Urban trails are a hallmark of downtown livability. They can also be time-consuming, costly projects. Consider the case of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. The eight-mile bike path and pedestrian walkway opened in 2013 — but only after years of fundraising and planning. Downtown leaders first began exploring the concept in 1999, and the project opened…To read more — login/subscribe
Promoting downtown coffee shops Last year nearly 500 people completed the fourth annual Drip Drive in downtown Akron, OH, and surrounding neighborhoods. In this passport-style event, participants must make a purchase at 19 of 23 participating coffee shops. Everyone who completes the challenge receives a limited-edition coffee mug, along with entry into a grand prize…To read more — login/subscribe
Like many downtowns, Santa Monica, CA (est. pop. 89,951), has been beset by complaints about public safety and challenged by an exodus of retail tenants. As homelessness and drug use became more prominent in recent years, one building owner placed a sign on a vacant storefront on Third Street Promenade that read “Santa Monica Is…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtowns have long struggled with crime and homelessness, but those problems have intensified in recent years. Homeless populations have soared, drug overdoses have spiked, and organized shoplifting has mushroomed. Now, downtown leaders are coalescing around the idea that lenient laws, indifferent enforcement, and drug decriminalization bear much of the blame for a crime wave in…To read more — login/subscribe
The Hollywood Partnership is a nonprofit business improvement district that provides a variety of services to businesses along the famous Hollywood Boulevard. In 2022, the BID took a creative step: It launched Hollywood Partnership Ventures, a 501(c)(3) organization doing business as Hollywood Partnership Community Trust. The Community Trust spinoff was a response to financial reality…To read more — login/subscribe
After pedestrians died on their streets, officials in Richmond, VA (est. pop. 229,395), and Stamford, CT (est. pop. 136,197), wanted to move quickly to protect pedestrians. Both borrowed techniques from the tactical urbanism playbook of cheap but effective responses to obvious problems. In Richmond, two Virginia Commonwealth University students were fatally struck and killed by…To read more — login/subscribe
Somerset, KY (est. pop. 11,998), unveiled a new wayfinding system that features directional and informational signs throughout downtown streets. The signs carry the city’s brand and logo, and their role is both practical and less obvious revealing connections, highlighting diversity, and demonstrating community pride. The network was launched in Somerset’s downtown core with plans to…To read more — login/subscribe
Albuquerque, NM (est. pop. 561,006), has joined a growing trend toward waiving bus fares. The city council moved in late 2023 to remove all fees for transit services provided by ABQ Ride. The move follows a two-year pilot program, numerous data reports, and feedback from community members. “Since the Zero Fare Pilot Program began, we…To read more — login/subscribe
In a handful of downtowns, such as Berkeley, CA, and Charlottesville, VA, college campuses and downtowns have grown up together over a period of decades. But most downtowns have to work to bring in college campuses and their steady streams of students. Sometimes, the strategy works — expanding colleges can help fill downtown vacancies while…To read more — login/subscribe
