Starting in July, diners and shoppers in downtown Nashville, TN (est. pop. 692,587), will pay a bit more for burgers and T-shirts. Tennessee lawmakers and the Nashville Metro Council approved an increase in the downtown sales tax rate to 9.75 percent from 9.5 percent. The tax increase will generate $2.4 million to be spent on…To read more — login/subscribe
The coronavirus pandemic gave downtown leaders an opportunity to rethink how streets are used. In many downtowns, streets were closed or narrowed to make way for sidewalk dining and pedestrian traffic. Those are the sorts of changes that urban planners Danial Iacofano and Mukul Malhotra have long championed. In their book Streets Reconsidered, they lay…To read more — login/subscribe
The little town of North Bend, WA (est. pop. 6,983), enacted a form-based code for its downtown in June, making it the latest municipality to embrace this type of zoning. Earlier this year, Fort Smith, AR (est. pop. 87,895), approved a form-based code for its downtown. That city’s zoning changes, which aim to make downtown…To read more — login/subscribe
For delivery driver Matt McCullough, finding a place to park in downtown Aspen, CO (est. pop. 7,431), was often a challenge. But a new curb-management system has made his workday much easier. Aspen is one of four cities of varying sizes testing software from Coord, a New York City-based company focused on parking programs for…To read more — login/subscribe
Might air taxis someday soar over the congestion in your downtown? Skeptics will scoff at the Jetsons-like improbability of the concept, but several well-funded transit innovators say that the next step in ridesharing is just around the corner. In one noteworthy development, Joby Aviation, a California company building a fleet of mini-helicopters, recently partnered with…To read more — login/subscribe
Welcome back to work Working downtown has many benefits and in Milwaukee, WI, this includes the annual Downtown Employee Appreciation Week. The event includes something for everyone from morning meditation and lunchtime giveaways to music and office challenge games. In 2020 most of the events were virtual, but downtown workers and the event will be…To read more — login/subscribe
For a quarter-century, the Downtown Improvement District (DID) in Reading, PA (est. pop. 88,373), managed the city’s declining urban core. The DID’s ambassadors picked up trash, and the organization hosted summer concerts, a holiday parade, and other events. However, Reading never experienced a true downtown renaissance, and questions about the DID’s effectiveness festered. Those doubts…To read more — login/subscribe
This year, Fayetteville, AR (est. pop. 87,585), became the first U.S. locale to win the Bike City designation from the Union Cycliste Internationale, the sport’s Swiss-based world governing body. Thanks to years of effort, biking is big business in Fayetteville. The investment includes an expansive trail network, on-street cycling infrastructure, and ambitious biking initiatives. The…To read more — login/subscribe
With diversity and racial equity hot topics in many communities, downtown leaders have struggled with a notable challenge: How do you get the public to give input at public hearings? And if you’re a transit agency running public bus routes, how do you make sure to hear from a constituency not known for vocal civic…To read more — login/subscribe
