Fostering a Sense of Community

I was intrigued with today's New Haven Register article about Milford rejecting a film series on their green.

While ultimately, Milford rejected the free film series (which was to be sponsored by three local businesses), there were some interesting quotes there:

Recreation Director William McCarthy said that (...) it appeared to be a good idea to bring people downtown

[Susan] Ashelford said the movie night could have been a positive jolt for downtown.

... wouldn't it be nice to have another series of events (in addition to the concerts) that brought people downtown to West Haven? I think to make it profitable for the merchants, you need to get the merchants onboard, too, though! Some ideas:

• Hold a mini business fair at the edge of the event
• Bargains or freebees that you can only get if you get a stamp at the event on the green
• Allow venders at the edges of the green

In short, you have to make it worth the business's while! It's fun to have a sense of community, but we need to have businesses downtown to make it a destination.

While I'm on the subject of making downtown West Haven a destination, let's also talk about the planned railroad station. What about a free or low-cost shuttle service to downtown? I'd love to see more arts in the city - why not a downtown art museum? I'd love to see small shops in the station - why not give people a reason to GET OFF the train in West Haven, instead of it just being a commuter's stop!