Downtown Digest News • Web Extras
A downtown-wide vote engaged the public and provided needed supplies for local charities in Winchester, KY. With eight potential place-making projects and just $5,000 to spend, Main Street Winchester created the Winchester Downtown Bracket to select the winning project. The projects were in four categories: downtown amenities, public art, pedestrian improvements, and landscape projects, with…Continue reading
The business of retailing has been roiled by rapid changes in technology and society. The evolution is changing the way stores and restaurants operate. While these trends have proven difficult for many malls and suburban shopping centers, there’s some good news for downtown leaders: The shifts in retail play directly into the strengths of Main…Continue reading
Retail shifts dovetail with downtown assets — The business of retailing has been roiled by rapid changes in technology and society. The evolution is changing the way stores and restaurants operate. Click here to read the archive article, Food halls draw diners and restaurateurs.
...Gift-bag giveaways help promote business district merchants — The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership in Manhattan came up with a unique promotion: The district recycles its eye-catching street banners into “banner bags” given away at the organization’s events. See a fact sheet on the Flatiron Partnership’s gift bag program. ...
Downtown adjusts parking rules for food truck operators — Orlando ranks as one of the nation’s most welcoming cities for food trucks. A U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation report rated it as the third-friendliest locale for operators. Read the Food Truck Nation report. ...
In recent years, Corning, NY, has taken pains to become more pedestrian-friendly. The small city has invested more than $1 million in safety upgrades to two areas with bustling pedestrian traffic. In one low-cost improvement, Corning made the mid-block crosswalks in its downtown safer by removing parking spots near the pedestrian paths. Before, parked cars…Continue reading
Like many business districts, the village of Ridgewood, NJ, faces traffic snarls caused by trucks making deliveries. Ridgewood is considering a dramatic crackdown: The village council has entertained — but not enacted — a ban on deliveries between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. The village also considered imposing a weight limit of 18,000 pounds on…Continue reading
For years, downtown leaders in El Paso, TX, steered clear of hosting events. Joe Gudenrath, executive director of El Paso’s Downtown Management District, figured there was no need, considering other organizations put on a full slate of festivals, fitness events and gallery tours. "Plenty of events already are happening," Gudenrath says. "We’re fortunate that we…Continue reading
By hosting a few strategic events, downtown attracts new visitors — For years, downtown leaders in El Paso, TX, steered clear of hosting events. But in 2017, the Downtown Management District had something of a change of heart. They decided to organize a limited number of strategic events that would highlight downtown El Paso’s assets.
View promotional videos for El Paso’s Downtown Barstool Open, Eat Authentico Restaurant Crawl, and Downtown Living Tour below.
Portland, ME, doesn’t have a problem with serious crime. Like many cities, Portland has seen rates of violent crime fall in recent decades. But the downtown does struggle with public-safety nuisances such as panhandling, vagrancy, loitering, public drinking, and drug abuse. Those issues might make a downtown less welcoming, but they aren’t the sort of…Continue reading
To combat high vacancy rates, Monticello, IL, launched an entrepreneurial boot camp to coach would-be business owners about setting up shop downtown. Instructors are volunteers, and each week focuses on a crucial part of operating a business. There’s an accounting course one week, a finance class the next. Courses also focus on legal issues and…Continue reading
As downtowns embrace streetcars, an obvious question: Are they worth it? — Cities from coast to coast have installed streetcars in recent years, seeing the retro systems as a way boost downtown economies and make neighborhoods more appealing to millennials and boomers. See a report on the development impact of streetcars in Portland and Seattle.
...Beer trail, coffee trail drive traffic to downtown watering holes — Downtown leaders in Huntsville, AL, have built buzz through a simple and inexpensive promotion — the Downtown Huntsville Craft Beer Trail. Watch a promotional video about the event below. https://youtu.be/ZrebNKfer1w ...
Heated streets draw winter shoppers and runners — In 1988 the City of Holland, MI, implemented “the largest municipal snowmelt system in North America.” Read a brochure on the benefits of the system and watch a video below. https://youtu.be/XFWzDB7WvNI ...
Like many small towns, Oneonta, AL, long struggled to bring life and tax revenues to its declining downtown. Unlike most, Oneonta had a downtown property and a plan. The city owned a vacant car dealership, and City Manager Ed Lowe believed that recruiting a college to offer classes on the site would generate much-needed foot…Continue reading
Economic developers in Dubuque, IA, conduct in-depth interviews with more than 300 employers every year. Their goal is to learn what employers are concerned about, and what challenges they face. The full-court press endeavors to keep jobs from leaving Dubuque — and the hands-on strategy is part of the reason some have labeled this riverfront…Continue reading
