As a business owner who has been considering a move to Main Street Laconia, I have given a lot of thought to this question.
Laconia is a much better town to do business in that Tilton (larger population base, compact downtown area with numerous business and professional offices, etc). But Main Street is certainly problematic.
To copy from a different thread on a related topic:
"Things are not that simple in downtown. Several of the places have "reputations", (or the owner has a "reputation"). For example one of the downtown landlords was successfully sued by the state (after being charged extra by the City of Laconia for not getting any building permits for alterations). In that case, the business associates are suing the lead owner...[Note: Recently settled out of court so we may be seeing some action soon]
If you had seen the lease offered by one of the other business owners, you would know why the majority of units in that building is empty. It wasn't quite as bad as "if anything happens, its all your fault (and responsibility)"... but it was pretty close.
In another building, the business tenants have been leaving because problems upstairs have a way of trickling (or flooding) downstairs.
Personally I think the downtown is on the rebound and many good things are growing. If only the owners would support downtown, rather than try to bleed it dry financially, I think it would soon blossom. If the 11 retail spaces currently vacate filled, it would be a lot more vital. As someone who has tried to get a decent space downtown (emphasis on the decent), I would love to be there now."
To add to the above.... City Hall in Laconia is not terribly pro-business. Some seem relatively indifferent to downtown, and some positively hostile (as in the employee who told me if I complained he would enforce the law (against a rogue landlord I was renting from)... but until the landlord had stopped violating the law MY business would have to close... so was I sure I wanted to complain.
Even the design of the street is a problem. The narrow one way street at the entrance to downtown (parking garage on one side, Funky Monkey et. al on the other) is one of the worst examples of urban renewal I have ever seen. It does seem too late to do anything about it... but if they picked up the row of buildings from Sawyers to Family Dollar and moved them 20 feet back (west) the downtown would be a MUCH nicer place (ain't gonna happen though)
The good news is that the downtown merchants are working to make things better - a weekly farmers market on Main Street (rather than just the one at City Hall Parking Lot) is coming, as well as many fun and exciting events. A committee is vigorously working to make Main Street Laconia a better place, and I think it will be experiencing renewal in the next few years... as the "bad" landlords leave. For example, one block (one of the worst) is now on sale... helped by the owner's loss of property by foreclosure at the Weir's recently. Another issue is Bloom's - an anchor store for downtown. perhaps one of the several plans to restore the building to use will actually come to fruition.
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