Urban farming comes downtown Farming will soon be happening year-round in downtown Westbrook, ME. The farm, developed and operated by Vertical Harvest, will occupy a four story building with a quarter acre footprint in the heart of the small city. Vertical Harvest plans to grow two million pounds of produce annually. The farm will anchor…To read more — login/subscribe
San Francisco is one of the world’s most iconic cities, but downtown leaders freely acknowledge that the urban core is not rebounding from the Covid pandemic as quickly as hoped. The city’s office vacancy rate was 25 percent at the end of 2022, not a great number for an international hub of tech, finance, and…To read more — login/subscribe
Amid a nationwide wave of marijuana legalization, downtown leaders face a conundrum: Should they welcome cannabis businesses downtown? And if so, under what conditions? There are no right or wrong answers, but municipalities that take the time for a considered planning process make better decisions, says Chuck Latini Jr., partner at InField Consulting in Brodenton…To read more — login/subscribe
The city of Boston recently joined a growing roster of cities that have made nightlife management a priority. Boston recently hired its first nightlife economy director, making the position part of the mayor’s cabinet. “We are working to create more opportunities for residents and businesses to help our night scene grow and bolster our local…To read more — login/subscribe
Amid a nationwide housing shortage, many planners and downtown leaders have focused attention on eliminating parking requirements. Minimum parking counts discourage new development by raising the cost to build, the argument goes. The American Planning Association (APA) says parking costs as much as $5,000 per surface space and up to $50,000 per space in multilevel…To read more — login/subscribe
Motorists in downtown Columbus, OH (est. pop.906,528), are being told to slow down. The Columbus City Council voted unanimously in February to reduce speed limits on all downtown streets to 25 mph, which reduced speed limits by 10 mph along many roadways. The move came after an increase in pedestrian fatalities and speed-related crashes. Matt…To read more — login/subscribe
Bike libraries — a concept that lets people check out bicycles like books or DVDs — are popping up across the country. A list of U.S. bike lending libraries curated by StreetsblogMASS includes nearly three dozen programs, located in states such as Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, and Vermont. Some of the programs offer access to e-bikes,…To read more — login/subscribe
Louisville, KY (est. pop. 633,045), will use public art to improve pedestrian safety at four downtown intersections. Louisville’s new Community Crosswalks program was inspired by the Asphalt Art Safety Study. The study by Bloomberg Philanthropies found that after asphalt art was installed, intersections experienced a 50 percent drop in crashes involving pedestrians or cyclists and…To read more — login/subscribe
In Los Alamos, NM (est. pop. 13,270), a retail accelerator is helping bring new life to downtown storefronts. When downtown leaders launched the program in 2021, the business district had more than 50,000 square feet of vacant storefronts, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The program, a venture of Los Alamos Main Street and the…To read more — login/subscribe
