In Kansas City, MO, an asphalt art project transformed a tricky intersection making it less hazardous for pedestrians. In Saginaw, MI, a public art initiative sought to bridge a long-simmering racial divide. Both projects were funded by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Asphalt Art Initiative. The grant program gives up to $25,000 per locale for visual art…To read more — login/subscribe
Funding public art Haikus popped up on sidewalks in the Bluebird Business Improvement District in Denver, CO. In 2019, students from a local high school selected poems, created laser-cut stencils, and painted the poems on sidewalks. The project was funded with a $5,000 grant from the P.S. You Are Here grant program. Since 2014 the…To read more — login/subscribe
Reading, PA (est. pop. 94,834), hopes a big investment in electric vehicle charging stations can give its downtown a reboot. Downtown leaders in Hamilton, MT (est. pop. 4,632), see an EV charging station as a way to generate visits. The EV boom is in full swing, and downtowns across the country are trying to use…To read more — login/subscribe
Ice bars provide frosty entertainment — Hospitality venues in Lake George, NY, know a lot about how to entertain outdoors in frosty winter weather. When the temperatures dip, they open their ice bars. See a video produced by the county tourism department below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9921lPCbrE
...City uses consumer marketing, business grants to keep downtown active — In Chandler, AZ, city officials are combatting the coronavirus downturn by marketing local businesses to consumers. The “I Choose Chandler” ad below reminds viewers that the city’s restaurants, gyms, clothing boutiques, and barbershops are open for business. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SinS9wZckng&feature=youtu.be ...
The Fort Wayne Downtown Improvement District is a regional destination for employment and recreation in the heart Fort Wayne, IN. It is also the subject of a travel writing course at Homestead High School, where students were tasked with researching and writing 500 word essays about a single downtown block. The ultimate goal for the…To read more — login/subscribe
Scavenger hunts can draw people into downtown and highlight all that city center has to offer. In Maine, the Downtown Bangor Partnership hosted a scavenger hunt in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. Solving clues about local architecture and history netted participants cookies and a DIY gift. Participants followed clues to 12 downtown locations.…To read more — login/subscribe
For communities struggling to bring people downtown, events and other activities are a natural solution. But planning, organizing, and hosting those events requires staff time and resources. For downtown leaders who want the benefits of a full event schedule but don’t want to run events themselves, a downtown grant program is a useful tool. Whether…To read more — login/subscribe
Deserved or not, many downtowns get bad raps. Crime, panhandling, a lack of parking, graffiti many city centers battle challenges to their reputations. How to respond? Savvy downtown marketers say the best approach is to swallow your pride, resist the temptation to shoot down the naysayers, and fully acknowledge your issues preferably with a bit…To read more — login/subscribe
Recruiting retailers is a delicate balancing act. Chain stores are reliable profit makers, and they’re coveted by landlords. Yet too many cookie-cutter establishments can make a downtown feel less than unique. A handful of cities are passing rules to limit the number of national retailers that can set up shop downtown. San Francisco is the…Continue reading
Closed streets draw visitors The Open Streets program returned to Salt Lake City, UT, with new fall dates this year. The special fall edition ran from September 15 through October 28, every Friday and Saturday from noon to 1 a.m. During that time, a central portion of Main Street was closed to automobile traffic to…To read more — login/subscribe
