Spending students welcomed downtown in 'a cosmic shift'

Mayor Kruzan's economic development plan has launched Bloomington small businesses into a new frontier of space-age student living, within a crawl of many downtown nationally recognized restaurants, traditional Hoosier taverns and specialty shops. \nKruzan said the changing demographic downtown is a "cosmic shift" from the ghost town aesthetic dominating the city landscape during the 1980s, since new student housing like Smallwood Plaza, which offers amenities such as "trash chutes on each floor" have landed.\nFor example, Kruzan said more than 1,000 students moved into the downtown area during winter break from other locations around the city.\n"We have availability for hundreds of more students (downtown)," Kruzan said. "By next January we could have 2,000 or more students living in our downtown center." \nThe city has survived many changes throughout the last century, although none more dramatic than recent Hoosier outsourcing, layoffs and snail-paced job growth. The IUPD, for instance, employed about 100 full-time officers during the early 1970's; today, the IUPD has fewer than 35 patrolling officers. \nIUPD Lt. Jerry Minger, however, said he has witnessed a shift in the socioeconomic status of IU's student population demographic. \n"I don't think our on-campus population has increased that much," Minger said. "The problems are about the same -- the impact of social constraints. Thirty years ago, students from lower socioeconomic statuses could come to college. Now, due to the expense of college, we are dealing with a higher socioeconomic bracket."\nJoie Canada, owner of Howard's Bookstore, on the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Walnut Street, said her bookstore has survived by modifying her business to meet the demands of her customers. \n"We would like to see people living in Bloomington and walking through the streets," Canada said. "For a while, we were losing one good business after another -- fixtures of the community. You don't get rich running a small a business, but you get happy; there is a difference." \nKruzan said multiple issues must be investigated as the city evolves from years of economic stagnation toward a future of community partnerships. Traffic patterns, bus routes, parking garages, law enforcement and fire protection are all important issues weighing on the mayor's mind as he commands the city's expansion within grasp of student wallets.\n"I came to Bloomington in 1983 as a student," Kruzan said. "A lot of business downtown was resident oriented: candy stores, drug stores, hardware stores, laundry mats ... First College Mall came, then the Westside, many local businesses closed under the pressure of change; the focus shifted away from downtown. In the 1980's the square was literally falling apart ... The local population was different too. I would like to see a resurgence of locally aimed businesses aimed towards residents and the students (living locally) ... a nice blend."\nKruzan said the city is attracting student buying power as consumers within walking distance of downtown. The city's "experiment" includes retirement housing development, no parking gridlock and late-night noise pollution protection for all year-long residents, Kruzan said. \n"This is the first year we have had this downtown plan; the market will dictate the price," Kruzan said. "Landlords have told me their prices are too high; they can't rent their rooms ... we won't price students out of IU ... The city is becoming one of the leading retirement communities in the country. This has been a great year of transition, good practice. (Bloomington) is a viable place to open a business."\nCanada said the Bloomington of yesteryear she remembers most was the "wild" days downtown during the 1960s. \n"There used to be a lot of lively people who did a lot of thinking and lots of talking, instead of spending money -- hippies really," Canada said. "Everyday in town, people would walk around bare foot, sit on the courthouse lawn and sing ... it created an ambiance of people present and alive."\n-- Contact City & State Editor David A. Nosko at dnosko@indiana.edu.