Downtown Economics Newsletter – JANUARY, 2021. Before the pandemic, Latinx[1] entrepreneurs in numerous communities filled vacant downtowns with new businesses like grocery stores, restaurants, and variety stores. These new businesses contributed to increased economic activity and attracted foot traffic by bringing consumers back to the central business district and often appealing to a broad regional […]
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Downtown Economics Newsletter — DECEMBER, 2019. Current Trends in Retail: Looking Ahead to 2020 and Beyond. Summarized by Karina Ward collaborating with Bill Ryan and an ad hoc workgroup.
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Downtown Economics Newsletter — DECEMBER, 2018. Dollar Stores in Small Communities. Are they a good fit in your town? By Jonathan Wolfrath, Bill Ryan, and Patrick Nehring.
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Perspectives from N. David Milder, PhD — Overall, consumer demand and behavior have changed significantly over the past decade. At the end of 2017, those changes are having a lasting impact on the industry.
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Downtown Economics Newsletter – MARCH, 2016. Storemageddon: The end of retail as we know it.
An ever-larger number of communities are investing their economic development resources into attraction programs targeting retail and related businesses.
Downtown districts in Wisconsin’s small cities and villages have significantly different demographic and economic characteristics from those in larger cities. This article profiles small town downtowns from the perspective of who lives downtown, who works there, and what businesses operate in the commercial district.
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Housing has become an important element in comprehensive downtown revitalization efforts. Downtown housing contributes to an active environment that extends activity beyond traditional business hours. Downtown residents who live within a half mile of the middle of a downtown provide a captured market for convenience retail and services. Demographic data provides a foundation to help downtown business operators understand the nearby resident market.
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Third places differ from the places where we live and work (first and second places); they are the places where communities gather. Third places take many shapes. But, it is not the physical nature of the place that makes it a third place. Instead, a third place is characterized by social interaction. This article discusses the characteristics and significance of third places within town.
~Thumbnail by Bruce Richter of UW Wisconsin
A recent Gallup Poll discovered a significant link between the emotional attachment residents feel toward their community and the economic growth of that community. The more emotionally attached residents are to their community, the more likely they will stay there – and spend their money there. The synergistic relationship between successful downtowns and their host community is powerful. Downtowns play instrumental roles in creating communities that people will choose to live in, while people living in and near downtowns help sustain an economically vibrant business environment. This article will discuss the role of downtowns in creating these important place-based attachments. The Gallop results will be compared with two additional surveys to test whether these findings are equally relevant for small and large communities and their downtowns. Special attention will be given to attracting and retaining young people, as the loss of young people is a common problem facing many communities.
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Retirees can be an important demographic in revitalizing downtown economies. 78.2 million ‘baby boomers’ are likely to retire within the next decade. Making downtowns friendly to seniors and insuring sufficient downtown housing can be decisive in encouraging seniors to retire downtown. Creating downtown environments that are both highly livable and accessible to seniors can be a great revitalization opportunity for many cities and towns.
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