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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Why Have a Downtown Keystone Communities Plan?

The Commonwealth has created the designation of Keystone Communities. To be eligible for grants, it is a good idea to have the plan and the designation. The designation gets you preferred status for grants. However, to have this status you need to hire someone to be your revitalization coordinator.

Saying YES as Part of Downtown Revitalization

It is a three-letter word but it can mean the difference between success and failure. Yes, YES is a powerful word. I used the word yes quite a bit when I got to Phoenixville.  Using yes and no at the right times is a crapshoot at best, but one must use one’s best judgment.

Why a Main Street Manager is Necessary

The main street process is a known method for revitalization using promotion, organization, economic restructuring and promotion. The four points, when implemented correctly, provide a powerful revitalization process that has provided results in small communities all across the country.

Oligarchic Influences as Limits of Behavior in a Downtown

I have been on the road a lot for the last couple of months trying to put together financing for projects. I like the opportunity to visualize a project, and then accomplish making the vision a reality. A good visualization for me is having myself in the visualization, looking at the completed project. I find that kind of process is the most effective for me. Then I figure how to fund it, and what constraints I will encounter.

Gaining Momentum for Revitalization

It happens all the time. People get together to revitalize a town, raise some money and hire a revitalization coordinator. Hopes are high that the effort will lead to revitalization of the downtown. It is hard sometimes for the group when nothing happens immediately and people get frustrated. People threaten to drop off the board and tempers flare in the meetings.

Politics and Development

The more I am out on my own working, the more I realize that politics is the essence of doing downtown development deals. Since I have worked in so many places, I have a fairly good idea of what it takes to get a project done. Elected officials, commission members and citizens all have a say in development. When a developer attempts to work in a town, there is always a need to work with the locals.

The Importance of By-Laws in Non-Profit Management

I have created many entities in my days as a revitalization coordinator. I have managed my share of 501 (C) 3 and 4s, in a number of different states. The one thing the organizations had in common is they all had by-laws.

By-laws should never be a secret document, and anyone joining a non-profit board should get a copy of the bylaws upon joining the board. The by-laws are the rules of the organization and procedures for conducting business

Transportation and Downtown Development

Transportation plays a big part of the success of a town that is revitalizing. You want your town to be automobile accessible, but at the same time, you do not want a super-highway running through your town. It is a delicate balance of convenience and walkability is always hard to achieve.

The Vacant Lot as an Asset

In a downtown, there are series of spaces that could be considered public spaces. The sum of those public spaces makes up the whole… that would be the downtown. When you are dealing with public spaces, it is necessary to devise a strategy for each place. It is not good enough to just devise one strategy when you have problematic spaces within the downtown.

How to Assess Your Downtown

The first thing that is necessary to do is look at your downtown. I believe the best way to assess is to spend some time in the downtown sitting on a bench and observe. Watch the people come and go in the downtown and see how they react to the space. I try to just act as a normal person in the downtown and try to make it not very obvious that I am there to observe to get a true sense of what is going on.

Placemaking in two Different Directions

There has been an uptick in towns and cities, allowing open-air dining to increase capacity/distancing issues in restaurants. There was a need to react quickly in a situation where there is a possibility that losing the downtown retail trade that was developed is possible. 

It brings into focus how slow things move in government. If these kinds of decisions can be made in a crisis, why does it take so long when things are not in emergency mode? It is puzzling that programs can be developed, making decisions at lightning speed when it usually is a long process.

Hyper-Segregation a Public Created Entity

In my last article, I wrote about the policies and guidelines that have led to the spatial separation of racial minorities. Laws led to segregation as a result of specific neighborhoods being designated as "red" (high risk) through the Home Owner's Loan Corporation (HOLC) starting in 1933 and the policy was perpetuated through the FHA and the VA loan programs.

It is All Like That

Many people, some whom I don't even really know, have asked me for help dealing with the recovery programs during the COVID-19 crisis — So much so I posted the rules of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) on my website and sent them to the site, so they did not have to write everything down. In most cases, it was a single form with a bunch of attachments that would be done by their accountant.

Phoenixville Train Project Continues to Move Forward

The inter-city rail connection from Phoenixville continues to move forward. For purposes of moving the project forward, the Phoenixville School District voted to endorse the effort. The remaining entity to approve is Chester County. All relevant data has been sent to the county and awaits their endorsement to move the project forward.

Spatial Separation as a Way of Maintaining Housing Value — Part 1

In recent weeks I have devoted a little more time to addressing issues relating to gentrification in Coatesville. It appeared to me to be where somehow many of the black people in Chester County ended up in one place. There is a spatial separation of minorities in Chester County. Minorities are not evenly distributed throughout the county. 

Movement CDC Update, My Project in Coatesville

I recently was asked to help the Movement Community Development Corporation in Coatesville, and I thought year-end I would update the progress they are making in the revitalization.

Coatesville has been an area that has drawn a lot of interest in subsidized housing over the years. The City is designated Racial/Ethnic Concentrated Area of Poverty (RECAP), which is not a real good designation to have bestowed. The housing in the area has vacant and underutilized properties and many tangled title properties. There are many rentals in the City, and the homeownership rate is low.

Phoenixville Today — An Interview with Manny DeMutis

Manny DeMutis is a Phoenixville native who attended Phoenixville School District along with his two sisters Dodi and Ann.  They currently comprise the 3D Group, which was responsible for the revitalization of Phoenixville.  Manny is married to Kate and they have three daughters Hope, Paige and Ava.

The ultimate family man, he currently spends time traveling to Paige’s Field Hockey events in East Carolina or visiting Hope at Penn State.  Because of the nature of his work, Manny spends most of his summers doing business in his beach chair at Cape May.

Federal Opportunity Zones and the Disenfranchised

How do you breathe life into a dying town or a census district that has a lot of poverty and disinvestment? It is pretty tricky when you come to the realization that no one has invested in these areas or properties for a good amount of time. Stores are vacant and the housing becomes the refuge of the low-income population. 

Revitalizing Downtowns with Downtown Infill

When most traditional downtowns were planned, normally there was a residential component to maximize the income of the buildings, and for practical purposes, enable additional rentable space for the owner.  Now, with the movement of people back to smaller towns, the modern-day adaption is not quite like it was in the days when these downtowns were originally designed.

The Culture of the Individual and Aesthetic Considerations

While in Rome last week I had an opportunity to visit the Coliseum which was kind of an adventure to me.  After standing in line for 45 minutes we got to see the artifacts and some of the narratives that went along with the impressive ruins.  There was one part of the tour that stuck in my mind. 

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