Guerilla placemaking initiatives are often low-cost, yet create a high-impact and unexpected vibrancy downtown with minimal municipal input. One example featured in the May issue of Downtown Promotion Reporter newsletter is the Eye Love You project, which, “connects people with people, and people with places.” The movement began in New Zealand, but has gone global.…Continue reading
The pre-holiday “Shop Local” message is being refined in numerous ways in an effort to reach more potential customers for downtown’s businesses. Nearly every community endeavors to educate consumers about the economic benefits of shopping locally — some take a logical, numbers-based approach while others tug at the heart strings. Most tie into the national…Continue reading
In the December issue of Downtown Idea Exchange, guest columnist John Karras shares 12 strategies that can transform virtually any downtown into a more vibrant place. The list includes structural changes, like street reconfiguration (Turn one-way streets into two-way streets), short-term steps (Establish a regularly occurring public event), and management approaches (Consolidate regional economic development…Continue reading
The January issue takes a look back at marketing and attraction activities that will set the direction for the year to come. One of many trends is an increase in alcohol-friendly downtown events and activities. An increasing interest in wine and locally brewed beer is bringing success to brew festivals, pub crawls, wine walks, and…Continue reading
Bridal shows have long appeared on downtown event calendars. Increasingly, however, downtown organizations are moving guests from place to place rather than bringing them together under one roof. Wedding walks and tours highlight city centers as wedding destinations while showcasing a wide variety of downtown businesses, including hotels, event venues, florists, photographers, printers, caterers and…Continue reading
Cities across the nation are vying to attract and retain professionals aged 25-34 through social media and advertising campaigns, as well as with incentives which include internships, housing subsidies, student loan reimbursement, and more. For example, in an effort to retain students attending colleges and universities in the metro area, Philadelphia, PA, launched Campus Philly.…Continue reading
When it comes to radically changing the downtown streetscape, it doesn’t get much lighter, quicker, cheaper, or more accessible than temporary installations of inflatables. Event producers are offering giant waterslides, obstacle courses, and even public art installations of the air-filled variety. Better yet, some are partnering with nonprofit organizations, giving downtown groups opportunities to raise…Continue reading
To bring the independently owned, small business scene front and center in Pasadena, CA, the Old Pasadena Management District has run several cooperative ad campaigns focusing on small business owners rather than on their products and services. Old Pasadena has roughly 300 shops and restaurants downtown, and about 75 percent of them are independents, but…Continue reading
In response to more than three decades of population loss and commercial decline, the city of Birmingham, MI, committed to building a new identity as "The Walkable Community."A long-range vision, along with traffic-calming measures, ordinance changes, and more over the past two decades has seen the downtown’s Walk Score reach 92, a "walker’s paradise." "We…Continue reading
Downtowns don’t always have the amenities to attract visitors and new residents, but that doesn’t have to stop them. Some are turning to arts and culture to create interesting, attractive city centers that will draw more people to the area.That’s been the case in Mineral Point, WI, a defunct mining town that has reinvented itself…Continue reading
