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Downtown Perspectives

Each month, Downtown Idea Exchange provides detailed case studies, practical news reports, how-to information and hundreds of real-world examples of how downtown organizations, business improvement districts, main street communities, and others are growing and prospering.

A key feature of the newsletter is the monthly Perspectives Column. These insightful, and often controversial, articles are written by industry experts and leading practitioners.

The full text of these articles is provided here. If you would like to receive future articles and the monthly Downtown Idea Exchange newsletter on a regular basis, we invite you to subscribe today.

These documents may be viewed and printed with the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may download a free copy by clicking on the yellow icon.

• Dogs and kids, important to downtown?
• Existing businesses weigh in on incubator services and tenants
• The smart math of mixed-use development
• Neighborhood lighting boosts downtown’s image
• Rather than compete, concurrent events can benefit each other
• Parking costs are more than an economic issue
• Today’s essentials for downtown success, part two
• Today’s essentials for downtown success, part one
• Fostering entrepreneurialism: Making economic gardening work downtown
• Are you ready? Preparing for disaster
• Urban salvage: Repurposing alleys as public spaces
• The growing importance of multichannel retailing
• Measuring success: from inputs to impacts
• Careful planning required for growing nighttime economy
• Capital Thinking: Creative strategies to support at-risk businesses
• Focusing economic development efforts on retaining and creating jobs
• Smaller Business Districts and BIDs — a dilemma
• Got nightlife? Manage sociability as an economic engine
• Partnerships and place management
• Parking facility management and the social economy
• Revising downtown efforts for the post-recession economy
• Arts development a wise investment
• Parking pains: Managing visitors first and last experience downtown
• Lessons from the California redevelopment crisis
• Niche strategies give downtowns a competitive edge
• Downtown organizations and Chambers of Commerce: We like each other, but should we get married?
• The Rain of Pain: Vacant and abandoned commercial properties in your downtown
• A new four-point strategy for downtown renewal
• Creating downtown destinations: From daylighting to fine dining
• Revitalizing America’s downtowns in the 21st Century
• How deep will municipal services be cut? How can downtowns be spared?
• Challenged like no time before, downtowns innovate with community development models
• Small downtown-affordable solutions to an expensive problem, the fear of crime
• As we leave the recession, affordable downtown retail rents are a revitalization imperative
• Downtown managers must quickly master the art of consensus building
• Consumer trends signal opportunities for downtown retail
• The six core elements of safe and vibrant hospitality zones
• While challenges remain in 2010, there are also some very encouraging trends

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