Toronto’s Open Streets program has drawn hundreds of thousands of people in recent years. In the final Open Streets event of 2019, the city closed two main thoroughfares to vehicles. In place of cars, drag queens offered face painting and organizers set up a skate park and a scooter park. Toronto isn’t alone in occasionally…To read more — login/subscribe
The Downtown Lincoln Association started the holiday shopping season early with the 12th Annual Shop the Blocks promotion on Thursday, November 21 from 4:30 to 9:30 a.m. Shop the Blocks is a ticketed event. Guests pay $7 in advance or $10 on the day of the event. An “all access pass” includes: In-store discounts at…To read more — login/subscribe
In Tucson, AZ (est. pop. 545,987), and Boston, shared kitchens have attracted dozens of entrepreneurs who run catering businesses and food trucks. The concept is taking off nationally, in big cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta and smaller cities like Shreveport, LA, Harrison, MI, and Loveland, CO, where community kitchens act as incubators…To read more — login/subscribe
In an effort to bring shoppers downtown and compete with nearby areas, a Canadian improvement district dusted off a classic downtown retail promotion and added some aggressive marketing techniques. The Glebe Spree, hosted by the Glebe Business Improvement Area (BIA) of Ottawa, ON, Canada, is a program that runs from November 15 through December 31.…To read more — login/subscribe
Little Estes Park, CO (est. pop. 6,248), sees far more vehicle traffic than most towns its size. As a gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park gets 4.5 million visitors a year, most of them crammed into a tourist season from mid-May through October. “We have such intense traffic congestion,” says Vanessa Solesbee, parking…To read more — login/subscribe
St. Paul, MN (est. pop. 306,604), has long faced perceptions that its downtown is unsafe. The St. Paul Downtown Alliance has made strides on that front with an inexpensive makeover of downtown trash bins. St. Paul’s sidewalks are lined with decades-old concrete containers. Over the years, the garbage receptacles have been covered with graffiti. The…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown Mesquite, TX (est. pop. 142,874), positions itself as a destination for authentic local flavor. But the small business owners who contribute to the historic heart of the city don’t always have a sophisticated grasp of business management or how to tap into the resources that will help them succeed. To address this reality head-on,…To read more — login/subscribe
An eight-month road closure in downtown Hartford, CT (est. pop. 122,591), caused shoppers, commuters, and business owners to groan. While construction disrupted downtown businesses, the Hartford Business Improvement District (HBID) used whimsical construction signs to make light of the inconvenience and to stress that this, too, shall pass. HBID recognized that traditional construction signs blend…To read more — login/subscribe
The M14 bus usually crawls across one of Manhattan’s busiest crosstown thoroughfares at 5 mph. After New York City officials barred car traffic along 14th Street, however, the buses suddenly zipped so quickly that bus drivers had to slow down to stick to their schedules. New York City’s promising results could offer an alternative to…To read more — login/subscribe
