In downtown Anchorage, AK, Town Square Park was once a hub of antisocial activities. Through sustained efforts, the Anchorage Downtown Partnership turned the public space into a hub for community gatherings. The success story shows downtown leaders can make a difference without a big budget. Town Square Park was transformed with attention rather than aā¦Continue reading
Grants, loans to Black entrepreneurs boost downtown ā Memphis, TN, is a majority Black city whose developers are mostly white. The Downtown Memphis Commission has been taking strides to change that picture by making the ranks of property investors and merchants more diverse. Watch a video overview of the Downtown Memphis Commissionās award-winning program below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3zOowHCutU
...Imagining the future of downtown with community visioning ā The community visioning session is a basic building block of community planning and downtown leadership. Read the full Community Visioning Handbook. ...
A sun-roasted, unwelcoming stretch of sidewalk in downtown West Palm Beach, FL (est. pop. 110,219), is scheduled to get a āShade Paradeā made of six moving purple parasols. The city hired Montreal design firm Daily tous les jours to brainstorm ideas about a section of Quadrille Boulevard. The proposal: A system of aluminum umbrellas thatā¦To read more — login/subscribe
The federal government is directing hundreds of billions of dollars to states and cities, a windfall that has downtown leaders nationwide positioning themselves to get a piece of the pie. In March, President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) into law. The initiative calls for $1.9 trillion in economic stimulus, including an infusionā¦To read more — login/subscribe
In Akron, OH, work is underway to redefine the footprint of the cityās many neighborhoods. "What weāre doing is looking atall of our city neighborhoods ā Akron has 25 semi-official neighborhoods, with downtown being one of them," says Jason Segedy, the cityās director of planning and urban development. The project is essential, Segedy says, becauseā¦Continue reading
In Kansas City, MO, an asphalt art project transformed a tricky intersection making it less hazardous for pedestrians. Two cross streets approached from odd directions, creating two hairpin turns for motorists to navigate. Meanwhile, two wide lanes, encouraged motorists to speed ā and left pedestrians anxious. City engineers worked with Street Smarts Design + Buildā¦Continue reading
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 withinā¦To read more — login/subscribe
For a time, the Anchorage Downtown Partnership took an unusually active role in dealing with public safety issues in downtown Anchorage, AK (est. pop. 287,145). In 2016, the Anchorage Downtown Partnership launched a program known as Safety First. In collaboration with the Anchorage Community Development Authority, the Downtown Partnership operated a hotline that took callsā¦To read more — login/subscribe
Downtown leaders in Macon, GA (est. pop. 153,159), had an idea that seemed far-fetched. They hoped to spur interest in local merchants by printing their own currency, and then setting up a unique scavenger hunt based on the custom scrip. When local residents expanded the game to Facebook, and small businesses began hosting events basedā¦To read more — login/subscribe
In the University of Torontoās most recent ranking of downtownsā post-pandemic recoveries, St. Louis, MO (est. pop. 281,754), ranked dead last among 66 North American cities. Foot traffic was at just 53 percent of pre-pandemic levels. In another sign of trouble, St. Louisā population shrank by 1.5 percent according to the latest U.S. Census data,ā¦To read more — login/subscribe
