A decade ago, the downtown organization in Sioux Falls, SD was looking for a way to boost business during January. Downtown Sioux Falls decided to try Burger Battle, a month-long contest that pitted downtown restaurants in a competition to create the best new burger. Participating eateries debuted a new burger, and diners would try the…Continue reading

 

Downtown leaders face a parking conundrum. On the one hand, urbanists have long preached that cities underprice parking at the expense of pedestrianism. Yet visitors and merchants often hate any hint of rising parking prices and more expensive parking tickets. Add to the mix, hourly downtown workers, grappling with inflation, and it’s more difficult than…Continue reading

 

Like many downtowns, Cleveland has struggled to adapt to post-pandemic patterns of commuting and visitation. As of September 2022, the city was getting 80 percent of the overall visits it experienced in 2019. And visits to office buildings had plummeted to just 61 percent of prepandemic levels. Given that harsh reality, the Downtown Cleveland Alliance…Continue reading

 

The Comprehensive Arts Strategy in St. Petersburg, FL, outlines a roadmap for increased collaboration and new marketing opportunities, and it points to both short-term and long-term priorities. Rather than continuing to go it alone, St. Petersburg’s arts institutions are developing shared resources for maps, ticketing, and brochures, along with strategies for boosting attendance during seasonal…Continue reading

 

Shawnee, KS, is working to bring more small scale manufacturing to the city center. As a first step, the planning commission approved a proposal to permit "artisanal" manufacturing in two areas downtown. The artisanal manufacturing land use allows on-site production of handmade products including food, alcohol, and art. For a business to qualify under the…Continue reading

 

Downtown Albuquerque, NM, lost much of its vibrancy as small restaurants and retailers failed during the depths of the Covid-19 recession. A carefully constructed grant program is turning things around. The city directed $500,000 in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to grants for downtown businesses. To be eligible, businesses had to…Continue reading