Revitalization & Food Security

Will the tastes of Waterville change as fancy boutiques move in and Colby students spend more time and money at downtown restaurants?  How might the revitalization affect food in Waterville?

Increased Rent

• The price of rent for restaurants was a constant theme in all interviews with restaurant owners.  Both Colby administrators and restaurant owners pretty confidently stated that in the next 10-15 years, rent will go up.
  • Rent increases are a consistant finding in gentrification literature. In this 2015 review, researchers at the University of California Berkley explain how private capital (in this case from Colby students, faculty, and the development project) raise rents and the cost of living.
  • A 2014 study at the University of Minnesota showed the connection between rising rents and university housing in downtown areas.
• However, almost every single individual believed that increased business and revenue from Colby students will make up for this.
• Colby should undertake quantitative studies to examine the validity of this logic.

Increased Restaurant Activity

• Colby’s institutional message is that the 150 future residents of the downtown dorm spend more money at local businesses.
• Excitement about this new income base is probably the biggest positive that business owners noted, though there is no concrete information regarding the size of possible increases.

Parking

• The availability of parking is undoubtedly the biggest concern expressed by food service providers and Waterville citizens alike.
• However, Colby, along with the State of Maine Department of Transportation and the City of Waterville, is already executing a detailed parking and traffic study. Therefore, it seems that this anxiety will soon be resolved by careful planning.
• It is significant that parking was the buzzword while concerns about food security and local resident’s choices are largely ignored.

(centralmaine.com, 2016)

Participation

•  An administrator familiar with the planning process specifically emphasized that all stakeholders had been included, and Colby’s Downton FAQ website touts a similar message; “The planning process will include several opportunities for broader input from the community.”
• However, Waterville stakeholders noted that they hadn’t heard much and in several instances highlighted that they didn’t even want to know. This suggests that the College’s perception of their outreach is inaccurate; they are not effectively engaging with residents in the food industry.

What We Didn’t Hear

• We did not hear any mention of food security concerns.
• We also did not hear about how Colby students’ preferences would dominate new restaurants and turnover, and push out businesses that local people enjoy.
•  It is notable that Colby students, who would be doing the gentrifying, are concerned about this while Waterville residents and restaurant owners do not seem concerned.