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already happened, and we're beginning to see a perceived quality increase in Downey. People from outside who are looking for a place to invest are beginning to consider Downey. In fact, our firm, which has built office buildings and shop- ping centers in Texas, Nevada, and Califor- nia, is now looking at a site here. One thing a lot of people are considering now is what are called "promotional centers," small ahopplng centers with a supermarket and a soft goods store like a Loehmann's. Developers are beginning to realize that places like Downey are underserved by · olt goods outlets. The new hotel will help attract new businesses. Now you need some more restaurants around lt. Then you'd have a hook. But you've also got to atimulate the businesses that are here already. For exam- ple, I think Stonewood isout of date. l'd gut it, cover it, and bring in all new tenants. But the present owners aren't going to do that. To really get things moving would require creating a massive special assessment district, and politically thal would be tough. Tustian. As a way of mobilizing sup- port, it might be a good idea to present peo- ple with a scenario of what the strip would be like if the government took no action. Beckman. Instead of an assessment district, you might be able to do it with a joint-venture development corporation, which would make the property owners partners with a developer. There are a lot of creative tools that you might be able to use. But before you worry about a tool, you need some public consensus. We know that redevelopment used to be a dirty word in Downey. But now that at- titude is beginning to change. So maybe you can get some public discussion of these issues. And maybe it would be a good idea, as somebody already suggested, to work on one segment of the corridor at a time. Pick out the part that's the highest priority for you and try to get a consensus on it. Itamilton. That might work for the auto row. You don't need redevelopment there at all. Instead of buying the prop- erties, the city could set up a joint develop- ment corporation and then work with developers to move ahead. Heckman. And ffyou can pyramidon the auto dealers' cooperation with tax incre- ment financing, you can create a thing that will nurture itself. It's easy for the public to see that the dealerships are a strong economic force in the community and that you really have to do something to keep them. So assembling the land for the auto centers shouldn't be ail that controversial. One of your fundamental tenets ought to be to try to keep what's good here. And part of that is the auto dealerships. You want to be sure they don't steal away in the dead of night and wind up in a neighboring com- munity. gitst/an. I'd like to ask Jay Meehan why the private market doesn't seek to use the excess zoning capacity that's here already. Why does the city have to be the engine of change? Meehan. The reason is that, while there is a lot of desire for investment, it's also true that investors are looking for the least risky opportunities. Downey is still perceived as a marginal location, and that's because it has had such helter-skelter development in the past. In some areas, it reminds me of Houston, because of the lack of clearly set out development standards. What this town really needs is more political support of the planning staff. The tools are here, the balls and bats are on the field. Now we've got roger some guys in city hall who will say, 'Play ball.~ I agree that Downey is a good place for of- rices. The trouble always comes back to im- age. Downey isn't perceived as a document- intensive city, like Los Angeles, for stance, a place where documents have to be hand-delivered for recording or to bring to a judge. But irs not a people-intensive city either because there aren't a lot of places for people to meet. It needs some more offices to provide people to eat at those restaurants you want to put in. You've got an opportunity to provide a lot of the services that other places around here don't provide. Why not think of yourself as the provider of services for the surrounding communities? You could fill up an office building with lawyers and ac- countants and travel services and so on. But to attract an office building, you have to help out with some sort of subsidy, or agree to lease some of the space for five years or so to remove some of the speculation. The home folks Dubnoff. I'm concerned that we seem to be talking primarily about serving the re- gion. Wouldn't it be of value to find out what the people who live here might need in the central area? There should be a con- nection between the business opportunities and the housing provided. Is the housing too expensive for those who work here? Can the). get child care? It seems to me you should be looking at these things together. Ryan. It's a planning truism that good plans come from good processes, and thars what we're hearing now. But to have good processes you've got to feed in good infor- mation. You c.~n't just get people together for coffee and talk about what you need. What you have to do is bring in people like Jay, who understand the economics of do- ing.business in a place like this. And then, it seems to me, you should look at the strip as a microcosm of the whole city. There are special places on it and there are also ordinary places. In a sense, the or- dinary places are support areas, background areas, and as such they're very much needed. But not every place should be a special place. Maybe what happens in the in-between places on the strip should simply be allowed to happen as long as there's some sort of general framework for considering circulation and linkages. Ruth Knack is the senior editor of Planni~