In downtown Anchorage, AK (est. pop. 288,000), Town Square Park was once a hub of antisocial activities. Through sustained efforts, the Anchorage Downtown Partnership turned the public space into a hub for community activities. The success story shows downtown leaders can make a difference without a big budget. In Anchorage, Town Square Park was transformed…To read more — login/subscribe
The coronavirus pandemic has upended downtown real estate markets. Many city centers suddenly have too much office space and not enough housing, a shift that has caught the attention of housing economists and developers. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently published an overview of downtown office buildings that have been converted to housing in…To read more — login/subscribe
The Fifth Street bridge in Augusta, GA, was built in 1932. By 2020, it was showing its age. A treacherous bump in the roadway forced motorists to slow down and the railing on the sidewalk was too low to be considered safe by modern standards. So in 2020, the city and the Georgia Department of…To read more — login/subscribe
In St. Albans, VT (est. pop. 6,804), a tax-increment financing district launched in 2012 has produced some noteworthy successes. But the TIF also led to a withering report from the state auditor, which said the city hadn’t complied with rules around TIFs. On the plus side, St. Albans achieved its first success with the construction…To read more — login/subscribe
Walkers explore cities, downtowns The Newark Downtown District puts feet on the street with the NDD Walking Club. The club is temporarily suspended due to the pandemic, but at its height, the club attracted residents, workers, and students to the free mid-day walks. The club typically runs from May through October and offers walkers three…To read more — login/subscribe
Ben Shardlow, director of urban design at the Mpls Downtown Improvement District, acknowledges that he’s a bit jealous of other downtowns, at least when it comes to their lush tree canopies. “You go to some cities, and it seems like the trees just leap out of the ground,” Shardlow says. That’s not the case in…To read more — login/subscribe
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper recently signed a new law allowing cities to establish “social districts” that permit outdoor consumption of alcohol. Downtown leaders quickly embraced the change, part of the COVID-19 loosening of alcohol rules around the nation. The thinking is that Americans might want to go back downtown, but that they aren’t keen…To read more — login/subscribe
Back in 2016, New Haven, CT (est. pop. 130,257), launched a campaign to market locally produced goods by giving products a distinctive logo and promoting them under the Made in New Haven brand. As of mid-2021, the program is still going — although it has lost much of its momentum, one city official says. On…To read more — login/subscribe
By one measure, electric scooters have been a clear hit in Pittsburgh, PA (est. pop. 300,281). In the two months after the city launched service in July 2021, scooter operator Spin sold more than 150,000 rides. However, Pittsburgh’s program also brought complaints familiar to every city that has tried to embrace a new era of…To read more — login/subscribe
