About Us

Downtown Research & Development Center

For over 50 years, the Downtown Research & Development Center has acted as the information clearinghouse on practical strategies and tactics for revitalizing the hearts of our cities and towns.

The Group’s main activities include publishing the widely influential Downtown Idea Exchange and Downtown Promotion Reporter newsletters; publishing relevant books and reports; and operating the DowntownDevelopment.com website.

The Downtown Research & Development Center was founded in 1954 by Laurence A. Alexander, AICP.

As an early and influential advocate for the preservation and redevelopment of North American towns and cities, Mr. Alexander wrote and spoke extensively on downtown revitalization, traveling abroad to share the vision of American style revitalization with civic leaders, business groups and public officials in Canada, Mexico, Russia, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Closer to home, his urban planning consulting firm conducted a wide range of projects including downtown plans for cities as diverse as Redmond, WA, Trenton, NJ, Huntsville, AL, and Columbus, IN. The firm also worked on projects such as countywide master plans, transportation, retail, housing, economic development and other projects throughout North America.

Mr. Alexander’s vision of creating a place for sharing information and learning from the experiences of others continues today at the Downtown Research & Development Center.