Downtown and District Plans

Downtowns are traditionally the “front doors” to cities and regions, while neighborhoods are where people live, learn, and play. These and other “districts” need their own specific plans as well as a comprehensive plan for the entire city.

Downtowns are centers of mixed use. While many of them lost that vision as suburbs expanded, the strong trends in America today favor downtown environments for a wide range of housing, workplace, recreation, open space, shopping, dining, and multi-modal transportation activities. Development Strategies provides the economic, market, and financing underpinning to downtown (and similar commercial centers) programming and sustainability.

Likewise, urban neighborhoods—and even many suburban neighborhoods—are returning to a greater mix of activities. These generate more street life “after hours” and more walkability in safer circumstances. Still, not every neighborhood can support a full range of housing types and retail stores, so it is crucial to evaluate realistically attainable economic development and demographic goals.