The upscale Slipaway Food Truck & Marina. Across the country, downtowns in small and mid-sized cities are setting up dedicated spaces for food trucks to operate. The initiatives typically are spearheaded by private operators, with city officials figuring out how to straddle an obvious paradox — food trucks are mobile and temporary, while food truck…To read more — login/subscribe
Traditional economic development strategies focus on wooing corporations: the larger the better. But it makes more sense to focus on homegrown businesses, says Matthew Wagner, vice president of revitalization programs at the National Main Street Center. “It’s really about shifting our economic development focus to one of cultivating human capital rather than business recruitment,” Wagner…To read more — login/subscribe
Stephen Reeve runs New York Café in Ketchikan, Alaska — the state’s longest operating restaurant. It was built more than 120 years ago by adventurer Tony Ohashi. This legacy business received funds from the Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program in 2024. Grant funds were used to restore the restaurant’s facade and document its 120…To read more — login/subscribe
Restaurants get boost during construction When a downtown streetscape project disrupted much of downtown Wheeling, WV, a simple punch card promotion made a big difference. The city provided a relief package that included a temporary tax break and lost revenue replacement for eligible businesses. Then a local company stepped in and created Conquer the Cones…To read more — login/subscribe
Since 2021, the former home of Joe’s Pizza in downtown Santa Cruz, CA (est. pop. 60,953), has been empty. Wrinkled brown paper covers windows splotched with graffiti. A block away is another storefront that has stood vacant even longer, since 2018. Passersby see tattered red awnings and dirty windows. In response to such ongoing eyesores,…To read more — login/subscribe
TRAC garbage bins are located in converted parking spaces. In Raleigh, NC (est. pop. 482,425), the city is installing a new generation of garbage bins. Evanston, IL (est. pop. 75,073), is also upgrading its trash receptacles. New York City, meanwhile, is cajoling litterbugs to stop dropping trash on city streets. Downtown Raleigh, has introduced trash,…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtowns have recovered strongly from the pandemic, and downtown leaders need to rethink how they approach their roles, a top leader says. “It’s a moment of creative destruction in cities,” says Kris Larson, chairman of the International Downtown Association and president and chief executive officer at Central Houston Inc. The shock brought by the pandemic…To read more — login/subscribe
An inflatable interactive sculpture drew the curious and the fun-loving to Norfolk, VA’s, Town Point Park. The sculpture was provided by UK-based Architects of Air. The company offers six different sculptures, which combine light, color, music, and an opportunity to explore. Town Point selected Arboria, which has been replaced with Arborialis. Fully assembled the sculpture…To read more — login/subscribe
