September was National Library Card Sign-up Month. To celebrate the event, businesses in downtown Pittsfield, MA, offered special discounts and giveaways exclusively to library card holders. The Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield’s public library, joined forces with Downtown Pittsfield Inc. to coordinate the deals at 25 downtown businesses for the entire month. To take advantage of the…To read more — login/subscribe
Despite streetcar construction in downtown Tempe, AZ, intrepid visitors donned hard hats and enjoyed all that the city center has to offer. Each week the Tempe Downtown Authority gave away 100 reusable yellow hard hats imprinted with the association logo. People wearing hard hats could claim an hour of free parking as well as specials…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown visitors don’t get much joy from parking tickets, but in Muncie, IN, they can feel a little bit better about paying them. For several weeks in July, parking tickets could be paid by donating cat food or cat litter to Muncie Animal Care & Services. In other cities, such as Las Vegas, drivers have…To read more — login/subscribe
In an effort to attract visitors downtown, tiny Lake City, CO, capitalized on some unlikely assets to create a unique tourism attraction. While many downtowns limit event schedules during the cold winter months, Lake City rolls out its ice park. Located one block south of the historic downtown, the ice park is a man-made ice…To read more — login/subscribe
In an effort to support local businesses, the Downtown Bend Business Association is asking the city council to make several changes to downtown event permitting. The changes include limiting the number of days that events can be held on city center streets. Currently the city allows up to three events per month from September to…To read more — login/subscribe
Last year, holiday bars popped up around the country. The bars typically feature extensive holiday decor, seasonal drinks, a fundraising component, and, of course, holiday music. In Pittsburgh, the pop-ups included both home-grown offerings and a nationwide chain. In the home-grown category was Auld Lang Syne, which occupied a portion of the popular Oyster House…To read more — login/subscribe
With many small cities struggling to lure skilled workers, a few downtowns are trying something new: They're offering to help people pay down their college loans if they move to town. Hamilton, OH (est. pop. 62,216), last year launched a Talent Attraction Program that offers up to $10,000 to workers who earned college degrees within…To read more — login/subscribe
Valerie Marmone once ran a clothing boutique in Sacramento, so she knows firsthand how hard it is to operate a retail business in an era of tight margins and online shopping. In her post-entrepreneurial career, Marmone works as vice president of business development at the Downtown Sacramento Partnership. In that role, she runs the annual…To read more — login/subscribe
In Dublin, GA (est. pop. 15,889), the city is using a land bank to take control of longabandoned buildings downtown. In Newburgh, NY (est. pop. 28,444), a land bank has rehabilitated dozens of dilapidated structures, many of which dated to the 1800s. And in Flint, MI (est. pop. 96,439), a land bank has demolished or…To read more — login/subscribe
