Downtown leaders everywhere look for quick wins and swift results. But sometimes redevelopment efforts are measured not in months or years but in decades. That’s the case in Chattanooga, TN (est. pop. 181,370), where the City Council this summer voted unanimously in favor of a new $87 million stadium for the Chattanooga Lookouts minor league…To read more — login/subscribe
Many downtown leaders fight a constant battle against litter and graffiti. The Downtown Denver Business Improvement District has a novel approach. Last year the BID launched an app that lets residents and visitors take photos of eyesores. The app, known as Downtown Denver Clean and Safe, then pinpoints the coordinates of the problem area and…To read more — login/subscribe
Greenville, MS (est. pop. 29,854), and Columbus, MS (est. pop. 23,853), are small cities in the same state, but they’re not obvious candidates for a marketing partnership. The towns are 160 miles apart, and Greenville’s autumn Delta Hot Tamale Festival and Columbus’ springtime Market Street Festival have almost no overlap in attendance. In other words,…To read more — login/subscribe
In downtown Texarkana, TX (est. pop. 36,733), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) financed a $1.4 million redevelopment of the Hotel Grim, a 1925 building that was repurposed to include dozens of residential units. In Brockton, MA (est. pop. 95,740), HUD loaned $1.5 million for the Brockton Restaurant Infrastructure Fund. The program…To read more — login/subscribe
A series of late-night shootings in downtown Orlando, FL (est. pop. 284,817), has pushed downtown leaders to search for ways to make the city’s entertainment district safer. Among a flurry of incidents, a 34-year-old Army veteran was shot to death in early May while walking down a crowded downtown street. The spate of shootings, and…To read more — login/subscribe
In many downtowns, farmers markets provide important activity. These weekly or monthly events generate spending, create connections with local businesses, address food deserts, and increase foot traffic. A downtown need not be part of a thriving metropolis to reap the rewards of a farmers market. Towns with populations as small as 3,000 are benefiting from…To read more — login/subscribe
Electric scooters have become an important transit option in many downtowns. But the vehicles aren’t without their detractors, acknowledges Jenni Morejon, president and chief executive officer of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority in Fort Lauderdale, FL (est. pop. 181,818). “There’s going to be, unfortunately, scooter haters,” Morejon says. “Convening a community conversation is really…To read more — login/subscribe
In 2020, a catastrophic windstorm ripped through Cedar Rapids, IA (est. pop. 133,125). In addition to several deaths and billions of dollars in property damage, the storm destroyed more than half of Cedar Rapids’ tree canopy. Landscape architect Patrick Alvord says the storm destroyed 670,000 trees, a toll he calls “likely the greatest single urban…To read more — login/subscribe
