Every other week we post the summary of an article from Downtown Idea Exchange. Over the course of the year we’ve covered everything from business recruitment to streetscape improvements to placemaking. To wrap up the year, we’re highlighting five of our favorite posts. Creative, informative, and adaptable, they showcase some of the best work in downtown…Continue reading
Read the report, “Food Halls 3.0.” The newest addition to downtown Milwaukee’s vibrant restaurant scene is scheduled to open this summer. Rather than a single restaurant, the 3rd Street Market Hall will open with a dozen restaurants and food businesses. There’s also room to add a dozen more. The Market Hall will feature many hands-on…To read more — login/subscribe
Following the lead of similar successful projects, Kuna, ID, will launch its own retail market village in June. The village will consist of 12 small shops in re-purposed garden sheds. The sheds will surround a central green space with room for food trucks and small gatherings. Lisa Holland the city’s economic development director tells the…To read more — login/subscribe
Following the lead of similar successful projects, Kuna, ID, will launch its own retail market village in June. The village will consist of 12 small shops in re-purposed garden sheds. The sheds will surround a central green space with room for food trucks and small gatherings. Lisa Holland, the city’s economic development director, says that…Continue reading
Urban trails are a hallmark of downtown livability. They can also be time-consuming, costly projects. Consider the case of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. The eight-mile bike path and pedestrian walkway opened in 2013 — but only after years of fundraising and planning. Downtown leaders first began exploring the concept in 1999, and the project opened…To read more — login/subscribe
In recent years, Corning, NY, has taken pains to become more pedestrian-friendly. The small city has invested more than $1 million in safety upgrades to two areas with bustling pedestrian traffic. In one low-cost improvement, Corning made the mid-block crosswalks in its downtown safer by removing parking spots near the pedestrian paths. Before, parked cars…Continue reading
The San Marcos Main Street Program kicked off its annual Love Letters from Downtown campaign by opening its Valentine mailbox in the city’s appropriately named, Kissing Alley. All letters posted in the mailbox are imprinted with a custom hallmark that reads, “Sent from Kissing Alley.” The decorated mailbox is open for business from late January…To read more — login/subscribe
Marco Li Mandri, who runs San Diego’s Little Italy Association, admits he was stunned by the coronavirus pandemic. “No one knows how to deal with this,” he says. “We’ve never had a situation where we’ve been confronted with the entire economy shutting down.” After the initial shock, Li Mandri got creative. His district has survived…To read more — login/subscribe
It’s a decades-old story: After a suburban mall opened, downtown lost many of its merchants. But with the retail landscape changing, one downtown is reversing the script. The Downtown Development Authority in Alpena, MI (est. pop. 10,034), sees opportunity in the repurposing of an old mall. With the Alpena Mall changing ownership and some tenants…To read more — login/subscribe
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…To read more — login/subscribe
