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
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
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
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
Like many cities, Durham, NC, wants commuters to take the bus, ride their bikes, and generally find ways to get downtown other than the standard solo drive. Unlike most cities, Durham is tapping into the discipline of behavioral economics to change drivers’ behavior. The first strategy, a planning tool algorithm, creates a personalized route that…Continue reading
In Quincy, MA, a redevelopment boom is bearing fruit at precisely the wrong time, at least from a parking perspective. To ease the squeeze, Quincy has implemented a variety of strategies. At one city lot, Quincy more than doubled parking rates before 5 p.m. and offered free parking after 5 p.m. The city worked with churches to…Continue reading
