Downtown Digest News • Web Extras
November 15, 2018 — A building boom has brought thousands of new residents to apartments in downtown Raleigh, NC. That trend toward greater density is colliding with another reality of urban life — downtown residents love their dogs, even if they don’t have backyards that give their pooches plenty of space to play. The obvious…To read more — login/sign up
Opportunity Zones promise to spur development in low-income areas — Opportunity Zones were one of the little-noticed pieces of the tax reform of 2017. The new designation promises to spur billions of dollars of new investment in low-income areas nationally. See a brief overview of Opportunity Zones. ...
Vintage signs have broad appeal — Ghost signs are faded remains of hand-painted advertising signs on the exterior walls of buildings. The National Park Service has an online brief, The Preservation of Historic Signs. ...
Invisible art — “Invisible art” projects provide a rainy-day enticement to visit downtown. Jefferson, IA, is one of many cities to embrace a unique super-hydrophobic coating that is invisible on dry concrete, but reveals itself when it rains. Read an archive article, "A rainy day enticement for city centers."...
November 1, 2018 — Recruiting retailers is a delicate balancing act. Chain stores are reliable profit makers, and they’re coveted by landlords. Yet too many cookie-cutter establishments can make a downtown feel less than unique. A handful of cities are passing rules to limit the number of national retailers that can set up shop downtown.…To read more — login/sign up
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
Downtown uses temporary dog parks to satisfy demand, test sites — Raleigh, NC, operates pop-up dog parks downtown that give dogs a place to play for a day or two. The city ultimately hopes to build a permanent dog park downtown, and the pop-up events let parks officials gauge the pros and cons of various locations. Read Raleigh’s report on dog parks. ...
Change to Make a Change program launches — Donations to the Change to Make a Change program in Bloomington, IN, will be distributed among local service providers such as emergency shelters, free meal sites, and other resources. View the Change to Make a Change brochure and map. ...
Wayfinding encourages multi-destination trips — A recently approved wayfinding signage plan in Burien, WA, encourages residents and visitors to “park once — shop twice.” ...
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
Food truck festival draws crowds, supports local restaurants — Little Rock, Arkansas’ Food Truck Festival is a signature event for downtown, drawing 40,000 people to visit 60 food trucks. See an overview of the growth of the festival. ...
“Grow your own” approach to jobs offers alternative to bidding wars — The “grow your own” model of business development focuses on nurturing entrepreneurs and small businesses. Read the Kansas City Fed’s Grow-Your-Own Guide. ...
City illuminates downtown gateways and gathering spaces — When completed in 2022-23, Rosslyn, VA’s downtown corridor and gateways will be connected through illuminated art including 21-foot tall towers of light. Here is a PowerPoint presentation on the current proposal. Watch an artist’s talk about the design process below. ...
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
Downtown under construction? Use this checklist to ease the pain — When Waverly, IA, embarked on an infrastructure project, the Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Iowa, and Downtown Professionals Network issued a pre-construction technical assistance guide to help downtown businesses cope with the disruptions. ...
Zoning rules often block the housing market’s “missing middle” — Many millennials want to live in walkable urban areas, yet zoning rules often preclude the development of affordable housing on the fringes of downtowns. Read Daniel Parolek’s illustrated explanation of missing middle housing here. ...
City tackles retail vacancies — A recent report for San Francisco’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development recommends a number of strategies to fill empty storefronts. ...
New downtown connector seeks active tenants — The city of Middletown, NY, has launched Race 4 Space, a Shark Tank style business competition. Check out the Race 4 Space program guidelines....
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
