Staff photo by Clay Schuldt Rethos’ Rural Programs Coordinator Emily Kurash Casey presented the Minnesota Main Street assessment on downtown New Ulm Thursday.

NEW ULM — The results of the Minnesota Main Street assessment on downtown New Ulm were presented Thursday at the New Ulm Chamber’s Hot Topic Lunch hosted at the New Ulm Country Club.

The presentation came from the Rethos organization and Minnesota Main Street. The assessment began in July 2019. The assessment included a survey of local citizens, businesses and civic leaders on what they desired most in New Ulm’s downtown. The assessment included an online survey with over 550 responses.

Rethos’ Rural Programs Coordinator Emily Kurash Casey gave the presentation during the lunch. She said the top comments received during the assessment were related to vacancies and deterioration downtown. There was a strong desire to see buildings filled.

Asked to name the top three issues, 80% of those surveyed identified store variety and building vacancies as the top issues.

Casey said New Ulm was experiencing a sense of loss over the closing of retail space and was taking this loss personally. During an assessment interview, one senior citizen told the Rethos group, “I should have just done a better job of buying socks at Herberger’s.”

Casey said the loss of Herberger’s was no one in New Ulm’s fault. This was a national chain that closed, and other cities were dealing with the same problem. However, this personal stake in local businesses demonstrates the commitment New Ulm feels toward businesses.

Casey advised the city that it was OK to mourn the loss of business. She said people need to publicly acknowledge these feelings to help move on. Other communities in the country have held wakes for closed businesses as a way to grieve the loss, to help move on and consider new ideas.

“It stops being painful and you can get to know ideas because you can move past the hurt,” Casey said.

The sense of loss is a matter of perspective.

“Because it is less than it was 10 or 15 years ago, it feels like you don’t have a lot,” Casey said. “If you list all the places you can shop, you’re still doing pretty well. You’re at a higher ratio than a lot of downtowns in Minnesota.”

The assessment also included community input on the types of businesses residents wanted downtown. The top answers were men’s clothing and a shoe store.

The survey also indicated a children’s store was the third-highest response, which was interesting because a children’s store opened downtown since the survey was first conducted. Casey said the continual changes downtown made it a challenge to do the assessment, but it showed there was continual development.

The survey indicated Saturday was the most popular day to visit downtown New Ulm for residents. Residents usually came downtown in the evening between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. and 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The data indicated that most people go downtown to visit a restaurant. Casey said New Ulm had a higher than the average number of downtown restaurants and that makes the city the envy of nearly every other Main Street community in Minnesota.

One surprise from the survey was the number of people willing to live downtown. Casey said around 30% said they were willing to live downtown. She said if the city is looking for housing for younger people, downtown housing could be a solution. This could also be a solution for those reaching retirement age looking to downsize.

Another issue concerning residents was parking. In addition to visitors downtown, employees struggle to find parking spaces and it could be difficult to move a car every two hours.

Other themes identified in the assessment were New Ulm’s German background and its festivals. There is a desire to promote this further.

Tourism is a big part of New Ulm, but some residents said the focus on tourism made them feel less important. It does not have to be one or the other. Casey said a downtown that appeals to locals will likely appeal to tourists as well.

One hot button issue was the concept of “ausländer”. When the topic was mentioned during the presentation, there was a nervous response from the audience.

Ausländer is a German word for foreigner. Casey said her organization was warned before the assessment this could be an issue. Based on comments made during the assessment the Rethos group found a split between people under age 50 and over age 50 on the meaning and importance of being an ausländer.

“I don’t want to surprise you, but I feel like that word is not going to be in your residents’ vocabulary in 10 years,” Casey said. “There is not this feeling that you can’t fit in here if you weren’t born and raised here.”

Following the presentation, Dr. Ann Vogel commented that she believed the “ausländer” sentiment in New Ulm was already a non-issue that is falsely repeated.

The presentation closed with a few recommendations. The top suggestion was to keep lines of communication open.

“I think the biggest feelings of pain are because people are in the dark and don’t know what is going on and that is scary,” Casey said. “When possible, share the progress going on to empower people.”

Holding community meetings at diverse locations was another option. Often people can be intimidated to meet at city hall or the chamber of commerce but might be willing to meet in a different setting. These places are also difficult for young parents to bring children. Lola’s was suggested as an alternative meeting place for community events. Residents in multiple demographics felt welcome at downtown restaurants and bars.

Connecting with Martain Luther College was recommended. The students that live at MLC impact the economy of New Ulm. These students come downtown and bring outside family into the community on visiting day. The college is a reliable source of youth coming into the community.

Casey said in other communities a food truck day has been popular. Once a month food truck visits downtown and local workers can have lunch outside. These food trucks also create foot traffic for other businesses.

There was a desire to have a grocery store downtown. It was suggested a farmers market could be hosted downtown, which would serve the need for groceries but also reach residents already living on Minnesota Street.

This assessment was the first step. Rethos and Minnesota Main Street are continuing to collect data about downtown needs. Additional data will be added to the written reports.

The presentation was given a second time later in the day and was filmed by New Ulm Cable Access Television for later broadcast.