Restaurants and other eateries can make a strong contribution to a downtown’s success. These critical assets attract and serve downtown residents, workers, visitors, and even culinary travelers. Downtown leaders have many opportunities to work with the restaurant community to promote downtown and ensure the success of these small businesses. Here are eight ways downtown leaders…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown leaders in West Palm Beach, FL (est. pop. 117,253), have launched an effort to ease the daily traffic crunch by giving drivers more alternatives. The West Palm Beach Mobility Coalition, or WPBgo, is a nonprofit that seeks to reduce traffic and improve mobility in and around downtown. The group’s director, Jonathan Hopkins, previously ran…To read more — login/subscribe
Who’s your Emma Crawford? The Emma Crawford Coffin Races and Festival in Manitou Springs, CO, has been going strong for 28 years. The quirky event draws on a bit of local history to bring 10,000 spectators downtown every October. Emma Crawford, who died in 1890, was safely buried on a hilltop overlooking the city. In…To read more — login/subscribe
Workers in downtown Grand Rapids, MI (est. pop. 197,423), will plant thousands of flowers and shrubs this year along with hundreds of trees. The total budget is north of $300,000 — and downtown leaders say the investment is worth every penny. “It’s incredibly important for a lot of reasons,” says Melvin Eledge, director of operations…To read more — login/subscribe
Most of downtown Dayton, OH (est. pop. 137,581), has become an outdoor drinking district, a move downtown leaders say creates cultural vibrancy and economic vitality. The Dayton City Commission approved legislation in May that replaced the original Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) in the city’s entertainment hub, known as the Oregon District, with a new…To read more — login/subscribe
Critics of free public parking once seemed to be kooky proponents of a fringe theory. Now, though, downtowns everywhere are reshaping their parking regulations. The new book Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar outlines the evolution of parking in America’s cities. He reports that the mass rethinking of parking originated with…To read more — login/subscribe
Cities make big investments in streetscapes, parks, and other downtown amenities. But Roger Brooks, head of the Destination Development Association, says you can bring energy and life to your downtown with just a small budget. Instead of focusing on large scale public projects, he advocates for low-cost gathering spaces, or plazas, which can be programmed…To read more — login/subscribe
Empty store windows can sabotage a downtown’s best efforts to create a bustling, vibrant scene that encourages visitors to stay and spend. While vacant storefronts have long been the bane of small cities, the problem spread during the pandemic. Downtown San Francisco, for instance, has experienced an exodus of retailers as workers proved slow to…To read more — login/subscribe
San Diego will become the latest city to allow IKE (Interactive Kiosk Experience) Smart City to install advertising screens downtown. In June, the San Diego City Council approved a plan to install at least 50 interactive kiosks on public sidewalks. The screens, vertical rectangles that are about eight feet tall, display content to help visitors…To read more — login/subscribe
