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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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. 

Phoenixville Train Project Changes Tracks

The Borough of Phoenixville's access to passenger rail to Philadelphia ended through the dissolution of CONRAIL. The Mayor's Task Force for the Restoration of Passenger Rail Service to Phoenixville is spearheading the effort to restore service on the same rail line, now owned by Norfolk Southern.

Impact of Opportunity Zones

Recently I have been asked to help a community group in Coatesville. The group of residents got together and formed a CDC, with a primary focus on the resident. They are separate from the current effort to revitalize Coatesville. They are what some call, an ancillary group — A group of people wanting to do good.

Why Should Small Towns Try to Dictate Their Own Future?

Regionalism, Urbanism, Smart Growth are all buzz words out there concerning revitalization. Many times, people get all their hopes and dreams defined and try to fit into the buzz words. Then there is an attempt to tell people what they want to hear, rather than what they need to do. If, when planning, there is no context to the planning study, you could find yourself running around in circles looking to establish something that is not what you want to do.

Pottstown’s Mosaic Community Land Trust — Revitalizing Pottstown from the Ground Up

Where you live becomes a part of who you are. In most cases, goods and services provided locally are your window on the consumer world. The location of goods and services is only part of the story associated with the quality of life of a place. The entire living experience relates to the quality of life you enjoy in your localities. In many cases the older neighborhoods, since the 1960s, have experienced disinvestment, outward migration and job loss.

Business/Employer Recruitment and the Amazon Example

The recent Amazon relocation to New York has been aborted and one of the all-time business recruitments ended with suddenness. The criteria included considering the “sense of place” and “amenity package” of the locations as part of the selection process. Many cities applied, and I believe that both Pittsburgh and Philadelphia were contenders. It was a highly sought-after economic development goal for many of cities and states.

Housing as a Tool in Downtown Development

Many of the towns that seek to revitalize are the victims of poor housing stock in the downtown. Poor housing stock in the downtown sometimes limits the options for revitalization. I have always looked at the downtown housing stock and occupancy as a barometer of how a town will do in their revitalization efforts.

Preserving Historic Resources in Revitalization

One of the ways that Main Street programs seek to revitalize is through the historic restoration of the downtown. Classified as the "Design” point of the Main Street four points, restoration of the downtown is a key element. The historic downtown could be the cornerstone for marketing efforts in the revitalization project.

Why Does It Take So Long?

Many frustrations occur with delays in projects and progress in the downtown. It seems like it always takes a long time to get anything done. The problem is a function of the process and how the process is processed.

Working as a private sector representative to a public sector process is sometimes confusing and drawn out. A Main Street Manager is sometimes confronted with issues that never seem to go away because it just takes too long to get things done. The problem is not one thing but can be a number of things, and how they relate to the process.

Planning for a Main Street Manager in a New Fiscal Reality

When government money becomes tight, as it has in recently, requests for funding need to be more competitive. The key to submitting a reasonable application relies on doing your homework on the front end. There cannot be any loose ends and there cannot be any holes in the funding application.

The key to a competitive application is a good plan. How are good plans developed? They are developed through stakeholder participation and talent. Many times, I am asked to help a town get some money for a project or an idea and I run into the same problem … not a strong plan.

The End of Main Street as We Know it

The Commonwealth funded Main Street program is about to come to an end. Say goodbye to the Main Street program and say hello to Keystone Communities. The proposed new program will offer fewer dollars for downtown revitalization as the Department of Economic and Community Development (DCED) budget contracts. The proposed new program is a one-year program that is designed to get people started in downtown development. 

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.

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