Downtown Idea Exchange – Web Extras
How to keep your organization afloat in tough times — Many organizations were blindsided by the suddenness and severity of the downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. To help coach downtown leaders through the turmoil, the International Downtown Association (IDA) and Progressive Urban Management Associates (PUMA) collaborated on a game plan that spells out steps to take in the coming weeks and months. See the full list of suggestions for stabilizing and then reviving your downtown.
...Your downtown tenants are in danger; here’s how to help them — The coronavirus pandemic could permanently close millions of small businesses, including some that occupy storefronts in your downtown, according to a report by Main Street America. ...
In a sad reality for downtown leaders, pedestrian deaths keep rising — Nationwide pedestrian deaths rose in 2019 to their highest level in three decades, even as the nation’s roadway crash fatalities overall have been falling, according to a report released in late February by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA), a nonprofit that represents state highway-safety offices. ...
New park, new uses — A surface parking lot in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas will soon be replaced with a modern new green space called West End Square. Watch the video below and take a virtual tour. https://youtu.be/8oWJvbjgHTM ...
The City of Spokane Downtown Parking Study presents a comprehensive package of recommendations designed to "facilitate growth and activity downtown, while making parking more convenient and user-friendly for residents, businesses, employees, and visitors." See the full study The document, offers a set of coordinated strategies focused on better utilizing existing parking spaces, updating permit programs…
In Avon, IL (est. pop. 614), one couple has invested their life savings in the once-moribund Main Street. In Havana, IL (est. pop. 3,197), a public investment has spurred a spate of new life projects in a downtown that had been fading fast. The two comeback stories are part of a nationwide revival of downtowns…
Electric scooters have become an important transit option in many downtowns. But the vehicles aren’t without their detractors, acknowledges Jenni Morejon, president and chief executive officer of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority in Fort Lauderdale, FL (est. pop. 181,818). “There’s going to be, unfortunately, scooter haters,” Morejon says. “Convening a community conversation is really…
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…
A downtown-wide vote engaged the public and provided needed supplies for local charities in Winchester, KY. With eight potential place-making projects and just $5,000 to spend, Main Street Winchester created the Winchester Downtown Bracket to select the winning project. The projects were in four categories: downtown amenities, public art, pedestrian improvements, and landscape projects, with…
Downtown leaders everywhere look for quick wins and swift results. But sometimes redevelopment efforts are measured not in months or years but in decades. That’s the case in Chattanooga, TN (est. pop. 181,370), where the City Council this summer voted unanimously in favor of a new $87 million stadium for the Chattanooga Lookouts minor league…
A series of late-night shootings in downtown Orlando, FL (est. pop. 284,817), has pushed downtown leaders to search for ways to make the city’s entertainment district safer. Among a flurry of incidents, a 34-year-old Army veteran was shot to death in early May while walking down a crowded downtown street. The spate of shootings, and…