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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Main Street Manager and Business Recruitment

One of the goals important to board members of a Main Street program is business recruitment. I know that many board members feel that the culmination and result of the main street effort should be to bring in more new stores to the downtown. Recruiting makes your town more vital and helps to diversify the business mix. This is a good goal but it is not an easy goal to attain. 

Revitalization and Government Budgets

Many remember the days when main street projects were plentiful and many boroughs in the region were participants in the state sponsored Main Street Program. In the past couple of years there have been issues with governmental budgets and there has been considerable belt tightening. Many of the programs were terminated as cities and boroughs tried to balance their budgets and still keep essential services.

Downtown Infill

Many times when doing downtown economic revitalization you encounter “holes” in the streetscape. These are lots in the downtown that for one reason or another do not have buildings on them. The lack of continuous buildings creates problems with foot traffic flow. 

Economic Restructuring in the Downtown

When a town gets together to revitalize there is always a lot of discussion concerning they want to accomplish and how they want to move forward with any number of projects. When the projects start moving ahead there is a sudden realization concerning what they really want, and that is economic restructuring. In the beginning the question always arises just what is really economic restructuring, and what can be done to effectuate it? If in the initial stages, the group simplified economic restructuring to be too general, it could present a problem.

Organizing for Revitalization

Perhaps the first step in the revitalization process is the organizing process. You know how it goes— a few people get together and say they need to do something about their town. Usually they refer to how things were in the past when people walked four abreast down the street. But also, it could be a couple of people seeing potential and seizing the moment to plan some improvements for the future.

The Standard Event

One of the issues that towns struggle with all the time is how to bring more people downtown. There is nothing like putting people on the street as a way to give your town the feel of revitalization. If the town has had a “heyday” in the past, people will always compare what happens in a revitalization to the “heyday.”

What is Your Town's Vision?

Each town is a unique entity with different strengths and weaknesses. Some towns have a strong building stock, some have strong retail and others have little of anything. The focus on what your town has to offer can many times be overlooked.

The Importance of a Sense of Place

One of the hardest things to do as a main street manager is to develop a sense of place for the town.  Many times when someone is hired to revitalize a town there is really just a thought of what the town “used to be” back when it was in it’s heyday. People talk about how the crowds could not be accommodated on the sidewalk because there were so many people shopping. In most cases that perception of what it “used to be” is not relevant to what it is now. 

Acting as an Agent of Change

Recently I was honored by the Governor as an Agent of Change and inducted into the Keystone Society for Tourism. It was something I had not expected but the category and the spirit of the award fit the style of downtown management that I employ and I was happy to be recognized. I am the first Main Street Manager to be honored by the award.

Organizational Relationships

Many times downtown Main Street Boards delegate some of the nuts and bolts of the revitalization to committees. Committees could include economic development, design, and promotion. Some Main Street Boards are creative and have an inter-group committee to interact with other agencies. Committees are where the work gets done and the community input is secured.

When the Administrative Elite Goes Silent

When I graduated from college with a BA in Political Science, my father helped me get an appointment as an intern for the AFL-CIO in the Industrial Union Department (Old CIO). I was excited to start a career and was assigned to work on an education program explaining the new Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1971.

Disrupting The Administrative Elite

In my last few columns, I have discussed how things work in government. In my August column, I discussed how the administrative elites can make problems disappear through interpretation.  In September, in my interview with Phoenixville philanthropist Manny DeMutis, I discussed how environmental issues impacting local beaver habitats in the revitalization of Phoenixville impacted potential development.

Phoenixville Revitalization — Interview with Manny Demutis

(The following is an interview Barry Cassidy conducted with Phoenixville developer Manny Demutis in Cape May, New Jersey on September 8, 2024.)

Q. Why are you spending a lot of time in Cape May?

We own the Inn of Cape May, an ideal summer setting. I have a house close to the hotel and provide oversight when needed. I try to blend as much work time as I can into days at the beach.

Q.  Saw the live band out in front of the Inn last night. It seems like you drew a nice-sized crowd out there.

Understanding the Administrative Elites

I remember attending meetings with my peers in economic development and being told I could not do what I was doing. I know that sounds odd, but it is true. I have always tried to be creative when doing economic development. I gained expertise because I would read the regulations and examine the process for getting things done. My theory was that if there is a form to ask if you can do it, you can do it if you meet the criteria. 

City Downtowns Contracting

The conversion of office space to housing is not just a potential wave of the future but also a promising avenue for real estate developers and business owners. This trend, while requiring the satisfaction of existing leases in some cases, also presents a unique opportunity in the wake of the remote work shift that has affected downtown businesses across America. More housing would put more people on the street.

The Rise of Vintage

While in London for the Phillies game, my wife and I had a little bit of free time to shop and dine out. In Chelsea, we visited the John Lewis Department Store. It was a full-blown department store with electronics and appliance departments. I think it was six floors packed with goods. In the ladies' clothing section, I took a seat while my wife browsed the English fashions.  

Filling Vacant Storefronts After the Pandemic

I am currently in Portland OR on my cross-country journey to evaluate the recovery from the 2021 lockdown. I was deeply impressed by the transformative power of innovative strategies and the strategic use of ground-floor retail. These approaches are not only breathing new life into the towns but also fostering a sense of optimism and advancement.

Downingtown Property Owners and Residents to Address Flooding

As a property owner in Downingtown for the last twenty years or so, I have experienced three floods that have affected the community. They all caused a lot of damage, and it took a long time to recover. The flooding during Hurricane IDA was particularly devastating.

The thing about Downingtown is that, in many cases, if it is not raining, there is no problem, and it is time to move on. I tried to work through the process to address flooding issues and found the process onerous locally. 

Establishing a “Sense of Place”

When Fred Kent created and ran the Project for Public Spaces, he inspired me with the placemaking concept, and I became very interested in learning. He was somehow ousted later, and the group of 400 people he put together internationally collapsed under new management. 

I always remember what he said about how you can only hold someone’s interest for about 100 feet when they are walking in a downtown setting. Figure twenty-five feet per storefront would be like four storefronts in terms of distance.

The Second Round of Lockdown Study

I plan on another nationwide evaluation of downtown vacancies due to the 2021 lockdown.  This time, I will leave a few days before I did in 2021 and hope it does not get upper 90s temperatures in some of the locations, as I encountered in 2021. 

I will also be able to have solid data on office vacancies in many of the big cities during this round. Still, I can also quickly determine the office vacancies in some small towns that I need to rank in the system. 

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