Congratulations to the members of Downtown Lawrence Inc. for recognizing they must take an active role in charting the area’s course for the future.

Maintaining the status quo isn’t an option. If downtown Lawrence is to remain a vital part of the community, it has to evolve to meet changing needs. Taking a defensive posture won’t work. Downtown has to take a dynamic approach that actively competes with businesses in other parts of town.

As one well-known local developer told the Journal-World recently, “Apathy is the biggest threat to downtown.”

That’s why it’s a positive development that DLI is planning an effort to create a workable vision for the future of downtown. The group hopes to address such issues as the optimal mix of retail, entertainment and residential uses downtown; the role of special events to attract people downtown; the possible need for additional parking; the public perception of safety in the area; and whether the footprint of downtown should be expanded.

All of these are important questions. Unlike most outlying shopping areas that are created by a single developer who engineers the desired mix of businesses, downtown has many business entities that co-exist and, the hope is, contribute to a positive downtown atmosphere.

Getting people to come downtown, obviously, is the first step in a strong business environment. Special events are one way to do that, but over the long haul, downtown has to provide something that visitors can’t find elsewhere if it is to stay viable.

Parking and safety are important issues that sometimes can be more a matter of perception than reality. Is parking really a problem, or do people just think it is? Would free parking or some sort of shuttle service bring more people downtown? Safety isn’t a big issue downtown most of the time, but some recent late-night events may create a perception that downtown isn’t safe, which certainly isn’t going to help downtown traffic.

The issue of downtown’s footprint is a difficult one. As others have noted, it would be difficult to carve out enough space anywhere downtown for a large national retailer. Should the city consider a moderate expansion of downtown in hopes of attracting more specialty stores operated both by local owners and chains?

Lawrence’s downtown is near to local residents’ hearts and the envy of people from many other cities. We want to retain the ambiance and historical flavor of downtown, but freezing the area in time isn’t the answer. Preserving downtown like some sort of historic relic won’t provide the kind of vibrant future Lawrence residents want and need.

It’s true that many other attractive shopping areas are popping up elsewhere in Lawrence and in nearby cities that provide stiff competition for our downtown businesses. Some people in Lawrence seem to think the answer is to protect downtown by preventing competing developments in other parts of the city. That might work on the short term, but as a long-term strategy, it would be far better to set a dynamic direction for downtown Lawrence that will enable it to face down its competition and flourish as a retail, entertainment and residential center for the city.