Downtown Idea Exchange

• Gateway project creates strong sense of place
• To fight blight, agency buys downtown’s tallest building
• Lynn Lights wins praise for community involvement
• Free parking remains, but downtown makes other changes for walkability
• How one downtown cleaned up a park on a shoestring budget
• With housing in short supply, office conversion fills the need
• Aging bridge converted to pedestrian-only traffic
• TIF district yields success — but with some setbacks along the way
• Idea Exchange: Quick Tips and News from Around the Country

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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

 

For many downtown leaders, the pandemic playbook included such moves as encouraging outdoor dining, creating pick-up zones, loosening rules around public consumption of alcohol, and otherwise supporting merchants through a tough time.  In South Florida, the Miami Downtown Development Authority struck a more aggressive tone. In October 2020, the DDA launched its Follow the Sun…To read more — login/subscribe

 

Public restrooms pose a conundrum in downtowns everywhere. If you want to welcome visitors, you need clean commodes. But many a public washroom has been commandeered for uses that may make visitors uncomfortable. Athens, GA (est. pop. 126,718), is addressing the dilemma by adding a pricey potty known as the Portland Loo to its downtown.…To read more — login/subscribe

 

In mid-October, the Downtown Development Authority in West Palm Beach, FL (est. pop. 111,952), launched a three-month pilot project to sponsor the downtown’s on-demand electric shuttle. The service, provided by an operator known as Circuit, offers rides throughout downtown and the town of Palm Beach.   “We’re constantly looking for opportunities to reduce congestion and…To read more — login/subscribe

 

Duluth, MN (est. pop. 85,617), will invest $300,000 in social services outreach to address its downtown homeless population. The City Council in September approved directing the money to the city’s Greater Downtown Council. The $300,000 comes from American Rescue Plan money and will cover three years of services. The Greater Downtown Council will contract with…To read more — login/subscribe

 

As the COVID-19 pandemic created a mental health crisis, urban planners Jenny Roe and Layla McCay formulated a new way of thinking about the role of urban design in fostering healthy environments. Their new book, Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing, outlines seven concepts that are fundamental to this emerging topic of…To read more — login/subscribe