OpEd - Revitalizing Smithtown's Downtowns Is Complex But Well Worth The Effort

By Larry Vetter

Talk of the “Long Island Brain Drain” has clearly identified the lack of challenging jobs commensurate with our young peopleʼs education and lack of affordable housing as two legs of the stool that is driving away our youth. The third leg is less spoken of. That leg is the lack of community. Community is basically defined as a social unit of any size with common values.

When I was younger and believed in the power of youth to make changes, I wanted to be surrounded by people with a commonality of goals and values. It is only natural to think that or children and young people feel the same way. As I married and developed a family, again I wanted to be surrounded by individuals in a similar stage of life. What better place for them to gather than a vibrant downtown?

We often view a downtown area as simply a retail area. I have often felt it is much more than that. A vibrant downtown is a gathering place. It is a place to meet old friends and make new ones. It is a place to chat and share thoughts and ideas. It is a place to browse and purchase, have a meal and be entertained, a pace to bring your family. Towns that have embraced this idea are currently undergoing revitalization. Towns that have embraced this idea are magnets for the younger generation.

We have four downtowns within the Township of Smithtown: Kings Park, Nesconset, Smithtown and St. James. Each is suffering a similar malaise. There are a number of things that can be accomplished to insert energy into our towns, some simple and some complex.

The complex aspect is not something that our town can accomplish on itʼs own. A vibrant downtown often centers around a viable transportation system making areas readily accessible. Upgrading our railroads and bus routes as well as retooling our road systems and improving parking areas will be a start. Installing sewer systems go a long way to making restaurants, cafes, music venues and taverns much more viable. Improved sidewalks and pedestrian areas will entice foot traffic that retail centers must have to survive. Although these steps are well beyond the capabilities of any town to go it alone, there are steps we can take to begin the process.

The simpler aspects of improvement are areas we can begin. Suffolk County has a downtown initiative that several towns on Long Island are taking advantage of. This includes architectural and design help and funding. Smithtown can be a part of that. We can utilize our highway department to begin the process of making the towns more pedestrian friendly by repairing damaged sidewalks and making crossings safer. Our building department can develop new rules to ease permitting processes to encourage building owners to make repairs and

improvements to attract businesses. As a town we can ease the permitting process that would allow more festival type occasions to provide entertainment for Smithtown families.

All improvements begin with dialogue. This dialogue has either been missing or it has been well hidden. Smithtown is a good place to live but could easily be a great place to live. Election Day, November 3 is everyoneʼs chance to have their voice heard and to begin the process of making our town a place that welcomes the future, not cowers from it. 

Larry Vetter is the Democratic Candidate For Smithtown Town Board