There are many things your city council could work on that would make your city better for citizens and visitors. But as politicians go about creating big things, don’t let them overlook smaller amenities … like public restrooms. Want to challenge them? Point out that the NYC Council recently passed a “bathroom bill.” Why not your council? https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/nyregion/nyc-bill-public-bathrooms.html #downtowns #QOL

“Excited to be back on the street level”: In the late 1980s, developers in S.F. opened what looked like a winning project … a nine-story shopping mall on Market St. Fast forward to 2025, and the mall is on its last legs. So where are its tenant stores going? One is returning to the place it began, a traditional shopping district called Union Sq, not far away. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/s-f-downtown-mall-s-loss-goes-to-union-square-20267899.php #retail #downtowns #CRE

#Downtowns are complex environments that get better over time when people, places, infrastructure, events, safety and businesses reinforce one another … or grow worse when these same elements work against one other. S.F.’s downtown is in a “catch-22” moment, where improvements have slowed the decline but not yet reversed it. So … which way will downtown go now? https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/emilyhoeven/article/san-francisco-downtown-union-square-20185733.php

Biggest problem of most #downtowns: too many empty offices. Biggest problem in Savannah GA’s downtown: too few. The office vacancy rate there is 2.1% (Atlanta’s is 16.6%.) Why so little space? The city’s historic office buildings are being converted to hotels catering to the city’s booming tourist industry. Among those begging for this to stop are tourism leaders. Cities, they argue, need offices. https://www.ajc.com/news/business/empty-offices-not-in-savannah-and-the-space-crush-is-worsening/6OWTEW5D4BFU3OA2LFRBGTB2ZY/ #CRE

In the dark days from the 1970s to 2000, #downtowns sought any way to hold on to #retail, as the great department stores closed. One idea: Build something that looks and works like a suburban shopping mall but is in an urban setting. Today, these malls are dead, right? Not quite and the survivors have defenders … including some in Philly who say this particular urban mall is worth saving. https://billypenn.com/2025/02/11/market-east-retail-shopping-future/

Shortly after taking office, S.F. Mayor Lurie wants to make an impression and is beginning with a big problem, what to do with his city’s lifeless downtown. Wisely, he is approaching it as a problem requiring many solutions, including #publicsafety, quality of life and economic development. Just one thing, Mr. Mayor: The age of big #retail is probably over. Think … small retail. https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/downtown-san-francisco-lurie-20047760.php #downtowns

If urban leaders think about hybrid work, they mostly see problems. But what if we saw hybrid work as … good for cities? Consider: If you had to work from home two days a week, would you rather be in a suburban cul-de-sac or an urban neighborhood with restaurants around the corner? Oh, and about downtown buildings: Could hybrid work plus new energy options make them … way more efficient? https://www.citymonitor.ai/analysis/redesigning-offices-buildings-corporate-business-carbon-emissions/?cf-view #downtowns #CRE

#Downtowns rose to importance in the late 1800s when a number of forces combined. The growth of office work and elevators (i.e., tall buildings). Transit hubs. Oh, and the rise of department stores, which gave downtowns a whole new reason for being. Today, department stores are closing in downtowns and suburbs. Should downtowns worry? Leaders in downtown Philly say … no. https://whyy.org/articles/center-city-philadelphia-macys-to-close/ #retail

“You have to have constant activities”: The classic problem of #downtowns and their shopping districts is this: Why would anyone travel to shop in these places? After all, there are almost always places closer to your home you could shop. Thoughtful downtown leaders use this question to build downtowns’ unique qualities, like walkability, experience and charm. Or, what the heck, events! https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/sf-union-square-events-19984648.php

When we’ve talked about converting office buildings to #housing, we’ve thought mostly about #downtowns. Among the big issues: How do you redesign the building so there’s enough light in each unit? But what if the building is in … a suburban office park? Among the big issues there: What will residents do when they walk out the door each day? Bottom line: Conversions in the #suburbs will be way more difficult. https://www.ajc.com/news/business/an-18-story-glass-office-tower-in-chamblee-is-set-to-be-converted-into-housing/IDGSOSCNAZBKVEEVCN22ZLBCFQ/

Here’s a modest proposal for cities: Hold more parades. Why? Done right, they can be a draw for #downtowns, an opportunity for creative types to show what they can do with things in motion, a way of connecting citizens to their community … and, what the heck, a lot of fun for children and adults. Take Denver’s holiday “Parade of Lights,” celebrating its 50th anniversary. https://denverite.com/2024/12/08/look-the-parade-of-lights-dazzles-downtown-denver/

“When downtown Atlanta thrives, the region thrives”: If you’re a business leader, you ought to be happy with Atlanta these days. The economy is booming. Population is growing. Businesses and gov’ts mostly get along. But there is one big problem: downtown Atlanta is lifeless after dark. The regional chamber of commerce says it wants to help fix this … if it can find the missing pieces and put them in place. https://www.ajc.com/news/business/metro-atlanta-chamber-urges-leaders-to-get-behind-downtown-revitalization/TCWXS676ENCRXMEMA2JXQL2GDY/ #downtowns

#Downtowns were never intended to be places for people to live, but that’s changing as housing comes to central business districts. Careful, though. If we try to make downtowns too much like other #neighborhoods, we will lose their unique functions … as urban, walkable places, transit hubs and centers of commerce, gov’t and culture. In adding residents, let’s seek those who crave such environments. https://www.governing.com/urban/a-new-wave-of-investments-in-urban-downtowns

In the 1980s, there was a good deal of interest in “edge cities.” These were suburban places, usually at the intersections of major highways, where development concentrated. Behind the edge city idea were two beliefs: traditional downtowns were dying, and highway access was king. Funny how that didn’t work out. Now we find traditional #suburbs trying to create #walkable #downtowns. Warren MI is one that’s considering a “town center.”https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/macomb-county/2024/10/11/warren-to-once-again-look-at-creating-a-town-center-mayor-stone-says/75617653007/

“The Silicon Valley of theater”: We pay a lot of attention to business and tech startups and the impact these companies have on cities. We also need to pay attention to #arts and #cultural startups and the effects a growing cultural market has on #downtowns and #neighborhoods. Here’s a good place for such a study: Chicago, where the performing arts have grown so much in the past quarter-century. https://www.wbez.org/theater-stages/2024/10/10/broadway-in-chicago-ceo-lou-raizin-downtown-theater-musicals

The GA-Pacific Center is a downtown Atlanta icon. Built in the early 1980s, the 51-story building was once a premier office location right next to a transit station. Now it may become a different kind of icon. Plans are for it to become Atlanta’s largest conversion of office space to residential and retail. The aim: Turn empty offices into 400 residential units, including luxury apartments on the top floors. https://www.ajc.com/news/business/want-to-live-in-atlantas-6th-tallest-tower-you-might-get-the-chance/BVBBCIOYDRGKTL2LUUVKP4A6GU/ #CRE #downtowns

Several streets in downtown Philly will become pedestrian only for four Sundays in Sept. No food trucks. No DJs. Just people walking in the street as some stores and restaurants take a bit more sidewalk space. The downtown BID, which is sponsoring the street closures as an experiment, will track retail sales. Toward what purpose? It won’t say but the BID clearly wants to see if having no cars helps or hurts retail. Hey, #downtowns everywhere would like to know. https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-rittenhouse-square-no-cars-september/

We now know that #downtowns only harmed themselves by creating a sea of #parking where stores and office buildings once stood … and by not supporting the one thing that could have helped #downtowns, which was transit. What WERE they thinking? To know, let’s return to the day in 1951 when downtown Mpls welcomed its first multistory parking deck with the mayor, beauty queens and … yep, a parade of cars. https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2024/08/downtown-minneapolis-ugliest-parking-ramp-which-started-an-endless-and-hopeless-trend-still-stands/

A think tank takes a deep dive into the problems facing big-city #downtowns today and surfaces with solutions. Every proposal is something urbanists are already talking about, from making it easier to readapt commercial property and convert offices to apartments to dealing with homelessness and crime and bolstering public transit. But just because solutions are obvious doesn’t mean they’ll be done. So, let’s get to work. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-to-break-the-doom-loop-actionable-insights-from-the-brookings-future-of-downtowns-learning-exchange/

The pandemic upended the routines of nearly everyone, and so has the end of the pandemic as companies struggle to get workers back to the office. If you feel whipsawed … well, so does everyone else. But special credit to downtown restaurant owners … or, at least, those who survived the past five years. Nothing prepared them for 2020, the shutdown, #WFH or the hybrid work schedules of today. Let’s see how some in Philly coped. https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-center-city-restaurant-economy-remote-work/ #downtowns