Focus groups trump common sense

The Madison City Commission hired Paulsen Marketing of Sioux Falls to convene some focus groups and make recommendations on how Madison could boost improve its "brand" and boost its economy. The Daily Leader reported the firm's recommendations on August 1. Below is my letter to the editor which the Leader graciously published on August 10:

To the Editor, Madison Daily Leader:

Re: "Focus Groups: Lakes, dining could draw people to Madison" (Madison Daily Leader, Monday, August 1, 2005)

Congratulations to the City of Madison on spending several thousand dollars to hire Paulsen Marketing to provide obvious and superficial advice on how to improve the local economy. Did we really need focus groups to tell us that the lakes, Prairie Village, and DSU are Madison's biggest draws, that flowers and banners would make downtown look nicer, or that more advertising might draw more tourists?

If advice like that is worth thousands of dollars, perhaps the city will forward me a similar sum (or at least some downtown shopping coupons) for the following unsolicited and more substantial advice on how to promote genuine local economy:

1. Make more efforts to promote locally owned businesses.
2. Instead of favoring businesses straying out to the edges of the city, promote the retention of businesses in a walkable downtown business district.
3. Promote the renovation of downtown apartments to create a more vibrant combination of residential and commercial property.
4. Encourage downtown businesses other than bars that would cater to evening visitors and locals seeking family entertainment and shopping.
5. Promote businesses that would focus on local self-sufficiency: farmers market diners that buy as much food as possible from local producers; community-supported acgriculture ventures that deliver produce directly from local farm fields to local subscribers; facilities like the ethanol plant that produce biofuels from local crops and sell those fuels directly to local consumers; houseware shops specializing in locally made furniture, clothing, kitchenware, and other practical daily items.
6. Read two books: Human Scale by Kirkpatrick Sale and Home from Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler. These books provide a wealth of philosophical and practical ideas about how to create a vibrant, economically self-sustaining community.

Marketing firms are founded on the idea that advertising can solve everything. Perhaps signs, banners, and clever ads can entice a few more visitors to town for an occasional meal, but I'd like to think a little economic creativity and old-fashioned pioneer self-reliance would provide a much reliable basis for a robust local economy.