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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Change In Neighborhoods Impacted By Gentrification

One of the issues that can arise when you are revitalizing is the potential for people from other areas and income groups to want to live in your (town) neighborhood. Many times the sudden influx causes demand in real estate, both residential and commercial.  The commercial revitalization sometimes makes it hard for some stores to remain downtown when rents go up. 

Good Design as an Asset in a Downtown Setting

Good design in a downtown is always the hallmark of a revitalized community. It is always easy to see bad design if it is particularly bad. When you walk down a street in a downtown, your eyes do not focus on bad design in the form of a rusty fence or a broken sign. In every town there is something.

Law and Order In Phoenixville

It was with surprise that I saw that Chief William Mossman retired from Phoenixville Police Department. His new employer will get a solid law enforcement official with street smarts and technical correctness. I always looked at my relationship with the Chief and the officers of the Phoenixville Police Department as a match made in heaven. 

The Hidden Economic and Social Impact of Illegal Workers in a Downtown Setting

Immigration is a hot topic in the presidential elections, and I started thinking about my interaction with illegal immigrants. Really it starts with me, as my grandfather was illegal. He did not find that out until he was about 90-year old, retired on social security, receiving a steelworker’s pension, black lung benefits and living in subsidized housing. I also have had work experience relevant to the issue.

Dialectics of Change

Change happens no matter who tries to stop it or promote it. When I go into a town to revitalize, by definition of the word it means change. You are taking what is in the town and offering either an enhancement, or repositioning in the regional marketplace. I always seek to look at how I proceed in terms of a linear programming model — To get from point A to point B in the straightest line possible, which will, in many cases be subject to constraints.

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 in Economic Policy

I was reading that in order to get a minister held in Turkey back there were economic sanctions (steel tariffs) imposed upon Turkey. Drastic change for the country of Turkey, and their currency took a tumble losing 14 percent of its value. People are panicking, and we are only talking about steel tariffs.

As the previous scenario is unfolding in the news, you have to start to wonder just how fragile are some of these economies in some of these countries? 

Changes in Phoenixville

I had left Phoenixville in 2012 after working for two years for Manny DeMutis and returned this past February and found that there had been a lot of changes that had taken place in my absence. I had been in Pittsburgh for a couple of years, working on a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) project, and coming home on weekends did not afford me a whole lot of time to do anything. Plus, I have been spending a lot of time in Europe, as I expanded my practice, which further restricted my availability.

Change in Transportation along the 422 Corridor

Recently I returned to Philadelphia after being in Pittsburgh the better part of the last three years looking after my father. Any of you that have elderly parents will soon find out choices in your life will sometimes take a back seat to what you have to do as a responsible family member. Although Pittsburgh, to me, is like being in social Siberia, I would not change a moment of sharing my father’s last days. 

DeMutis Group Funds Study of Options for Rail Service to Phoenixville

Phoenixville Developer Manny DeMutis took time to address the reasons why he is funding a study for the Borough to assess the possibility of options for Rail Service to Phoenixville. His proposal was presented to the borough Infrastructure Committee where it met with approval. It will be forwarded to Borough Council for a vote, where DeMutis expects an affirmative vote to proceed.

Opinion — Change in Freedom

From liberal to libelous, from “Bonzo” to Birch idol, born again. Civil rights, women's rights, gay rights… it's all wrong. Call in the cavalry to disrupt this perception of freedom gone wild. God damn it, first one wants freedom, then the whole damn world wants freedom.

Nostalgia, that's what we want… The good ol' days when we gave 'em hell? When the buck stopped somewhere, and you could still buy something with it. To a time when movies were in black and white – and so was everything else. Gil Scott Heron – Lyrics from the song, “B – Movie”

Internet and Change

I have previously written about the internet bringing people closer together than ever.  Social media lets us know people’s every move. It is now possible to let Google know your location, have amazon send all your needs through prime membership, or put your address phone number and birthdate on Facebook so all your “friends” know.  We have become reliant on our electronic information stream and to form our social networks.

Walking Around Money and Earmarks

I have been advocating for a loosening of the system statewide to bring back Walking Around Money (WAM). There was a time before the single application when the money was awarded without an application, but it was then refined to the Community Revitalization Program (CRP), which at least had a paper trail on how the money would be used.

Change and Loops in Time

As I finish up with my career I am being a little more selective concerning what I work on and try to stay closer to home. Personal circumstances have dictated that I work in Pittsburgh. My father was ill and being “himself” I was drafted to look after his final days. Living in Pittsburgh part time was a little bit different and I remembered why I left every morning when I awoke. So, I decided it would be good to center most of my work back in the Philadelphia area after he passed away and I settled the estate.

Change and Cultural Positioning

Since the onset of civilization, there has been the practice of religion. Belief in God. I say belief because there is no proof one way or the other that there is a god. That is why people talk about their faith, as they have faith that god exists.  I am not here to debate the existence of god, but in the changing political and social climate, the practice of religion has come under attack. 

Change in the Small Town

As we are moving to the ¼ mark of the new century, some of the downtown real estate has taken on a new dimension.  In many cases, the return to the small town has been an “in” thing to do. Some towns have embraced the efforts to become the renewed center of commerce, while some towns have not been able to make that transition. The difference in towns affects the real estate values in the political subdivision, and in turn the income from taxes.

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