Making downtown Decorah special

Pulpit Rock Brewing and Bottletree Enterprises president Peter Espinosa on Wednesday told members of the Downtown Decorah Betterment Association that it's no longer enough for a community to be good--it must be outstanding.  "Average is Over," he told an audience of 75 people.

Espinosa told DDBA members Decorah has at least ten attributes going for it: good food and drink vendors, healthy food options, strong arts programming, great schools, good outdoor activities, a great business climate, an active calendar, good handicapped access, clean environment and great neighborliness.

But he says there are two things getting in the way of making Decorah outstanding.  One is inadequacies in technology, especially cell phone coverage.  He says visitors from Minnesota have trouble getting good cell phone service in Decorah and "We have to figure that out."

He also says on-line shopping is cutting into the support of existing Decorah businesses.  He called on residents to stop going to local stores to do research on a purchase--and then heading home to buy on-line.  He says residents must understand that they can contribute to making Decorah a strong community by doing their shopping in town.