Magazine
Articles
The Essential-for-Success
Downtown Tool Kit
By Dolores P. Palma and Doyle G. Hyett
HyettPalma, Inc.
Making Downtown Renaissance a Reality
Nationwide, elected officials are realizing that great Downtown’s
don’t just happen… they must be orchestrated. To do so, a
clear blueprint is needed to orchestrate Downtown’s economic success.
The Tool Kit
There is a "essential-for-success" tool kit which must be in
place for Downtown enhancement programs to succeed. The tool kit includes
the following.
Vision — To enhance your Downtown
in a way that pleases a majority of citizens and makes the best use of
limited local resources, a shared community "vision" is needed.
Local government officials and citizens, working together, must define
their shared preferences and desires for the future. These communities
ask themselves:
Do we want our Downtown
to be guided by chance or choice?
Market Analysis — Downtown is part
of an "industry" that includes many giants — from shopping
centers to large discount stores to "power centers" to outlet
malls to catalogues and Internet shopping. These giants wouldn't even
think about going into business without first completing a market analysis.
And, for Downtown's investors to play on a level playing field, this tool
must be on hand for the commercial district. Therefore:
Starting your Downtown
enhancement effort with a market analysis is absolutely essential.
Ideally, the market analysis should define
Downtown's realistic potential for retail, office, and housing development.
The market analysis should not be seen as an end in and of itself. Instead,
the market analysis should be viewed as a means for defining an aggressive,
implementation-oriented economic enhancement strategy that is tailored
to address your Downtown's needs and recreate your Downtown's economy.
Enhancement Strategy — The visioning
process and market analysis should culminate in defining a business-like
Downtown enhancement strategy — a series of "right" actions
to implement in your Downtown. Simply put, the Downtown enhancement strategy
is an aggressive and implementation-oriented course of "right"
actions that are based on the market analysis findings and visioning process.
While the "right" actions are
unique to each Downtown, typically, a Downtown enhancement strategy includes
actions that fall into the following issue categories:
- Strengthening and retaining Downtown's
existing businesses;
- Attracting appropriate additional businesses
to Downtown;
- Improving the physical appearance of
both public and private property;
- Ensuring that Downtown is actually safe
and perceived as being safe;
- Making Downtown's parking and traffic
patterns consumer-friendly; and
- Marketing Downtown to current and potential
spenders.
In essence, the Downtown enhancement strategy
should provide a blueprint for actions that are business-like, stimulate
reinvestment, and generate additional revenues for investors. Those implementing
the enhancement effort should never lose sight of the fact that:
A successful Downtown is one whose investors
(business owners, property owners, real estate developers, the local government,
etc.) realize an increasing return on their investments — and, therefore,
can justify reinvesting in Downtown over the long-term.
Downtown Partnership — For Downtown
to reach its full potential, a management vehicle is needed that allows
Downtown's key constituents to plan and work together to implement the
enhancement strategy. To provide this vehicle, a strong private-public
partnership must be in place. The partnership should act as the umbrella
organization that unites all of Downtown's key partners in acting for
the betterment of Downtown as a whole, serves as the primary advocate
for Downtown and the enhancement effort, and provides the leadership necessary
to implement the Downtown enhancement strategy.
Funding — Garnering an adequate level
of funding, that allows the partnership to implement the enhancement strategy
in a timely and quality manner, is critical for success. Therefore, immediate
and aggressive fundraising efforts should be a high priority of the Downtown
partnership. And, for long-term success, funds should be sought from a
variety of private and public sources.
About the Authors
Dolores P. Palma and Doyle G. Hyett are
the founders of Hyett Palma, Inc., the only national consulting firm specializing
in the economic renaissance of Downtowns and older business districts.
Since being formed in 1985, the firm’s work has restored confidence
and stimulated private investment in hundreds of Downtowns nationwide.
In addition, HyettPalma provides all technical assistance for the America
Downtown® program (offered by the National League of
Cities) and the Indiana Downtown® program
(offered by the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns). The firm was
recently selected to complete 10 Downtown economic enhancement strategies
in Michigan in association with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s
new Downtown enhancement program titled Blueprints for Michigan
Downtowns, which was collaboratively created in association
with the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan State Housing Development
Authority.
For more information concerning the America
Downtown® program please call Deborah George-Feres with
the National League of Cities at 202-636-3129.
For more information about HyettPalma, please
visit www.hyettpalma.com.
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