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Waltham’s Main Street studied for renewal

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January 05, 2012|By Lisa Kocian

While Main Street has popular restaurants, the Bentley report says, adding… (Suzanne Kreiter/Globe…)

Moody Street has long been the rock star of Waltham’s retail and restaurant scene, but a group of Bentley University students aims to build a fan base for nearby Main Street, in the hopes of making the historic thoroughfare less shabby and more chic.

After spending the semester studying the downtown area, students last month presented a report to the city calling for improvements to storefronts and vacant spaces, simplifying start-up procedures for new businesses, better marketing to students at Bentley and at Brandeis University, and more emphasis on making people feel safe as they shop or eat.

Other suggestions include improvements to the business mix to embrace more consumer preferences such as clothing shops, and a collective branding and advertising campaign to lure customers into multiple stops downtown. Now, consumers often make only one stop on Main Street, according to the report.

“We would really love to see the city and the current business owners join forces,’’ said Natalie Caldwell, project manager and one of 14 students working on the study. “There has been a disconnect between the two that has caused the downtown Waltham area to not be as advanced as other downtowns.’’

Some of the report’s recommendations would be up to the city to implement, others are for the businesses, and many require cooperation.

For example, the current process of starting a small business is “difficult and complex,’’ according to the report. The city would have to simplify some of its regulations or cut fees to address the problem.

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy said she has tried to address that complaint by putting most of the departments that require permits in one building, so that business owners can have something like “one-stop shopping.’’

She said she has also asked councilors to look into simplifying the start-up process for small businesses that are reusing an existing storefront.

Some of the less complex changes are already in the works. McCarthy said she has requested funding for next year to improve sidewalks and add some lighting on Main Street, both of which are recommended in the report.

“They have a lot of enthusiasm,’’ McCarthy said of the Bentley students, adding that she was particularly interested in what changes would get them to frequent downtown.

College students patronize the bars and restaurants along Main Street, but they would like to see some more retail added to the mix, such as clothing stores, according to the report. Marketing directly to students at the city’s two universities would help as well, it stated.