Worcester County Tourism and area partners took home an award during the Maryland Tourism & Travel Summit last year. The multi-city effort, which promotes downtowns and arts and entertainment districts, earned the Leveraging Partnerships Award for the Eat. Drink. Buy Art. campaign. The campaign is a collaboration of 20 communities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and…To read more — login/subscribe
Louisville Downtown Partnership launched a multi-pronged advertising campaign in February. The goal is to drive community support for the downtown district. “Downtown is critical to the success of the community as a whole, so to remind people we’re here, and ready to welcome them back as soon as they are ready to come back, we’re…To read more — login/subscribe
Rock Springs, WY (est. pop. 23,319), is a small city in a conservative state, and its gay community long maintained a low profile. That began to change about two years ago, when a downtown bookstore hosted a gathering for the LGBTQ community. Before the first such event at Sidekicks Wine & Book Bar, Chad Banks,…To read more — login/subscribe
Like most downtowns, the city center in Martinsburg, WV (est. pop. 17,475), has been eerily quiet since the coronavirus pandemic began. “For a year now, folks have been making decisions that don’t include walking around downtown,” says Shane Farthing, Martinsburg’s economic and community development director. “Folks have been hunkering down.” Farthing hopes to rekindle downtown…To read more — login/subscribe
Wheeling, WV (est. pop. 27,062), was recently recognized by the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia for its façade grant program. Here’s a rundown of how the program works. First, applicants must submit the following information to the city: • Completed application See the complete façade improvement program guidelines. • Photographs of existing façade • Plans…To read more — login/subscribe
Chronic homelessness is a problem that vexes many downtowns, and there’s no easy solution. Long-term homeless people often are afflicted with serious mental illnesses, substance abuse disorders, or physical disabilities. In a sign of hope, a new approach to homelessness is paying dividends in some mid-sized cities. Rockford, IL (est. pop. 147,070), and Abilene, TX…To read more — login/subscribe
When the city of Somerville, MA (est. pop. 81,358), proposed transforming a small public parking lot into a public plaza, a handful of skeptical residents nixed the idea. So the city decided to take a different approach to pitching the placemaking initiative: Somerville officials transformed the 10-spot lot into a pop-up park. For three days,…To read more — login/subscribe
Seeking some activity downtown, the Centralia Downtown Association a decade ago kicked off a quirky event. In a twist on a holiday parade, Centralia, WA (est. pop. 17,216), hosted a Lighted Tractor Parade. The inaugural event drew “seven entries and a lot of doubters,” according to the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation. Undaunted by that…To read more — login/subscribe
In Portland, ME, a local couple envisioned a three-story, mixed-use building in the city’s Deering Center neighborhood. However, they faced a number of challenges. Such a building hadn’t gone up for years. And the developers — architects Kiya and Denis Lachman — were rookies. But they pursued the plan anyway, ultimately completing a structure that’s…To read more — login/subscribe
