The Changing Face of Historic Renovation
When I first started as director of a downtown organization in the early aughts, my predecessor gave me one piece of advice: stay away from historic preservation. Apparently, she had once tried to establish a historic district and had been shot down by the board fairly handily. It only took 2 years for everything to change. In the […]
Read MoreNaturally Occurring Arts Districts
Oftentimes, when people are busy making the big plans, everyone else is working on the little plan. Over the decades, a number of brainstorming sessions were held by our city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau to see if a cultural district could be created somewhere in the downtown area. Overall, a great discussion to have, and one that […]
Read MoreRestoring the Downtown Street Grid
Sometime in the next year, Austin will be adding nine new streets to their downtown, restoring the street grid and fixing what is called a “transportation dead zone.” According to the Austin American Statesman: (Director of the Downtown Austin Alliance Charlie) Betts noted that adding streets reverses what has been a sporadic trend of the […]
Read MoreUrban Archaeology and Ghost Hotels
If you’ve ever remodeled your kitchen, you may have an inkling what it’s like to renovate an historic building. Rehabs often take longer than planned because you simply don’t know what you’re going to find once you remove the drywall. But what if the thing you find is a historic hotel? In Orange, California, just […]
Read MoreThe Limits of the Built Environment
Is it smart people that make cities thrive or is it a great built environment? From Witold Rybczynski’s Slate article on Edward Glaeser’s Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier: Glaeser defines the city as a “mass of connected humanity.” His emphasis on human capital is […]
Read MoreA New Downtown Hotel
We spend a lot of time here trying to make The District more attractive and more vital, but how often do we think about our gateways? They are the doors to downtown and create a first impression in the mind of a visitor. The gateway at Providence and Broadway could use some improvement–and the consultants who put together […]
Read MoreAn Arts District Comes Into Its Own
Last week I had the pleasure of sitting down with several of the movers and shakers in the North Village Arts District at a Tourism Breakfast hosted by the Columbia Business Times and I have to give them all kudos for what they’ve helped create. Most of us remember when the area north of Broadway […]
Read MoreTax Increment Financing
There’s been a lot of talk of a new development program called Tax Increment Financing (TIF). I’ve put together this overview designed to describe how this program works and highlight what TIF can do for a downtown. TIF Overview.Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is a way to help encourage the development of catalytic projects,particularly in a […]
Read MoreFrom NIMBY to NIICHI
We’re all aware of the NIMBY phenomenon–“Not In My Backyard”–but I’ve begun noticing a new one, NIICHI or “Not If I Can’t Have It”. A small but vocal group of business and property owners recently came together in our city to oppose Tax Increment Financing, a new development incentive designed to encourage more downtown infill […]
Read More