Four strategies help long-struggling
downtown set the stage for a comeback
November 1, 2022
Sandusky, OH (est. pop. 24,651), is coping with challenges familiar to downtown leaders in many Rust Belt cities. For half a century, the city has lost factory jobs, and its population has steadily declined. But Sandusky isn’t giving up. The small city is leveraging its easy access to Lake Erie, its historic architecture, and a…To read more — login/subscribe
Following decades of study and debate, Davenport, IA (est. pop. 101,010), will spend $1.7 million to convert two one-way streets to two-way streets. The Downtown Davenport Partnership advocated for the return of two-way traffic on Third and Fourth streets to help calm and quiet traffic, to make downtown more pedestrian-friendly, and to improve visibility and…
Downtown leaders face a parking conundrum. On the one hand, urbanists have long preached that cities underprice parking at the expense of pedestrianism. Yet visitors and merchants often hate any hint of rising parking prices and more expensive parking tickets. Add to the mix, hourly downtown workers, grappling with inflation, and it’s more difficult than…
Memphis, TN, is a majority Black city whose developers are mostly white. The Downtown Memphis Commission has been taking strides to change that picture by making the ranks of property investors and merchants more diverse. The Downtown Memphis Commission’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work was honored this year by the International Downtown Association. The…
Teslas and other electric vehicles are a common sight on American roadways. While EV stations are showing up in public spaces in some downtowns, the charging infrastructure has mostly been hidden away in privately owned garages or on privately owned parking lots of shopping centers and hotels. With a wave of new EVs expected in…
A wide range of downtown projects have been funded through the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grants. The creative placemaking grants support projects that “integrate arts, culture, and design activities into efforts that strengthen communities by advancing local economic, physical, and/or social outcomes.” These projects require a partnership between a local government entity…
The community visioning session is a basic building block of community planning and downtown leadership. An effective visioning session can yield insights and build consensus. But organizing and conducting a successful visioning session isn’t easy. This is an ambitious, time-consuming undertaking. To do it right, you’ll need to spend several months preparing. The visioning session…
Lights Out downtown Rapid City, SD, turned off the lights downtown — But just for seven days. The city was recognizing Dark Sky Week (April 5 - 12), an annual event which aims to educate people about light pollution and encourage them to enjoy the night sky. The Rapid City Sustainability Committee and the local…
In Wilkes-Barre, PA (est. pop. 40,805), federal stimulus money paid for a program to market downtown businesses to new customers. The money also allowed the city to add a downtown ice-skating rink. In downtown Albuquerque, NM (est. pop. 560,447), stimulus funds brought more than a dozen small businesses into a district that had been hollowed…