• LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD.
• THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OPERATES HERE, TOO, ESPECIALLY WITH REGARD TO HOW LONG SOME CURRENTLY REASONABLE DECISIONS LAST-BEYOND THEIR REASONABLENESS. ONE EXAMPLE WAS THE NEW LONDON, CT. CAPTAIN'S WALK OF THE 1970’S, LATER DISASSEMBLED.
• HISTORICALLY, THE DEVELOPMENT OF UPPER STATE STREET WAS AN EFFORT TO SEPARATE THE MORE GENTEEL COMMUNITY FROM THE LOWER STATE STREET RIFF-RAFF, ETC. A STRUCTURAL EXAMPLE WAS THE CURRENT BUILDING OF THE THAMES CLUB, WITH THE FRONT FACING AWAY FROM ALL OF THAT AND TOWARDS THE LIBRARY AND THE COURTHOUSE.
• THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND “REDEVELOPMENT” WAS THE SUCCESSFUL EFFORTS OF THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRIES TO GET AN "OBSOLESCENCE" TAX BREAK INTO THE TAX CODE IN THE 1920'S AND 1930'S.  THIS WORSENED IN 1954 WITH "ACCELLERATED DEPRECIATION”.  DURING AND AFTER "THESE EFFORTS, PSEUDO-SCIENTIFIC CALCULATIONS WERE USED T0 ARGUE FOR THE DEMOLITION OF BUILDINGS LONG BEFORE, THEIR USEFULNESS HAD ENDED...FOR THE TAX AND OTHER ECONOMIC BENEFITS.
• THIS MIND-SET LASTED UNTIL THE 1960'S WHEN THE PRESERVATION MOVEMENTS BEGAN TO PROVIDE A COUNTER-WEIGHT.
• In my opinion, the current situation in New London, Ct., like that of so many other older urban centers, involves efforts to rehabilitate/adaptively reuse the downtown, surrounded as it is by wealthier bedroom communities, by large and attractive malls, and by responsibility for an expanding local and referred poor population.
• Demography and geography are on our side. And the hundreds of thousands of transients who pass through here on their way to the casinos must become another advantage.
• Demographically, there are increasing numbers of past and would-be urbanites who are approaching or who are at retirement age. No better place to set anchor than in "one of the garden spots of the world".
• Geographically, there are tens of thousands of "graduates" from service assignments with the Coast Guard and the Navy in this area who have fond memories of their stays here and who would definitely consider retirement here. Many already have. And many of these people want to live "downtown", in an environment that many of us grew up in.
• This is the working meaning of "gentrification", always at the heart of both academic and economic discussions about "urban renewal".
• And, regarding the transient visitors, we already have a "Transportation Center". What we need is an "Importation Center", a means of attracting some of those many transients into the city before they race out to the artificial incubators of the casinos. We need magnetic force, similar to the magnetic force provided by illegal job opportunities which work so well on America's southern borders. We have it, in the form of our history, our college-town culture, our unsurpassed harbor and beaches, and our fast-developing gourmand's paradise of ethnically diverse and high-quality restaurants.  We simply do a very poor job of' marketing it.  The lesser destination of Mystic eats our hutch-and doesn't even pay for it.
• For any or all of this to happen, there must be an economic justification to every private and business decision on which all of this depends.  Ambiance, culture, history and scenery just won't cut it without that essential ingredient.  That means that the City of New London must do a much better job of attracting, appreciating, cultivating and facilitating private and business investment: a positive rather than a negative climate and image. Business people who have taken the plunge in New London, and not the carpetbaggers of the 1970's, constantly complain about this. When will our elected leaders and our City Manager meet this challenge, even if they have to drag some old-time residents along kicking and screaming? We "new-comers", like my family and I since 1963, are entirely with you.  After all, we came here... and stayed here... by choice.

GS