A City, Then a Destination

Are the things that make a city a nice place to visit the same things that make it a nice place to live?

It’s a good point to ponder, here at the end of the vacation season. Many of us who live within minutes of spectacular mountains and inviting beaches no doubt spent our free time (and too much money) traveling to distant and far different destinations, while thousands of others flocked here for a brief taste of the things we take for granted.

The irony came up last week as a visiting consultant gave Ventura officials some advice on the city’s downtown redevelopment campaign. Don’t design a downtown for tourists, he warned. The places that have lasting value are places where people love to live. Build such a place, and visitors will eagerly come to share that experience.

The message coincided with the opening of downtown Ventura’s newest restaurant in one of its oldest buildings. The rebirth of Peirano’s Market directly across Main Street from the Buenaventura Mission helps to connect the redevelopment zone with such landmarks as the mission, Figueroa Plaza and the Ventura County Museum of History & Art.

For nearly a decade the old grocery store at 204 E. Main St. sat empty. What had been a busy hub of the neighborhood for 109 years, run by three generations of the Peirano family, was waiting. This weekend the 1877 building begins a new life as a chic Mediterranean restaurant called Jonathan’s at Peirano’s. Its restoration by a public-private partnership is a solid step toward making the heart of the city a more appealing place for local residents to visit and linger, and a more attractive destination for visitors.

It’s easy to celebrate an appealing new tenant in a vacant, if historic, setting. Elsewhere along this block, where new businesses in time may well displace not just cobwebs but thrift shops and other marginal businesses, there will be mixed feelings.

Yet downtown Ventura has always had more to offer than it currently displays. Residents from throughout the city should share in the pride and enjoyment of downtown’s revival.

It may have been years since some Ventura residents have been able to think of a good reason to go downtown. Perhaps they will be attracted by the new theater complex taking shape at Main and Chestnut. With an improving selection of restaurants, music spots and shops throughout the neighborhood, and appealing promenades to the ocean down both California Street and Figueroa Plaza, these residents should be tempted to linger longer, to stroll and enjoy their own city.

It’s the sort of thing many of us would do if we were on vacation in some lively, attractive city--someplace far away.