Growing an historic small town center

Most of the 22,000 residents of Hudson, OH (30 minutes from Cleveland) were no longer shopping downtown, but going elsewhere - a familiar story.  Not so common however, is the level of vision and investment to reverse that trend.

The City and Hudson Village Development; a development company formed by Tom Murdough, a 31-year old entrepreneur who wanted better for his town, formed a public-private partnership to expand its historic 200-year-old downtown

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Of the accepted applicants to the University of Connecticut each year, about two-thirds decide to go elsewhere. The #1 reason, based on annual surveys?  Lack of a college town.

So, the Town of Mansfield CT, the University, and a visionary real estate developer, Leyland Alliance, partnered to establish the Mansfield Downtown Partnership to build… a college town center.  And a pretty cool one at that.

Next year, the $165 million Storrs Center will commence, with 200,000 s.f. of retail and

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The success story behind Memphis’ Beale Street

How does one turn a boarded up main street into the iconic historical, cultural and musical destination that is Beale Street today?  It took an immensely forward-thinking young developer, John Elkington, that understood the history well enough to invest in its future.  The following is based on his interview with Smart City Radio.

Brief history. In the 1920s and 30s Beale Street was an entertainment mecca for African-Americans and one of the

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More evidence: Main streets are in, malls are out

For the last few decades, we were pretty much forced to drive to malls to shop at chains.  It seems like the tide is turning, as one retail consultant puts it, “The behemoth mall is clearly giving way to more manageable, accessible and open-air centers.“  In other words, downtown main streets are ‘in’ again.

In this Wall Street Journal article, the company that owns all those ‘Mills’ malls, Mills Corp., is being sold on account of

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How to develop an indie retail center without going upscale?

So how does one develop a new independent-business retail center as an economic success without going upscale?  In continuation of yesterday’s entry, here’s Kennedy Smith:

“To make it work in everyday neighborhoods, or even in ‘slightly more affluent than everyday’ neighborhoods, the costs of that sort of intensive support system for independent businesses must be shared by the public sector (small business development centers,

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Why building a CoolTown retail center isn’t easy… yet

...and that’s defined as a retail-entertainment destination town center of innovative, local, independent businesses targeting a progressive, creative audience on a budget.

Until now, there really wasn’t a means of developing such a place as new - any new retail center consists of national and regional chains (like CityPlace, West Palm Beach, pictured.)  Even if the focus was on independent businesses (as they are in ski resorts), it

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Lessons learned from a grassroots multi-merchant event

The U Street Shopper Social in MidCity, Washington DC, highlighted yesterday, has been running for a few years when such grassroots campaigns to attract new customers start to lose momentum.

Some keys to a successful promotion:

1. Shorter period of time.  The Shopper Social is only from 5-8 pm, so the crowds are more intense.  If it were any longer, the crowds would be dispersed to the point no one would feel like there’s something

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Merchants take matters into their own hands

Yesterday’s entry on how independent businesses can work together by forming strategic alliances.  However, the models presented are bureaucratic structures that can take years to establish, and even though they’re worth it, it’s not in the spirit of how an entrepreneurial independent business operates.

That’s why a group of merchants on U Street in MidCity, Washington DC formed their own ad hoc group and began a monthly tradition known as the U

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Independent businesses go interdependent to compete

How can independent businesses possibly compete with the marketing clout of the big regional malls or the national reach of big box chains?  Well, their best tactic is to build a community of commerce - a network of local businesses working together with a common purpose.  As they say, a rising tide floats all ships.

One of the most effective ways of accomplishing this is to legislate a Business Improvement District (BID) where businesses

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A quick review of San Jose’s Santana Row

Santana Row in San Jose, CA does not have any housing that can be afforded by a majority of the creative class, nor does it sport independent businesses, favoring upscale chains instead.  For those two reasons alone, it’s nowhere close to being a ‘cooltown’.  However, it does have some of the best new placemaking and urban design anywhere in the entire San Francisco Bay Area, and for that it deserves merit.  In other words, just imagine how amazing

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But where are the people?

While the Fruitvale Village development profiled yesterday is indeed a success story in that a visionary developer transformed it from a parking garage proposal into a beautiful, walkable community of residences, offices, and shops, it hasn’t quite succeeded on the retail just yet.

Businesses like a florist, take-out restaurant, and chiropractor are struggling, wondering why all that pedestrian traffic from the busy transit station commute doesn’t translate into

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Oakland’s inspiring Fruitvale Village

In continuing a look at the most innovative new developments in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, our last stop is at Fruitvale Village in Oakland, and one of the most meaningful success stories.

The local latino community in Fruitvale felt the parking lot adjacent to the neighborhood’s ‘BART’ light rail station (the East Bay’s 4th busiest) had a better fate than a parking garage as was originally planned in 1991.  The savior?  The nonprofit

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Berkeley’s 4th Street - a destination with destinations

Great retail entertainment districts not only provide a strong sense of place, as Bay Street Emeryville does (profiled yesterday), but must-visit restaurants and stores as well, which it does not.

Berkeley’s 4th Street does on both counts.

While not as spatially dramatic as its neighbor (Bay Street), 4th Street has become known as an artistic, creative and increasingly chic main street of about 130 businesses.  Transformed from an

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It’s now a common evolutional trend where retail is merging with entertainment.  In fact, downtown needs to in order to survive, as the economy moves from a goods/services economy to an experience economy.

There are three essential components to ‘cooltown-certified’ retail entertainment districts:  great placemaking and unique venues, both of which become destinations unto themselves, and a good supply of attainable housing.  Of course, other factors like tenant mix, location, etc. are

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Internet helping revive downtowns?

This says it all, from a successful small business owner:  “The internet has taken a small family-owned candle business and allowed us to compete on a national level while contributing to the redevelopment of our downtown area in central Virginia.”

A U.S. Small Business Administration study found that “the smallest firms with fewer than 10 employees benefit the most from being online”.  The evidence: Online sales account for only 2.2% of all

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Pedestrian malls - good or bad?

There’s long been the usual insistence by veteran planners not to implement downtown pedestrian streets and malls, even recommending cities to remove them to allow cars through.  Times are changing, and it’s time to take another look.

Where did this myth come from?  The past:
Pedestrian malls, as mayors will tell you, were an act of desperation to compete with an already massive exodus to the ‘burbs and regional shopping malls, but certainly not the reason

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Bringing the ‘experience’ to downtown shoppers

Downtown independent retailers don’t have the financial muscle or exposure of the national retailers out in the malls, but there most powerful asset is their independence.  That means they have the freedom to do whatever is necessary for them to compete with the suburban juggerauts, and that’s to create an experience when shopping for their merchandise.

Take apparel stores for instance.  There are few places outside of a downtown main street

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The first internationally themed public market

It’s a global economy, so how can small businesses compete?  They can become a tenant in Minneapolis’ coming global marketplace, the Midtown Global Market, the first of its kind anywhere.

The market will feature 60 local merchants representing Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, andd the Middle East, and African American and Native American business owners.  Another innovative element of the market is that these businesses will be divided by

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Main street mall - oxymoron?

There’s been a heated discussion lately in at the urbanism watering hole, and that’s, “Is there a difference between a main street and a shopping street?  The answer is yes and no.

Yes, there’s a difference: Main streets are typically known to serve a neighborhood.  Shopping streets, which include outdoor malls, cater to an entire region.  Main streets have neighborhood-oriented venues like a coffeeshop, hair stylist, deli, pub, etc., many of which are

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Maintaining great retail entertainment downtowns

What are the primary trends, positive and negative, in creating and maintaining vibrant, safe downtown entertainment districts?  The Responsible Hospitality Institute, which focuses on these very issues, conducted extensive research to arrive at the following:

Split-use districts: In cities that have achieved a 24/7 nightlife, the demographics often change rather dramatically at 10 pm, between people who are going home and people who are

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4 days of cool new attitudes for old main streets

“Showcasing historic buildings and innovative ideas that bring new businesses, new people, new uses, and new life to their traditional commercial areas of all types and sizes.“

That’s this year’s Cool Cities theme featured next week Sunday through Wednesday when the 2005 National Main Streets Conference strolls through Baltimore, MD.

While the annual event focuses on general techniques for managing historic main streets, it does indeed

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Back to the future main street

The 14th & U main street district in Washington DC was a jazz mecca in its heyday in the first half of the 20th century, when the likes of Duke Ellington, Billy Holiday, and Louis Armstrong were regulars.  40 years after the riots, jazz has not only returned to 14th & U, but its legacy is also spawning a new era of live music, entertainment and a population explosion to the area.

How did this happen?  It helps when you can retain institutions like Bohemian

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A strong brand identity helps prevent brain damage

The merchants that make up thriving arts & entertainment/nightlife districts should get kudos and cheers for helping revitalize economically suffering neighborhoods.  However, if they don’t collaborate as a community, they may be in for some serious hate mail, lawsuits and stress from angry residents (collectively known as brain damage).

Here’s one major reason why - as the desirability of neighborhoods go up because of the revitalization

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Who will make downtowns succeed?

Successful downtowns require a successful retail district.  Today, that retail district must be developed as a retail entertainment district to survive and thrive.  So, who should that district focus on?

Again, we quote our star of the week, retail entertainment expert Michael Beyard, “The ability to reach market segments that are easily overlooked - including women, members of generations X and Y, and even baby boomers, who are getting older but not

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The merging of entertainment and retail

The conflicts: Museums and performing arts centers are struggling amid public budget cuts and a rather stuffy image.  Meanwhile, downtown retail districts are having difficulties maintaining its local culture as well as attracting large crowds (as the old theaters once did).

The opportunity:In the words of retail entertainment expert Michael Beyard, “Retail entertainment offers these institutions an opportunity to broaden their markets and compete

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