The Importance of Districts

A couple days ago, Collected Thread in the plaza district tweeted a picture of the owner wearing one of DNA Galleries' "Support Local Art" shirts. This is hardly surprising to anyone who has spent any time hanging out on the Plaza; it's a pretty tight knit community (this is evident even to an outsider like me). It does, however, provide a salient example of why and how urban districts work, and why they are so important to a city's sense of community. I have no doubt that none of what follows will be news to anyone who knows anything about city planning or urbanism is general, but I'm a rhetorician and writing teacher, and not a city planner, so this is revelatory for me.

The term "district" as used in urban contexts can mean a number of things. I live in an Urban Conservation District, which simply means that I am supposed to abide by certain covenants in order to maintain the look of the neighborhood. All sorts if districts like this, which deal mainly with public policy, exist: urban redevelopment districts, TIF districts, etc. Of course, there are also districts that are primarily associated with specific minority groups, like the Asian District here in OKC, where specific nationalities have historically gathered in a city. These districts, like the famous Chinatowns of New York and San Francisco and the Italian North End in Boston, are very important in their own right. But my interest here is the kind of district where similar businesses have gathered in one spot, sometimes in haphazard, slapdash fashion, and sometimes very purposefully.

The most famous of this type of district is, no doubt, the Broadway Theatre District in New York. This very important district gives us an example of how/why such districts happen. This type of district invariably involves a particular niche. Most people don't go to the theatre, and even those who do don't go particularly regularly (I'm a former professional actor, but I've been to the theatre maybe a half dozen times since 2008, when I finished my Master's degree. . .in playwriting) . So to survive, theatres opened near each other. This allows a kind of one stop shopping for the kind of weirdos who go to the theatre. In this way, a theatre becomes visible to folks who've actually come to go to a different theatre.

This same dynamic exists on a smaller scale in our own districts, especially Paseo and the Plaza District. Any of the businesses on the Plaza, with their relatively small and firmly artisan inventory, would likely have a difficult time surviving in a suburban mall (which is, by the way, just a high overhead, indoor counterfeit district). But, perhaps counterintuitively, these "weird stores" (Gopnik) thrive when they open in a row--next to all their competition. This works because the fact that these stores exist in a district attracts the niche customers interested in these businesses. Beyond this, the highly walkable nature of these districts makes it inviting to hang out--to spend lots of time looking at and buying things.

Again, none of this is particularly ground breaking information. What's significant about it, however, is that it points to an economic model that is uniquely urban. In urban districts like these, survival and success comes not through competition, but cooperation. Most large businesses treat commerce as a zero-sum game. If Walmart is to succeed, K-Mart must fail (it did). But in the urban district, if DNA Galleries hopes to succeed, Collected Thread must attract people, and vise verse. Though these are very similar businesses (one is an art gallery that doubles as a boutique, the other is a boutique whose designers are artists in their own right), they realize that they don't benefit by "beating" the other. Instead, each of these businesses benefits when the other benefits. When one place thrives, the whole district thrives. When the district thrives, the individual stores thrive. But, this unique economic model doesn't quite explain why these districts are so appealing to those of us who hand out in them.

Perhaps more important than the economic model districts provide are the social benefits that come to a community built around these districts.  By serving, and thus attracting, a relatively specific particular crowd, these districts also provide a sense of community that becomes definitive. People who live, work, or spend a great deal of time in Paseo think of themselves as Paseo people (have they named themselves?). To an extent, this ultimately involves many of the social aspects that define communities such as shared community ethics, behavior systems, discourse conventions, and so on.  Though these districts may often start out as primarily commercial zones, they morph quickly and naturally into something much more meaningful as people who like to be in the district begin to move close to it. As people begin to work, live, and socialize in a district, it becomes a neighborhood. And neighborhoods are what cities are made of. These are what give big city life flair and personality. For this reason, the health of our clever local districts is, I think, far more important to the sustainability of our cities than are all the tourist amenities we can plan. Now, if you don't mind, it's a pleasant day; I think I may get on my bike and ride down to the Plaza.