Thank you for not visiting downtown. Your complaints are noted.

People who stop complaining on Facebook and come downtown are 100 percent more likely to enjoy it. Sunday’s “On the Wall” urban arts and hip hop festival drew a decent crowd to Water Street Mall.

Opinion by Marissa Amoni

As I was reading comments on a City of Aurora Facebook post, I really wondered if these same commenters, or complainers, had even been downtown recently.

“Burn it down and start over.” Really? REALLY?

Have they not seen the gorgeous blooming rain gardens? Geez.

The city posted the final plea for residents to fill out the second of two public surveys asking for input regarding the updated master plan for downtown Aurora. Most comments beneath the post indicated that downtown is full of empty buildings and that it needs more shops and restaurants.

Here is just one (of the milder) unedited comments: “Downtown needs to be renew for stores ,restaurants and much more, is too old and nothing to do, except for the casino and the paramount, need it to update the Downtown .”

It’s not that I disagree with some of the comments. Downtown could use more shops and restaurants, but we have several currently and I’m pretty sure that they could use more people. It’s true that downtown has vacant storefronts and empty buildings; so does Wicker Park in Chicago. At least some of our vacant windows are occupied by art and poetry courtesy of the Vacant Window Project and Cultural Creatives respectively.

But nothing to do? Ahem.

Have these Facebook commenters not been to First Fridays? Do they attend the free concerts at Millennium Plaza on Wednesday nights? Have they shopped at YM Boutique or grabbed coffee from Blue Bird Beat? Maybe they have no idea that sitting on the back deck of River’s Edge Cafe is like being in Vienna. I’ve never been to Vienna, so make your own European comparison if you wish.

I guess it’s not fair to ask that these same Negative Nellies to know the hard work that goes into the numerous events that occur in downtown, or that Gillerson’s Grubbery offers a great lunch special. Or should they? Maybe it is fair enough to ask that the citizens of Aurora give downtown another chance.

Residents who admit to “avoiding downtown” likely haven’t done downtown any favors. If people go to downtown to eat and shop, then more retail and restaurants will naturally follow. If Aurora residents shop on Randall Road or in nearby cities, then downtown Aurora will remain a favorite of mine, but it won’t grow or thrive.

There’s a free concert every week in downtown. Scott Tipping Syndicate kicked off Wednesdays at the Plaza this summer in downtown Aurora. Photo by Tony Scott

What downtown needs most isn’t more signage (although it would be nice) or more places to shop or dine or park. What downtown needs is people. We need a packed plaza for free concerts at Wednesdays at the Plaza. We need people to buy bicycles at All Spoked Up on Downer Place. We need people to eat lunch at River’s Edge Cafe, take dance lessons at AKA Dance, buy cakes from La France Bakery, get their hair done at Sophisticated You, and see a show at The Riverfront Playhouse.

How can we get more people to explore and appreciate downtown? We have public art sculptures. We have free parking. We have concerts, art festivals, First Fridays, and lots of parades. But on a Monday night at Culture Stock there are only maybe a dozen loyal local music followers who attend M.U.S.I.C. Monday.

It was fun to fill out the surveys, and I hope that the public input helps guide the city to an updated downtown master plan that will give Aurorans boasting rights instead of the old, tired complaints.

I guess that I’m complaining about the complainers now. I know better than to read the comments, but I do appreciate one of them. It was a constructive comment from Veronica Trujillo, who said that downtown needs “international dining, restored and updated storefronts, a community center, organic grocery store, and kids/dog park.”

I hope that Trujillo filled out the survey.

Marissa Amoni loves downtown Aurora and will defend it to the death. Amoni is the editor and publisher of Downtown Auroran Magazine. Hobbs Building for life!