Downtown Marketing and Development

Insights and observations on the redevelopment and revitalization of post-industrial towns on the Route 422 Corridor in Southeastern Pennsylvania.

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Setting Goals and Objectives for Revitalization

One of the first things that groups should do after deciding to revitalize their community is set some goals they want to achieve, and list a number of objectives they need to address. A solid plan with the goals and objects, spelled out in simple terms with a time line for attainment provides a map for the flow of the revitalization.

Death of the Greenline

When you are a revitalization coordinator in a town, you learn to “go wide” with projects so you can have the greatest impact in a community. Business people and governments raise a bunch of money, articulate all their hopes and dreams, and hand them to you to make a reality.

New Opportunities

The winds of political change flew through the state capitol last fall, as we were the recipients of a new governor. Any time the government changes administrations, new priorities bring new programs for communities across the commonwealth.

State Stores in the Downtown

Main Street Managers talk to each other all of the time. One manager will encounter many of the same problems encountered by another manager. One problem continues to come to the forefront of issues relating to the downtown… losing your Liquor Control Board (LCB) state store.

Transit Oriented Development is a Plus for a Community

America of the 1870s saw a lot of towns suddenly appear along the rail lines as the population moved westward. Chicago and Los Angles grew into large cities and rail hubs from small towns, because people wanted to be near transportation. Smaller towns like Sayre, Pennsylvania started as a company-controlled entity as the railroad located headquarters there.

Vision and Development

I was in Phoenixville the other day and found that the new downtown development is being constructed that will soon transform downtown Phoenixville. The project has been in the works since 2010. My working the project through the initial approval process was my first consulting job after the Main Street CDC in Phoenixville.

“I Am Main Street” Begins

The effort to create a more dynamic and self-sustaining downtown/neighborhood revitalization effort is finally ready to kick off. Eight downtown managers from around the state have banned together to form the “I AM MAIN STREET” organization. Starting anything from scratch is a difficult task, and there have been many ups and downs while starting this movement.

Promotions and Festivals as an Economic Development Tool

There is always a need for things to happen in a downtown around Christmas in order to spur year-end sales. It is hard for a downtown to compete with big box stores or the chain stores that are located in malls. People try to shop in the downtown central business district as a way of securing alternative goods that are not part of the homogenized offerings of the chains and the big box stores.

Downtown Development as a Profession

Many people ask me “How did you get into the downtown development business?” The fact is that I am not sure how it happened. I remember in the early years it was not really a profession, and it was hard to explain what I did for a living.

Can Something Be So Bad It Is Good?

I have worked in a number of communities that have attempted to revitalize their downtown, and faced obstacles because of poor housing stock surrounding the downtown. The commonwealth attempted to address this problem with the Elm Street program. If the housing stock around the downtown is deteriorating, in many cases it deters people from entering the area.

Grant Packaging

One of the items that people seeking government funding need to recognize is that there is not really only one source for many projects. There are federal grants, state grants, and local grants, each being a little different and each being a little alike.

Leveraging Local Dollars as a way of Funding Projects, Part 2

Last month I went over how important it is not to be an undiscovered island in a sea of projects offered to funding sources. I discussed how important it is to put a “face” on the project. Local leaders need to step to the forefront to discuss their project desires with the agencies regulating the activity. This ensures that the project is not coming from left field somewhere, but as part of an announced strategy to rectify whatever problem is at hand.

Leveraging Local Dollars as a Way for Funding Projects

People are always asking me, “how is it that you are able to access grants”? I always blow off that question because I do not know. I know that if you write a good application, you score a lot of points and you are competitive. That is all that you can ask, that you are competitive to get yourself on the board.

Financial Packaging in a Difficult Environment

In a time when money is tight in the public sector, things become more competitive when a community is seeking money for economic development. I write grants, and know that the level of the quality of applications is higher when there is less money. 

Much of the time, the types of grants a community can apply for is dictated through the availability of local match money. Where there is an issue with raising the local match, the types of grants and availability of grants are limited.

Who Revitalizes a Downtown?

Any time you hear of a town that wants to revitalize the downtown area, there are reasons for people get together to form a revitalization committee. Some towns are not that bad. Some towns are really bad. The question is always, what do we do to fix it? Many times, the answers the group comes up with, are to tell others what to do.

Change as a Constant

Since I am the only recognized “Agent of Change” in Pennsylvania… so declared by the Governor at one time… I thought I would change up this column a little bit this month and write about change. 

Elimination of Funding Schools through Property Taxes

The budget talks are ongoing in Pennsylvania and one of the items is how to fund the schools. Some of it centers on how to implement a plan that collects only a partial amount of the entire amount gained through property taxes by schools. Although I am not privy to the discussions, I could imagine concerns that certain school districts will not get a rightful share and the money.

Main Street as an Economic Development Generator

“Back in the day they walked three or four abreast in the downtown on a Saturday night.” That is a familiar quote from residents of a community as they talk about how the downtown has lost favor in the regional marketplace.  Looking at the streets bare and without activity must mean that the town is no longer viable. 

Politics and the Budget

Pennsylvania has gone a couple of months without a budget. It appears that the day to day running of the government has been spared the pain, but things are just not being done. The future of the Main Street program hangs with the budget, so the main street managers have a stake in the budget this year.

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