I remember being a freshman.
I remember my parents finally leaving me alone in my cushy dorm room at Taylor Place downtown. I remember my first ride on the light rail. I was using public transportation, by myself!
I remember my first trip to CityScape, proudly championed by the tour guides at the ASU Downtown campus. Chipotle! Urban Outfitters! Five Guys (Burgers AND Fries)! Everything was so close, so new. In a form of tame irresponsibility, I could eat whatever I wanted and shop at all the favorite stores from my past.
But that started to get old, quick. It’s easy to shop at these places, but wasn’t college the time to try something new? I wasn’t going to break this cycle until I learned about that which was unique to downtown.
So I met some locals and got the lay of the land. I walked along the Fifth Street stores on Roosevelt Row. I checked out the art galleries downtown. I took a course at ASU called “community encounters” that taught me so much — political, commercial, residential, artistic — about my new home. I didn’t fall in love with everything, but at least I knew how much there was out there. Now, I try to at least visit every new store or restaurant that opens up.
That’s not easy to do, especially as a college student. Your brain is in a million places at once, and there’s a big chance the last thing on your mind is, “I wonder where my recreational dollars are going?”
Yes, it feels smoother to just go to Subway or Chipotle to eat our meals, drive to retailers to buy our clothes, shop online to get the best deals on just about everything. A lot of this has to do with patterns: These are things we’re familiar with. They’re carried through from our high school days, or what our parents would make us do.
Now it’s time to make our own decisions. When is a better time to break patterns than in college? When is a better time to spend more of your dollars (which you’re likely making by yourself) in your local businesses than now?
Kimber Lanning, founder of Local First Arizona, wrote a substantial response to an editorial by Arizona Republic columnist Robert Robb, making the case that shopping in non-local businesses was ultimately hurting our state’s economy and jobs.
“The whole notion that money saved at chains drives an economy is flawed because it assumes chains are always cheaper, which isn’t true,” Lanning wrote in the op-ed, published in the Republic on December 26 last year. “And any savings is significantly offset by jobs eliminated as well as lost income overall.”
We hear about the benefits of shopping locally all the time. Of $100 spent on a local business, $68 stays in the local economy, while only $43 stays in the local economy when you spend on a non-local business, according to a 2008 Civic Economics study of a Local First organization in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
President Barack Obama said it himself when he came to speak at Central High School earlier this month. Remarking on the lower gas prices around the nation, Obama encouraged people to “feel free to spend some of that money on local businesses, who then will hire more people and put more folks back to work.”
So, you’re spending money which will improve your home and the lives of many others in the future. Students, let’s hop on the bandwagon. Let’s explore our immediate area and find the local stores and restaurants that we like the most. Let’s make it a movement. Look, there’s even a hashtag for it: #SupportLocal. I certainly didn’t make this hashtag up, but it feels nice to use and doesn’t take away too many of your characters.
Take a stroll through your streets. Look at all the eateries, all the bars, the thrift stores and the services. Engage in the activities at Civic Space Park, the food trucks on Wednesdays and Fridays outside of Phoenix Public Market. Watch a movie at FilmBar, the local arthouse, and buy a book at Lawn Gnome Publishing. Visit the art galleries on Roosevelt Row and Grand Avenue (most are open today, it’s Third Friday!). Speak with the Downtown Phoenix Ambassadors, the friendly folks with the orange shirts. You’ll be more invested in your community — for the better. This time, when your friend stays the night at your dorm and asks, “Where can we eat around here?” hopefully your first response won’t be “Subway.”
A lot of this requires the proper education about the downtown area, something most students living at the ASU Downtown Phoenix campus do not receive. The “community encounters” course I took was offered only to students from Barrett, the Honors College. I took a bus tour of the city, was given a lesson on “propinquity” at The Duce and even met the mayor. Why don’t all students, not just those in Barrett, get the option to take something like this?
Since this is not an option for now, I can only recommend talking to that streets-savvy friend who will tell you the best coffee shop to study at, or the best place you can find a vegetarian burrito on a Saturday morning (My favorites: Songbird Coffee & Tea House and Mi’s Catering at the Saturday farmers’ market).
The Downtown Phoenix campus certainly prides itself in claiming it is immersed into the local community. “The campus integrates research, classroom learning and real-world problem-solving in high-tech facilities that make the most of the location and the city’s vibrant neighborhoods and culture,” says the campus’s website. I don’t believe all students are receiving this.
A new law building is currently under construction that would increase ASU’s physical presence downtown and bring in many more students. But if these students won’t learn about and take advantage of what local businesses have to offer, that presence may not ultimately mean much.
Contact the author at motarola@asu.edu
