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Downtown Astoria has a number of vacant storefronts. Meanwhile, just five miles away in Warrenton, Walmart has plans to join a growing population of big-box retailers including Costco and Home Depot.

Susan Trabucco, who chairs the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association, said this is good news. The big retailers will draw people to the northern Oregon Coast.

鈥淭hen we can lure them to downtown Astoria for a different kind of shopping experience,鈥� she said.

Finding silver linings is what a new downtown revitalization effort is all about, Trabucco said. Her association hired Michele Reeves of Civilis Consultants in Portland to go through the neighborhood block by block and identify ways to attract visitors and economic development.

鈥淲e’ve brought in the big guns to help us,鈥� Trabucco said.

Reeves is helping people in the community identify and promote what is unique about it. That’s not difficult to do in Astoria, Trabucco said.

The town’s Victorian homes and coastal village character make it a popular movie location. Astoria has hosted filmmakers of 鈥淭he Goonies,鈥� 鈥淪hort Circuit,鈥� 鈥淜indergarten Cop,鈥� 鈥淭eenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III鈥� and 鈥淭he Ring Two.鈥�

鈥淵ou can’t compete with the small-town environment with the river and the mountains in the background,鈥� Trabucco said. 鈥淭he local architectural stock is also very important.鈥�

The trick, she said, is parlaying that quaint reputation into serious economic development. Consultants are looking at everything from the big picture to the smallest details.

鈥淥ur one-way street grid apparently drives people crazy, but if you live here, you don’t notice it,鈥� she added. 鈥淲e’re also learning you don’t want gaps in retail. If you have retail, retail, service business, retail, gap, it turns people off.鈥�

Officials at Oregon Main Street, a State Historic Preservation Office program that helps communities come up with revitalization strategies, are working on a plan for Astoria in concert with Civilis Consultants.

The city of Astoria, Astoria Sunday Market, Pacific Power and the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association have contributed $20,000 toward the revitalization plan, Trabucco said.

People involved in the effort will come to North Portland on Jan. 15 for a bus tour of the Mississippi Avenue neighborhood to learn more about urban areas in transition.

Reeves is scheduled to make her final presentation, along with Sheri Stuart of Oregon Main Street, in March. A precise date has not been set.