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Downtown Digest
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Downtown Digest

Online and On-The-Street Events Promote Downtown Fashion

March 15, 2013

Downtown Digest

To help promote a week-long celebration of fashion in Philadelphia, PA, a Random Acts of Fashion promotion is held. These creative ideas take place on the streets and on social-media platforms. The promotion includes:

Full details on the week-long event and how it is marketed appear in the March issue of Downtown Promotion Reporter.

Co-work Spaces Support Start-Ups

March 4, 2013

Downtown Digest By securing the right space and offering a creative mix of programs, events, and office amenities, the Alliance for Downtown New York shows the way to draw entrepreneurs downtown.

Co-working spaces, which provide access to office equipment, support, and networking opportunities, were a relatively new concept in the city when the Hive at 55 opened.

Two of the many important start-up lessons shared in the March issue of Downtown Idea Exchange are:

1. Gather input from potential tenants early in the process. As part of its market research, the Downtown Alliance hosted a jelly, a small, informal co-working meeting. The event had a good turnout and indicated a demand for expanded co-working opportunities.

2. Find the right space. “It’s important to have a landlord who is on board and understands the concept, and that there may be people working all night, visitors constantly coming and going, and a lot of events,” says Daria Siegel, director of the Hive at 55. “A constant influx of people doesn’t work in every building,’ she says.

Additional information on Hive at 55 appears in the March issue of
Downtown Idea Exchange.

Highlighting Downtown’s Heritage Draws Visitors

February 15, 2013

Downtown Digest In an effort to highlight downtown heritage, add visual interest, educate people about the community’s history, and draw visitors downtown, Chillicothe, MO, embarked on a mural program

“Work on the murals started in the mid-1990s,” says Crystal Narr, director of Main Street Chillicothe. There are currently 17 murals and two “ghost signs,” which are business signs from the past re-created on selected buildings.

Each building with a mural also features a plaque explaining the history of the building and why it is significant, as well as the names of any benefactors. A colorful map that includes information about the artist, as well as photographs of each mural and information about each site is available to guide visitors through the downtown.

“The murals are one of our greatest assets downtown because they are lit and visible 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Narr says.

Creating Practical Low-Maintenance Public Art

February 1, 2013

Downtown Digest When the Pasadena Playhouse District Association decided to embrace public art, the resulting utility box covers and crosswalk paintings were created with an eye toward aesthetics and practicality. It’s an approach that can work in any community.

The utility box covers are done with vinyl wraps so that, “if graffiti or something else happens and we want to freshen up the art, all we have to do is replace the vinyl instead of hiring the artist to come back to put paint to the utility box,” says Erlinda Romo, executive director of the association.

And the crosswalk art project “Moonwalk” is done with stencils, so that when paint needs to be refreshed, a road painting crew can do the job.

“A year later we’ve only had to replace one panel of the utility wraps, and it worked out as anticipated — much cheaper to replace one than to do everything over,” says Romo. “And we’ve also refreshed the paint on crosswalks by hiring the same kind of company that paints the traffic demarcation lines. You don’t want to install something that has significant maintenance issues that would be very costly to either repair or replace.”

Challenges and Opportunities for 2013

January 15, 2013

Downtown Digest Each year in the January issue of Downtown Idea Exchange, editor Sheila Grant speaks with a wide range of experts to learn what the New Year holds for downtowns.

This year, the experts are anticipating the availability of new project funding sources, an emphasis on programs that support healthy living and sustainability, an increase in residential demand, and a continued need for enhanced internet access downtown.

You may read the full Downtown Idea Exchange annual Looking Ahead report online at: http://www.DowntownDevelopment.com/
downtown_idea_exchange_trends.php

Bringing Busy Women Downtown

January 3, 2013

Downtown Digest Creating events that will appeal to women, and hosting them at times when women are most likely to attend, is a great way to highlight downtown’s assets to a demographic that might otherwise never explore the city center.

In San Jose, CA, a new “HER city” after-work social series launched in August is successfully attracting about 75 participants to each event

Each HER city event couples a lesser-known venue with food, fun, goodie bags, and more.

In October HER city had a Broadway theme, and included cocktails and appetizers at a historic downtown hotel with entertainment by a female blues singer, followed by pedi- cab rides to the Center for the Performing Arts, where participants had premier seating, followed by a backstage tour and the opportunity to chat with one of the female leads in the show as well as female production staff.

Details on the “HER city” program appear in the January issue of Downtown Promotion Reporter. Subscribe today.

Art as an economic development tool

December 4, 2012

Downtown Digest The Office of Arts, Culture and Tourism in New Haven, CT, is using art to fill downtown vacancies and revitalize neighborhoods while also transforming would-be entrepreneurs from hobbyists to small business owners.

The department looked at models of how art addresses the issues of vacancy and revitalization in other cities, and found pop-ups interesting, but wanted a more permanent solution, says Vivian Nabeta, director of Arts, Culture and Tourism for the city.

The result is Project Storefronts, a program that provides artists with the skills to build a business around their art, and matches them with affordable temporary workspace downtown.

But it’s not enough to get the public through the doors of new small businesses, Nabeta says. The public needs to be engaged. To this end, each entrepreneur hosts events specific to his or her skill, whether that be lessons on wreath making, or organizing a children’s activity.

“We’ve had four locations already, three of which we were kicked out of,” Nabeta says. All three, once activated with entrepreneurial businesses, got noticed by new tenants outside of Project Storefronts.

Additional information on Project Storefronts appears in the December issue of Downtown Promotion Reporter. Subscribe today.

Meeting the need for public restrooms downtown

November 15, 2012

Downtown Digest A lack, or even perceived lack, of public restrooms downtown can lead to visitor dissatisfaction, as well as the more unsightly problem of public urination.

Communities are finding that the expense of adding public restrooms is worthwhile because it keeps downtown cleaner, and provides visitors with a more comfortable experience, which in turn encourages them to remain downtown longer.

Some cities are financing new construction, while others are finding innovative ways to meet the need while keeping expenses to a minimum. For example, in Traverse City, MI, the Downtown Development Authority is partnering with businesses on Main Street, which have agreed to be designated as having public restrooms.

Additional information on downtown restrooms appears in the November issue of Downtown Idea Exchange. Subscribe today.

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