In an effort to revive a stagnant urban core, Chicago is being especially generous in providing public subsidies to convert obsolete office space into apartments and hotels. In one major initiative, Mayor Brandon Johnson is supporting a plan to convert vacant office space in the financial district to 1,000 apartments, partly using city subsidies. The…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown West Palm Beach, FL (est. pop. 117,000), has attracted a number of medical marijuana businesses. But as the city’s commercial and residential development booms, the Downtown Development Authority began to push back. In 2022, Raphael Clemente, head of the Downtown Development Authority, asked city officials to stop approving dispensaries. In 2023, the city commission…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown Lawrence, KS (est. pop. 95,784), just hosted the 25th annual version of an event titled Art Tougeau (pronounced “Art To Go”). It’s essentially a moving display of art, in the form of a downtown parade. Vehicles include bikes, scooters, skateboards, cars, and wheelchairs, all creatively decorated. Prizes and bragging rights are awarded by the…To read more — login/subscribe
Innovative hydration stations Just in time for the first major heat wave of the summer, the city of Phoenix, AZ, launched its Chilled Drinking Water pilot program downtown. The water stations provide taps for filling bottles with chilled water and two regular drinking fountain taps. The initiative aims to provide fresh water and to reduce…To read more — login/subscribe
Transportation officials across the country have been on a mission to both encourage cycling and to make bike lanes safer. The safety challenge is clear: The default cycling path in many places is simply a designated bike lane separated from traffic by paint on pavement. But creating physical separation between sometimes-distracted drivers and vulnerable cyclists…To read more — login/subscribe
Macomb, IL (est. pop. 15,207), is a little city whose leaders freely admit it’s in the middle of nowhere. These days, they’re making a big claim: The downtown is now home to the world’s largest Monopoly board. In May, downtown leaders unveiled the completed Macombopoly. The project is a nod to Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie, a…To read more — login/subscribe
In the University of Toronto’s most recent ranking of downtowns’ post-pandemic recoveries, St. Louis, MO (est. pop. 281,754), ranked dead last among 66 North American cities. Foot traffic was at just 53 percent of pre-pandemic levels. In another sign of trouble, St. Louis’ population shrank by 1.5 percent according to the latest U.S. Census data,…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtowns nationwide are bedeviled by a glut of one type of real estate and a dearth of another. They have too much vacant retail space, and too little residential space. Larisa Ortiz, managing director of public non-profit solutions at design consultancy Streetsense, offers a contrarian perspective on how to resolve the imbalance. “There is an…To read more — login/subscribe
As downtown leaders brace for another hot summer, many Sun Belt cities are taking pains to provide a little extra shade for residents who use public buses. In Las Vegas, the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada has been looking for ways to build shade structures at bus stops. “Providing a little bit of shade…To read more — login/subscribe
