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Think Residential <br />High -density single-family homes <br />accommodate families and make <br />neighborhoods more walkable. <br />Successful retail depends on successful residential <br />neighborhoods. Retailing cannot survive in an environ- <br />ment of deteriorating neighborhood housing, declining pop- <br />ulation and homeownership rates, disinvestment, crime, and <br />neglect. Most important, successful retail needs a growing <br />number of high -quality residents because this is what <br />retailers look for. High -quality residents are found in high-, <br />medium-, and Low-income brackets so, individually and as a <br />group, residents need to take ownership of their streets and <br />start changing the negatives in their neighborhoods so the <br />environment is right to attract retailers. <br />Great streets are always surrounded by dense residential <br />development. Where residential growth and revitalization is <br />occurring, retail is primed to follow; it simply will not occur <br />the other way around. Retailers will not be attracted to a <br />neighborhood street, regardless of how much public money <br />they get, unless they see the cash registers ringing, and <br />this depends on the strength of the surrounding residential <br />market. <br />Streets evolve over time, and the quality and amount of <br />the residential development will dictate what type of retail <br />tenant will be interested in leasing space. The typical pat- <br />tern is for home-grown, startup businesses and creative <br />enterprises looking for Low-cost Locations to move in first, <br />followed by mass -market national stores and, if the neigh- <br />borhood is very successful, by specialized higher -end <br />retailers. The community should not expect the best <br />stores to move in immediately, but to the extent that <br />higher -quality residential development occurs, retailing <br />will continue to improve. <br />Increase homeownership (including condominium ownership) to stabilize the <br />neighborhood and create more stakeholders and customers. <br />Residential development creates a customer base for neighborhood -serving <br />retail, especially grocery store and pharmacy anchors. It is important for such <br />stores —which commonly are national chains and require the most parking —to <br />conform to the urban character of the community. <br />6 <br />