The Survey Says…
Mercer Students Ask Their Peers About Downtown Macon
A couple years ago, Mercer prof Jay Black made friends with Brad and Meagan, and out of that came a crew of eager student interns. That December, The 11th Hour published an issue almost entirely written by those students. Its focus was on a survey they conducted about where their fellow college students are. This year, Jay Black blessed us with a new crew and a new survey. Though it isn’t a scientific survey, it does provide us with a starting point for discussion on college student involvement in the revitalization of downtown Macon, and gives us something to measure progress with. The following articles are written by some of our Mercer interns, and each deals with in-depth issues about Macon as a college town, how our urban center plays a part in it, and the conflicting views on it all. – Chris Horne
Perception versus reality
Jacqueline Johnson, Molly Trover and Kiarra Barber
Most don’t think of it this way, but Macon is a college town. While Macon is no Athens, it does host approximately 20,000 college students between Macon State, Central Georgia Technical, Mercer, Georgia College and State University, and Wesleyan.
In a survey conducted by Mercer journalism students, 21% of surveyed students said they do not go downtown. When asked why, 29% said they just do not have time while 43% said they are just not interested. While perceptions of unsafe streets circulate, only 1% cited safety reasons as the reason they don’t frequent downtown.
According to the survey, Mercer University has the highest number of students that go downtown on a weekly basis. Out of 156 Mercer students surveyed, 132 of these students venture downtown. One reason is that Mercer provides free transportation through the trolley system. Though it gives students a sense of security, some feel like more precautions need to be made.
Megan Sutton, a graduate student at Mercer University School of Medicine, says “I don’t go downtown mainly because my studies don’t permit it. But even if I did have a chance, I wouldn’t choose to go downtown. I’ve heard horror stories of students getting stabbed or molested in the alleys.”
Whether these stories are true, Sutton doesn’t know but that doesn’t make a difference. She adds, “I would rather be safe than sorry. I’ve worked too hard in school to end up being attacked as I come out of one of Macon’s seedy bars. It’s just not worth it.”
Despite extreme statements like that, 79% of respondent students are making their way downtown. Though existing business attracts many, of those who don’t go downtown, 20% think there should be more stores—not just nightlife.
Former Macon State student Rachel Ward says, “One of the reasons I left Macon a couple of years ago is because there was nothing to do in that city. Especially not downtown.”
Though Macon’s downtown area becomes alive at night, Macon’s college students feel that the entertainment aspect downtown could be improved.
“As a freshman, I enjoyed going downtown a bit. But now as a junior, I see how lame it is. I’ve gone to all the bars downtown at least 10 times and they’re honestly not that great,” says Mercer student Andrew Blair.
Mercer student Colibra Durham disagrees. “I love going downtown for First Friday. My friends and I try to make it every month because the city really seems to pick up and is a lot more alive then. It seems like everyone comes out and you get to experience Macon at its best.”
Others have more practical concerns.
Mercer sophomore Edward Atkinson says, “If there was a grocery store (near campus) that didn't look dilapidated or dangerous, I would go there regularly instead of going out to Kroger.
 NewTown Macon is a non-profit organization that works to revitalize downtown, assists small businesses with everything from finding a location to marketing and publicizing the new business. NewTown Macon Vice President of Business and Real Estate Development Gordon Bennett says, “Off the top of my head I can think of a men’s store and a gelato place opening in the new year.” In its 2007 fundraising campaign, NewTown Macon has commitments of $10.8 million to put toward infrastructure restoration and attracting more entrepreneurs. In the next five years, they hope to create 1,900 more direct and indirect jobs.
“We chose downtown because of the availability and accessibility to people, especially students,” says Dirty Iguana’s General Manager Mike Riley.
Students who don’t live close to downtown also face other lifestyle factors that hinder going downtown.
“ Macon State students don’t go downtown because they’re mothers and usually have more than one job. Usually Macon State students are younger moms and just don’t have time,” Macon State junior Michelle Micko says.
With its antebellum homes, two adjacent city parks, the Cox Capitol Theatre, and three major museums, it’s not that there is a dearth of options for families. All the same, entrepreneurs would be well served to remember that the largest student body, MSC, has many non-traditional students, several with families who are afterthoughts downtown.
In the end, it might just be more about the character of the person than the character of downtown.
Mercer sophomore Corbin Parker says, “There will always be a small percentage of people who do not care either way. You could add a Disney World downtown and these people would still express apathy.”
Safety Dance: Crime, homelessness and the sense of safety downtown
Matt Jackson, Tiffany McIntosh and Trey White
As Kristin Tyndall walks down Cherry Street in downtown Macon, she sidesteps people breakdancing in front of a club. Two men walk towards her, the hoods of their sweatshirts pulled up so it is hard to see their faces. As they near, Kristin holds her breath anxiously. They pass without so much as a second glance, and Kristin breathes an embarrassed sigh of relief when nothing happens.
“When I first came to Mercer University, a preceptor for my FYS class told me that going downtown is so dangerous that I would be mugged and raped before I even got there,” Tyndall says.
She is not the only college student who’s heard the malicious rumors. According to the Mercer journalism survey, many college students do not feel safe when visiting downtown because they perceive the crime rate to be high.
Mercer junior Hawley Kuntz says, “I feel most college students share this view, that’s why we all try to go downtown in groups. It’s safer.”
Thirty-percent of the people who said they go downtown also said they did not feel safe there. While it’s a large chunk, it is not nearly as high as expected. Another interesting fact illuminated by the survey is that only 26% perceive crime rates to be extremely high downtown. That’s low considering the many horrific tales concerning encounters with armed gangs and the crazed homeless.
“I have witnessed a cocaine deal,” says Mercer junior Elizabeth Jaspers. “People must be completely wasted to not see the sketchy homeless people waiting around the trolley stop to beat the shit out of them.”
But Macon Police Sergeant Melanie Hofmann said crime in downtown is not as bad as people seem to think. “The majority of the crimes that occur in Macon happen closer to Vineville Road and Riverside Drive. A lot of the hearsay that gives people the dangerous impression of the downtown area probably comes from people who have never been downtown.”
Those who frequent downtown seem to feel safe. Macon State student Alex Rehn says he’s noticed increased security. “The streets are well lit, the bar and club areas are well populated, and it seems as if most people are just out to have a good time. I heard it used to be really dangerous back in the 90s.”
On the survey, of the students that said they venture downtown, 7.2% said that less poverty and homelessness would make them feel safer.
In November 2007, Jeff Niklas, director of the Macon Rescue Mission, with other local agencies, conducted a census of the homeless in Macon, which indicated there are about 245 homeless people.
Hofmann reports, “There have only been two incidents where homeless people were involved in either robbery or assault. Macon now has strict panhandling laws for the downtown area that have proven quite effective.”
If the perception of homelessness downtown is overblown, the perception of why people are homeless isn’t.
“Most of it is drugs and alcohol,” Niklas says.
That would certainly explain why many people feel frightened or annoyed when approached by a homeless person.
Mercer junior Lauren Greenway works downtown and has had a couple of encounters with homeless people. “I think people do desperate things when they need money. I try to be polite, but I am always reluctant to give them money because I am scared they will ask for more or get mad.”
Employees at downtown businesses believe that begging or panhandling negatively affects downtown business and deters customers from their establishments.
Jessica Crites, a bartender at the Rookery, says, “[Panhandlers] are really bad about going to the tables. We have had to run away a few of them. I mean what can you do, they are ruining our business.”
Though Niklas knows some homeless who have chosen their lifestyle, he remains concerned that society has neglected them. He is also bothered by the lack of effort to help the homelessness on a local level. “We’ve got all these churches that donate to world missions, but what about our fellow Americans?”
The Artist’s Guide to Downtown Revitalization
Emily Hill and Shari Perkins
Kaylie Damen leans forward, perched on the arm of an old lounge chair, listening to the improvisational strums of Arjun Kulharya on guitar. The random group of students, artists and tattooed bartenders, sit on the hodge-podge arrangement of garage-sale furniture in artist Eric O’Dell’s studio.
It’s a First Friday in Macon, an evening that brings in a diversity of Maconites—frat boys, families and dread-heads. Those in search of a good DJ or $1 draft can hop from bar to bar, beer bottle in hand without fear of a nightstick. Or, like Mercer students Damen and Kulharya, Maconites can enjoy the aesthetic indulgence of the Contemporary Arts Exchange. This collection of 18 studios downtown above Michael’s on Mulberry is an artist-run collective, providing workspace for over 20 local artists and musicians.
“I love this place. I wish every weekend was First Friday. It’s just brimming with art everywhere: on the walls, in the stairwell. There’s even a band outside on the street. And I love that it’s not a prim and proper museum with whitewashed walls—it’s cracked and rickety. There’s so much character here,” Damen says.
You will find no whitewash in this building. In fact, practically every wall is a different color. Some are brushed with the colorful strokes of Eric Wakefield, whose studio murals are just as colorful as his canvases. Some are cracked, with the sheet rock exposed. And some remain the same tarnished yellow of the investment banking firm that owned the building in the 1970s. But the creaky floorboards and patchy sheet rock of this 150-year-old building don’t bother these artists. They don’t pay rent.
Developer Tony Long bought the vacant building in the 1980s then donated it to Macon’s starving art scene. Artists are asked only to pay utilities.
“Studio space here is unspeakably cheap,” says artist Craig Burkhalter. “It gives us a space to do what we love as artists, but also survive financially. For a lot of us around here, this is not our full time job. I’m excited as hell when I sell a piece, but the money isn’t what I’m here for.”
“Let’s face it. Downtown Macon is dying,” says Kulharya. “These studios are great because it gives students a place to connect with other artsy or hippie people in Macon. There’s really no other venue for that.”
When asked why students don’t go downtown, the most common response was “not interested.” A majority of students said downtown lacked enough upscale entertainment and stores to lure them. Although many students could list downtown restaurants—Luigi’s and Acapulco’s being the most popular—the Cherry Street bars had the most pull.
“It feels like when people think of downtown they think ‘It’s where you go to drink,’” said Macon State junior Meghan Ailling. “ Macon could be a college town; we have all the pieces—lots of students and a cool downtown—but no one to really pull it together. I’d like to see people from Athens come to Macon for the weekend, not the other way around.”
The New Town Macon initiative for the College Hill Corridor is working to refurbish the area that runs from the campus and Tattnall Square Park along College, Columbus and Forsyth streets toward Washington Avenue and the heart of downtown.
“We’re working with some of the best urban designers in the nation to make pedestrian improvements, add bike lanes, stabilize the surrounding neighborhoods and entice businesses,” Josh Rodgers, coordinator for the College Hill Corridor improvement project of New Town Macon, says.
Of the three undergraduate schools surveyed, only the women from Wesleyan seem to favor living downtown as an option. Among the graduate students, only those from Mercer said that they would choose to live there.
Katheryn Gaines, the manager of the Broadway Lofts apartment building in the region, sees no reason for students to live anywhere else. “It’s safe and there are nice places to go like the museums and nice places to eat, like all the restaurants. It gives them things to do within walking distance so they don’t have to walk so far or drive, if they go out for a drink.” She also said that at least 35 graduate scholars live in other downtown apartments owned by the same company.
Rodgers says Macon does have all the pieces to be a college town, but will never be like Athens. “ Macon is much more dispersed geographically. We have a lot of colleges here, but there are fewer students at each. The University of Georgia has over 40,000 students, and it’s the only economic driver of the city,” Rodgers says. The goal, he says, is to cultivate a more beautiful, inviting and community-friendly downtown that will entice people to walk, shop and enjoy the inner city.
Eric Wakefield, an artist at the Arts Exchange, is also the owner of Golden Bough Books on Cotton Avenue. Wakefield has seen the growing response to the First Fridays at his studio, and in response started up a Tuesday night concert series at Golden Bough.
“[The concerts] draw an eclectic group of music and book lovers. The atmosphere calls for quieter, lyric-driven songs that would normally get drowned out in a bar setting,” he says.
When asked what would improve downtown, a majority of survey responses said more police and renovation. But Ailling thinks it’s more than that.
“Downtown Macon needs a focal point. We have the Arts Exchange and that’s an awesome place for students to hang out. If there were more places like that, places that create an exchanging of ideas, ways to meet people with their common interests, a place more interesting than a bar, then maybe Macon could be a college town.”
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