Madison Monroe represents some property in New Town in Staunton, Va., I think about it a lot. The south side of Beverley St. has a neighborhood that is often referred to as the Stafford block. Traditionally, it's the "black neighborhood," but I like to think of it as an up and coming neighborhood. The truth is that it is not an all-black neighborhood. In fact, it's one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Staunton, and I like it a lot. I almost moved there myself, but I was looking for one of those insane deals you hear about people getting on places they live.
But there are deals too good to be true on the Stafford block, and there are some great people on the block, and there's a community garden, and a kids' playground, and all sorts of street fairs and stuff. I love it. Plus, there are some artists living there. It's great, and it's close to downtown. And did I mention ?
So, I've been thinking a long time about this because Agent Genius published an article about revisiting strategies of the old days, and I was wondering how to apply that. It wouldn't work with the apartments or condos, I don't think, but it could totally work for a neighborhood that's making a comeback as a cool place to live.
I remember living on the border of Berkeley and Oakland in California, and the people who were moving in were changing those neighborhoods for the better (IMHO), and they were looking for things no one had demanded for a long time in those spots. I think those folks would be receptive to the aesthetic and message of a vintage campaign to move a neighborhood back up to where it may belong. . . to have people care about it and invest in it again.
Maybe we'll see a lot more of this as the suburbs start dying, and the neighborhoods downtown start thriving again.Will we advertise the downtown neighborhoods to the people who used to live in the suburbs the same way we sold them on the suburbs? Probably. Look for similarities. The demographics haven't changed that much.
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