Georgia Downtowns
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Downtown Design: In the Beginning

6/29/2016

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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/RomeGeorgia.jpgRome, Georgia

Pondering the beginnings of a downtown’s design is a useful exercise for any main street manager, city council member, or historic preservation supporter.

Consider: what is the pattern of your downtown’s street and building network? Was it organized in equal grids around a central public square or shaped with curves and twists along a meandering river? Or is it positioned linearly along a railroad line? Such original planning decisions were made by your downtown’s founding leaders and set the mold that made your town unique.

The next steps in its unique development may have been based on property owners’ and builders’ choices of materials: what was readily available to the craftspeople who designed and built the area’s first commercial and residential buildings? Were the preferred building materials some type of locally sourced wood, brick, or stone, or something even more exotic and unique to the area?

After decades of development, did your city decide to implement zoning and design guidelines to manage 20th century growth with the introduction of automobile traffic and suburban building? How did that planning and zoning impact the design and construction decisions that still characterize the look of your downtown today, now maybe 75 years later?
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Once you have assessed your downtown’s design history, ask yourself, what is your community doing today to guide good design for the future of your downtown? Are you leading efforts to update or draft downtown master plans that allow local residents to provide essential input on preservation and new construction guidelines? I know that many Georgia cities are engaged in this visionary effort and should be applauded for their leadership. When working with a clear understanding of the influence of past design, Georgia’s downtowns are positioning themselves for a twenty-first century vision for success!
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Thinking Great on Main Street

6/23/2016

 
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Applying for the Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) is more than completing an application – it is an exciting opportunity for you to measure the successes of your downtown revitalization program. Once you embrace the work, you’ll discover that the required level of reflection is, in fact, energizing. The process will help you better communicate your downtown’s successes through verbal, written, and visual methods. Long after the application is submitted, you’ll continue to return to the rich portfolio you created and use it to tell your downtown story.
For example, the GAMSA application requires the applicant to consider the concept of “live-ability,” as it relates to downtown, asking:
  • What is your downtown’s level of walkability for pedestrians?
  • What are the existing residential options, availability, and price points?
  • Are there any incentives available for residential rehabs, restorations, or new construction?
  • Is the number of downtown residents increasing?
  • Is there an adequate mix of retail businesses, service businesses, restaurants, and cultural amenities to serve the needs of residents?
  • Who are the downtown partners who are helping, or can help you, implement projects to make downtown more live-able?
Completing the GAMSA application may seem like a big task, but if you and your team keep in mind the additional benefits gained by focusing on your downtown’s assets and its successes and needs, at the end of the process you will already be a winner!
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Just around the corner

6/12/2016

 
Coming soon! Watch for blog posts on 
  • Living Downtown
  • First Impressions
  • Launching a Main Street Program
  • A Path to Prosperity
  • Boards that Work
  • Smarter Marketing
  • Music and Markets
  • Downtown Flora
  • Walk and Talk
  • Innovation Centers
  • Town and Gown Partnerships

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    Word on Main

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Georgia Downtowns
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​​​Strategies and Solutions ​for Main Street
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