October 18, 2018 — The first Main Street Food Truck Festival, hosted on a Saturday in 2011, started off modestly. About 2,500 people came out to sample fare from 15 food trucks. Despite the small numbers for the inaugural event, organizers knew they had a winner. "By mid-afternoon, all the trucks had sold out of…To read more — login/sign up

 

October 4, 2018 — Chapel Hill, NC, deals with the usual parking hassles that plague a bustling downtown. But the college town has taken an unusual approach to addressing parking. With a $400,000 investment in new parking meters, a parking program for restaurant staff, a slick new website and app, and a social media campaign…To read more — login/sign up

 

September 20, 2018 — Cities large and small are using public light displays to spark interest in downtowns. In one of the splashiest and most expensive new displays, Memphis, TN, is in the midst of a $14 million project to re-light the Hernando DeSoto Bridge across the Mississippi River. At the more affordable end of…To read more — login/sign up

 

September 6, 2018 — After years of begging brewpubs to open in downtown Marlborough, MA, the city’s marketing effort is showing results. The Marlborough Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) began targeting microbreweries in 2014, says Executive Director Meredith Harris. It was only after the city began dangling incentives — and advertised them in Beer Advocate magazine — that…To read more — login/sign up

 

August 16, 2018 — For landlords, developers, and other downtown leaders, food halls have a strong appeal. By combining half a dozen or more eateries under one roof, food halls attract consumers and drive foot traffic. A typical food hall might combine a taco place, a gourmet burger joint, a noodle shop, a cold-brewed coffee…To read more — login/sign up

 

August 2, 2018 — As a wave of marijuana legalization sweeps North America, some downtowns are taking advantage of the trend by welcoming — or at least cautiously allowing — pot shops in long-vacant spaces. While voters in many U.S. states have overwhelmingly approved marijuana decriminalization, downtowns wrestle with a regulatory wrinkle: Even as pot…To read more — login/sign up