MASON, Ohio — On Wednesday, WCPO 9 was in Mason for another "Let's Talk" event. One topic that was brought up time and time again was the Mason Mile.
Business owners in downtown Mason say a one-mile stretch of the city's downtown has been left behind despite millions of dollars in investment across the city.
The area, known as the "Mason Mile," runs from Reading to Main Street. For decades, business owners there have pushed the city to rebuild sidewalks and infrastructure along the corridor.
WATCH: Here's what business owners want to happen to the Mason Mile
Todd Hudson, owner of the Wildflower Cafe, opened his doors in downtown Mason nearly 20 years ago.
"It's a good community. At the same time, before I bought it, I came out to the city and asked a few questions about the future of downtown Mason. A lot of what I was told at the time has not come to fruition," Hudson said.
Hudson said very little of the investment made across Mason has reached the downtown mile.
"We have a $25 million swimming pool, and to say we don't have $50,000 for a parking spot or to repair the sidewalks?" Hudson said.
"People like me that have invested their entire life savings into a business in hopes the city would also make investments in downtown, and we haven't really seen that," Hudson said.
The City of Mason says it has committed a $3.5 million investment to MADE CDC over the next five years to support revitalization efforts. The city manager was unavailable Thursday to discuss the concerns raised by business owners.
Hudson said he sees the potential a revitalized downtown could unlock.
"Does the tournament have an economic impact for me? Absolutely it does, but how great would that be if our downtown was revitalized, if we had Airbnbs and hotels and restaurants... the impact would be tenfold," Hudson said.
With a plan in place and steps being made in the right direction, Hudson said the community has been having the same conversation for too long without visible results.
"We have done that... we just haven't actually torn up a sidewalk yet," he said.
"It's not that the folks that are there now are not working on it, not on board, because I believe they are. But it's also unacceptable that it's been 20 years we are fighting the same fight, which is really just (to) fix our curbs and sidewalks," Hudson said.
WCPO 9 will continue to bring updates on developments along the Mason Mile and other stories from the Let's Talk event in Mason.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
