Billboard welcomes workers downtown When Promedica, a nonprofit healthcare system, moved its corporate office to downtown Toledo, OH, in 2017 the management team wanted to be sure that everyone felt welcome in the new location. One part of the welcome campaign came in the form of a strategically placed digital billboard. The words, “Promedica Welcomes…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown Billings, MT (est. pop. 109,544), has long struggled with vandalism and other property crimes committed, in part, by the homeless. Like many downtowns, Billings has turned to the concept of crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) to discourage loitering, public drunkenness, and vandalism. Cities from Portland, ME, to Redding, CA, have adopted some of…To read more — login/subscribe
When downtown boosters in tiny Tionesta, PA (est. pop. 326), suggested activating a long-vacant lot by using garden sheds as outdoor kiosks, the reaction was mixed. Some wondered if downtown Tionesta would simply be home to a flea market. One wag derided the concept as “sheds on sleds.” Seven years later, the Tionesta Market Village…To read more — login/subscribe
Active recreation takes over parking lot While many downtowns face a shortage of parking, in Grand Rapids, MI, the Downtown Development Authority is converting part of a parking lot into three outdoor futsal courts. Futsal is a scaled-down version of soccer involving two teams of five players competing on a smaller field with a smaller…To read more — login/subscribe
…illustrated and include photos and measured plans and elevation schematics that demonstrate how the street works. Cases are largely based on examples from North America but also include notable examples from around the world. Best practices. Based on the case studies and the authors’ work, the best practices section describes… Continue reading
Newark, NJ (est. pop. 282,102), has long suffered from blight in its urban core. To tackle that problem, the city last year launched Live Local, an initiative designed to attract residents by helping them pay for rent or home improvements. Newark Alliance started Live Local in March 2019 with a goal of adding 1,500 new…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown merchants will embrace automation and self-service technology. Office space will be replaced by downtown residential uses. And electric vehicles will provide new opportunities to attract visitors. Those are among the predictions made by Matthew Wagner, chief program officer for the National Main Street Center. His forecast for 2022 is wide-ranging and covers both long…To read more — login/subscribe
In Greensboro, NC (est. pop. 296,725), shoppers who spent $25 downtown this summer were eligible to win $500 through a raffle. In Baltimore, downtown leaders developed a grant program to support black-owned businesses. While such efforts were born in part of pandemic desperation, the wave of downtown initiatives reinforces the resilience of downtowns, not to…To read more — login/subscribe
For decades, downtown leaders have lamented highway-building projects that cut awkward paths through urban cores. The infrastructure boom of the 1950s and 1960s claimed many a victim, recreating traffic patterns in ways that trampled on pedestrianism and made clear that the needs of suburban residents trumped the quality of life of those living in the…To read more — login/subscribe
