As Hurricane Florence loomed in September 2018, downtown leaders in Wilmington, NC, had plenty of time to prepare. Downtown Wilmington Inc. canceled a commercial property showcase and collected cell phone numbers from downtown merchants. Workers took down street banners, removed hanging flower baskets, and scoured the downtown district for trash can lids, recycling receptacles, and…Continue reading
The Merrimack Valley Sandbox has created an incubator model, which it says will boost the social and economic vitality of cities with populations under 200,000. The model is more inclusive than most, the staff works with everyone from high school students and their teachers to senior citizens, as well as entrepreneurs from varied ethnic and…Continue reading
As of December, Panama City, FL, allows visitors to consume alcohol two days a week while strolling through the Downtown Panama City Social District. City officials approved the new district despite opposition from skeptics who say looser rules encourage public drunkenness. Panama City was one of many communities to launch an outdoor drinking district in…Continue reading
Bike libraries — a concept that lets people check out bicycles like books or DVDs — are popping up across the country. A list of U.S. bike lending libraries curated by StreetsblogMASS includes nearly three dozen programs, located in states such as Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas, and Vermont. Some of the programs offer access to e-bikes,…To read more — login/subscribe
Novice or professional, individual or group, adult or youth, gingerbread house contests and displays appeal to virtually everyone. And viewing and voting can engage visitors of all ages as well. An exciting take on this classic downtown event, has teams of architects competing against each other while onlookers observe their techniques. In Houston, the Gingerbread…To read more — login/subscribe
In an effort to revive a stagnant urban core, Chicago is being especially generous in providing public subsidies to convert obsolete office space into apartments and hotels. In one major initiative, Mayor Brandon Johnson is supporting a plan to convert vacant office space in the financial district to 1,000 apartments, partly using city subsidies. The…To read more — login/subscribe
Wilmington, NC (est. pop. 122,610), has rekindled downtown traffic with Downtown Alive, an initiative focused on social distancing and outdoor dining. In Kalamazoo, MI (est. pop. 76,557), the downtown district has introduced a new social district that allows for public consumption of alcohol. Both programs are focused on the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic.…To read more — login/subscribe
For years, downtown leaders in Tybee Island, GA (est. pop. 3,124), mostly guessed at visitor information. The bridge coming into town from Savannah was outfitted with vehicle-counting sensors, so Tybee’s leaders had a general idea of how many people were coming to the beachfront town. But the era of big data has allowed Tybee Island…To read more — login/subscribe
In an effort to support local businesses, the Downtown Bend Business Association is asking the city council to make several changes to downtown event permitting. The changes include limiting the number of days that events can be held on city center streets. Currently the city allows up to three events per month from September to…To read more — login/subscribe
Just hours after celebrating Thanksgiving Day, shoppers line up at big-box stores to grab oneof-a-kind deals. The chamber of commerce in Glen Arbor, MI, thinks things should be a little different, so the group hosts an annual Better than Black Friday event. Participating retailers offer early morning specials from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. Participants are…To read more — login/subscribe
