Six ways — including several contentious suggestions — to tackle parking challenges
January 1, 2021
Every successful urban district struggles with parking — how to provide enough spaces, how to price those spaces properly, how to enforce violations. In his book Walkable City Rules, city planner and urban designer Jeff Speck offers some contrarian advice about parking. Downtown leaders need to stop serving the parking monster, and instead make parking…To read more — login/subscribe
An eight-month road closure in downtown Hartford, CT (est. pop. 122,591), caused shoppers, commuters, and business owners to groan. While construction disrupted downtown businesses, the Hartford Business Improvement District (HBID) used whimsical construction signs to make light of the inconvenience and to stress that this, too, shall pass. HBID recognized that traditional construction signs blend…
During the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor dining and open street initiatives were a savior for downtowns devoid of traffic. Three years later, downtown leaders are grappling with tough questions about benefits and pitfalls of outdoor dining on public and private property. Regulatory confusion has roiled outdoor dining programs in Los Angeles and New…
In Redding, CA (est. pop. 92,958), a new venture has brought together 18 small shops in one location. Called Gather Downtown, it’s not quite a business incubator, not quite an antiques mart or a food hall. Instead, it’s a middle ground, an initiative that both fills vacant space and nurtures entrepreneurs. “We wanted to put…
Remodeled bridge reconnects downtown neighborhoods For decades, the Main Street Bridge separated the core of downtown New Britain, CT, from the Little Poland neighborhood. The overpass was poorly lit, with narrow sidewalks, and the roar of traffic from below. All that changed in 2019, when the bridge was renovated and re-named the Beehive Bridge. The…
During the highway-building spree that began in the 1950s, many downtowns were disrupted in ways that were convenient for car commuters but damaging to public life and the urban fabric. Now comes a federal investment in undoing the infrastructure projects from the 20th century. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Pilot provides $1 billion…
