulations. Remove as many barriers as possible -- from funding or other areas -- and provide a liaison to help people get started. Streamline the zoning. Second, check the financing. Does your local bank or chamber of commerce offer microloans? If not, add that service somehow. Regarding space, often the best boost you can give is to launch a makerspace, coworking area, antique mall, or community kitchen -- anywhere that gives people cheap, easy access to space where they can make and/or sell things. If you're worried about parking, mess, or other problems then there's something to be said for centralizing it. But then you have to make sure people can reach it. Put it on your transit line and include a shelter for travelers. Offer both car and bicycle parking. If you want to capitalize on this to assist disadvantaged groups, then use a sliding scale. Employed white men can afford to pay more; women, minorities, the poor or unemployed, etc. would get discounted or free use. Want to kill two birds with one stone? Discount or waive license fees for businesses based on bicycle carts, since they necessarily boost fitness. Plus you don't have to worry about traffic issues, because they travel.
Take a look at a well-designed mall. It has store space ranging from tiny to huge under one roof. Especially notice that small stores cover most of the width of larger stores, leaving only room for the entrance of the large store. That makes the mall more walkable so you aren't hiking past just one store for a long time. It also has kiosks. There is enough open floor space in the hallways to throw a faire without people tripping over each other. It includes a food court, which helps to grow new eateries -- they could go from a cart or kiosk to the food court and then to a full-size restaurant. With a food court and bathrooms, people can meet their needs so they don't have to leave early.
Suppose that Sears closes. Instead of wringing their hands and crying, the mall owners go around to area businesses that are outgrowing their midsize locations. The owner of the local antique store, crammed into a former house, is interested in expanding but doesn't need that much space and could barely afford the new rent. The mall owners and antique dealer discuss this and agree that the dealer will directly rent the smaller lobe of Sears for her store, and they will rent out the larger lobe to many people by dividing it into semi-permanent stalls, splitting the proceeds. The antique dealer will manage the stalls so the mall owners don't have to deal with 100+ new tenants. Suddenly the community has space for way more retailers, and shoppers get way more variety. It's easy for start-ups to get space -- or for people to downsize from full business to hobby business when they retire.
Then JC Penny closes. The mall doesn't need more stall space. Instead the owners look at the small, booked-for-6-months-ahead Community Room. They decide to make the old Penny's into community space. Now you can rent the whole thing for your school dance, wedding reception, company training event, etc. If you don't need that much space, you can split it with some other group(s) and divvy the rent by square footage. Also the mall can throw its flea markets and holiday faires in there, instead of filling the hallways.
After a year or few of this, people decide that it would be Even! Better! if there were bleachers, risers, tables, chairs, portable walls, and other modular elements available in the event space. The mall owners sense an opportunity and host, for free, a fundraiser that brings in $$$$$. They use that to purchase the most-requested equipment, which they make available to renters for a small added fee. You can then save time by renting stuff there, or save money by hauling your own gear. When not in use, the folding tables and chairs get crammed into the odd corner of the event space, and the bigger stuff goes in Store #400 that went under because nobody walked down there after Penny's closed. It's already empty, might as well use the space for something. However, its facing space #222 becomes a party supply store, catering to the new customers of the event space. The party store is a joint venture by a paper vendor and a compostable tableware vendor who outgrew their booths. They haul in a couple of other reception desks to front a caterer and an entertainment gig booker. A formerly dead wing of the mall is now bustling.
For a Terramagne-American example, see Arcadia East. It started out as a giant shopping mall. Then it became live-work space with a mall on the main floor, housing above, and mostly resident amenities in the basement. A majority of businesses in the mall belong to residents. By the time people outgrow that store space -- because most of the slots are smallish -- they're usually ready to move into a larger apartment and storefront elsewhere.
