Somerset, KY (est. pop. 11,998), unveiled a new wayfinding system that features directional and informational signs throughout downtown streets. The signs carry the city’s brand and logo, and their role is both practical and less obvious revealing connections, highlighting diversity, and demonstrating community pride. The network was launched in Somerset’s downtown core with plans to…To read more — login/subscribe
The coronavirus recession has devastated independent restaurateurs, but it hasn’t stopped the spread of commercial kitchens, those facilities that serve as co-working spaces for food trucks, caterers, and other food producers. Commercial kitchens are coming to downtown Orangeburg, SC (est. pop. 13,120), Oak Creek, WI (est. pop. 35,843), and other locations. Orangeburg City Council recently…To read more — login/subscribe
In Winnipeg, MB (est. pop. 750,000), downtown cleanups are a community effort. This year, nearly 700 people turned out for the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ’s Downtown Spring CleanUp. “This annual event is more than just picking up litter, it is an opportunity to come together as a diverse and vibrant group of community members, business…To read more — login/subscribe
In downtown Little Rock, AR (est. pop. 197,868), the Interstate 30 bridge across the Arkansas River grows congested at every rush hour. The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department responded with a predictable solution: It has embarked on a massive widening of the roadway from six lanes to 12 lanes. The bridge connects downtown Little Rock…To read more — login/subscribe
When Jason Duff was growing up in Bellefontaine, OH (est. pop. 13,574), his family owned a Hallmark card store downtown. The city center was thriving, and Duff recalls fond memories of working in his parents’ shop and learning to tie a necktie at the men’s clothing store downtown. But in the 1990s and the first…Continue reading
Critics of free public parking once seemed to be kooky proponents of a fringe theory. Now, though, downtowns everywhere are reshaping their parking regulations. The new book Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar outlines the evolution of parking in America’s cities. He reports that the mass rethinking of parking originated with…To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown Boulder, Inc. has slowly amassed a collection of behind-the-scenes stories about local business owners that have become the core of a robust Shop Local campaign, and several themed breakout campaigns throughout the year."People are really interested in everyday people and fun questions, so we thought maybe that would work for our small business owners,…Continue reading
By ushering in a new age of public meetings on Zoom, some predicted, the coronavirus pandemic was poised to intensify public engagement in downtown planning. Instead, researchers report, the opposite happened: If anything, public discourse grew more passive. That’s the conclusion of three academics who interviewed municipal planners about how the pandemic has affected discourse…To read more — login/subscribe
…experience in developing community leaders, it focuses on the three core competencies of successful leadership: Framing ideas, Building social capital, and Mobilizing resources. Krile explains the importance of each of the competencies and provides a toolkit for action. The section on framing ideas presents tools to define opportunities, challenges,… Continue reading
For decades, urban planners have criticized one-way streets. The traffic flow is unsafe for pedestrians and unhelpful to merchants, they say. The critique is beginning to resonate — a growing number of cities are rethinking their traffic patterns. Atlanta, GA, Louisville, KY, and Cincinnati, OH, are among the cities converting one-way streets to two-way travel.…To read more — login/subscribe
