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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Sanctuary Cities Downtown

In a past article, I discussed the potential for labor abuse involving illegal aliens in the downtown. The lack of redress of grievances based upon illegal immigration status leads to abuse in many instances. They are a large supplier of day labor for food service facilities and “hitching post” type parking lot labor availability sites, the most famous of these sites being the Acme parking lot in Manasquan New Jersey. 

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.

Office Contraction May Exceed My Estimation

As I toured America the last month or so, I saw that many cities were ghost towns. If there was a large office concentration, those buildings stood vacant. Corresponding retail was either completely closed and all of the inventory pulled off the shelves or closed without notice of closure with inventory and fixtures remaining inside. It was hard to tell if the stores with inventory remaining would ever open. 

Messaging and Vacant Space

I have finished my trip across the country trying to assess public/private space in the cities.

I was gone from May 15 to June 15 and stopped in many cities along the way. I took the southern route to head west and used a northern route to return.

I perceived that the virus has had different outcomes in many of the cities. A common factor was the vacancy rate, and it appeared to be exacerbated by communities that experienced civil unrest. There is considerably less foot traffic in almost all of the towns.

What is Equitable Rail Service?

As social mores and values change, so do the programs offered by various agencies of government. Things become popular, and there are buzz words that are used and not fully understood. One of the things that have been given more prominence recently in the news media is the concept of “equity.”

Space Assessment in America

I think that having my basic existence upset at this stage of my life was a surprise.  I never thought I would spend a year indoors.

Traveling in Italy looking for a house, I became aware of the virus and just got out in time.  Upon arriving back in the U.S., I went to Florida for a while and then again, under emergency action, hightailed it home with one quick stop at a Holiday Inn in Walterboro, South Carolina as at that stage of the virus, the US was putting the clamp on travel.

How Could Tax Increment Financing Work for the Reading to Philadelphia Train Project?

There are many ways to do things in the public sector, and sometimes proposed programs work, and sometimes they do not. I have made my living using programs that do not necessarily work for everyone. There is usually a substantial discussion on why things work or do not work.  Many of these issues are dealt with in planning documents.

PENN DOT Completes Analysis for Implementing the Reading to Philadelphia Rail Line

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation recently provided a passenger rail analysis concerning a one-seat ride from Reading to Philadelphia. The proposed service corridor includes SEPTA's Main Line from Center City Philadelphia, SEPTA's Norristown Line to Norristown, Norfolk Southern’s Schuylkill River Bridge, and the Harrisburg Line to Reading. The proposed station stops are Valley Forge, Phoenixville, Royersford, Pottstown, Birdsboro, and Reading.

The Phoenixville Train Project Becomes Part of Something Larger

My rail project has taken a lot of twists and turns along the way. As you do these kinds of projects, circumstances change regularly and attitudes toward the potential of success are re-evaluated. After much back and forth, Penn DOT completed a study (synopsis article in issue) assessing the potential for the line. Two and a half studies were done previously with the Reading Group creating an AMTRAK operator Plan, the Mayor's Task Force from Phoenixville using SEPTA as the operator, and an AMTRAK ridership and route analysis, which was part of a larger report.

Small Business Recovery on Main Street

Many of the downtowns in the Delaware Valley have experienced adverse effects on business because of the Covid-19 virus. The lack of access to customers because of various shutdowns has created many landlord-tenant issues that need to be addressed before businesses can get back on track.

The shutdown also impacted the apartment tenants who have been unable to work. Evictions of longer-term tenants would be an unexpected occurrence but with the lack of the ability to earn a living, some of these issues are beginning to surface.

The Year 2020 Never Ceases to Amaze Me

The shutting down of restaurants and bars has had a lethal effect on small towns that have a healthy food and beverage industry as part of their revitalization strategy. The atmosphere, the events, and the areas used as a common gathering space for festive recreation add to why downtowns have been successful.

The Governor issued an order, and it should be obeyed. If the evidence shows a threat, perhaps it is a good action, and I will not go through the dynamics of the spread of the disease. My ideas are not mainstream and not intended to get too Thomas Dolby with everyone.

Remote Work and the Future of Cities

If anything, the virus has forced companies to rethink the staffing and meeting strategy of the organization. I had never even heard of Zoom until the virus, and now it is part of the lexicon in a way that Xerox is to copies.

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