Three for Fitchburg

Randomly, I've been thinking about what Fitchburg can do to make downtown (and by extension, the city as a whole) a better place to live in and visit. Things that would have a deep impact, but could be done in the next year or two with commitment and leadership. Here's my three. Feel free to add yours, and rip apart my foolishness:

1. Free WiFi downtown. So every one can read Save Fitchburg, of course. But seriously. Wireless is the wave of the future, and is an added attraction to areas that have it. Free WiFi would perhaps lure an extra person or two to downtown coffee shops that will surely spring up as downtown gains more residents. It's an incentive to business to come downtown. It sends the signal that the city is technologically progressive and moving forward.

2. An anchor downtown attraction. Whether it's a movie theater, a Jillian's-type entertainment complex, or something else, there needs to be something downtown that brings people in for dinner-and-funX on a Friday or Saturday night.

3. A stake-in-the-ground, big-deal, annual event. This is a reaction to going to Keene last Saturday for the city's pumpkin festival. Somewhere between 50,000 and 80,000 people were downtown for the event. Fitchburg needs to find its pumpkin festival, whatever that might be, and grow it into an annual event that draws tens of thousands. Smarter and more creative people than I can tell you what that is.