CEO @ Downtown Vision, Inc. | Business Improvement District
Thanks to Kent Justice for having me on "This Week In Jacksonville" to talk about Downtown & Downtown Vision Inc. -- my favorite topic!!! The future is bright in #DTJax -- lots of focus, investment and improvements on every block. Jax deserves an even better Downtown. And a better Downtown helps all of #Jacksonville!
https://lnkd.in/ebjbzRCd
Listen in to the latest episode as we talked about the shift in downtown Mesa from a bustling downtown to the forgotten area to reinventing itself into a booming economic area and drawing in top developers and tenants to grow and thrive! #upfrontplanningpodcast
The look, feel, and flow of Downtown Kingston is undeniably distinct. The historic design laid the foundations that our capital city has sprung from, discover more in the first episode of our three-part series 'Downtown Kingston: Reviving Our Capital City’s Cultural Legacy’, in collaboration with the CB Facey Foundation.
"It will make you cry." - Stephanie Barber Geter.
I was honored to meet and interview Stephanie Barber-Geter for my film "Buffalo: America's Best Designed City." (see an excerpt below)
Mrs. Barber-Geter (1954-2024) was a "community pillar" for Buffalo - an original opponent of the destruction of Humboldt Parkway, and a tireless champion for restoring it.
Eleven years ago, we released the film in which she appears, which now has 1.2 million views.
The film reminds Buffalo that it was once "the best-planned city in the world," and recounts how it later squandered that legacy in a series of tragic decisions: Buffalo rammed freeways through its one-of-a-kind world-class Olmsted parks; and for good measure, the city added a freeway all along the entire waterfront, cutting off downtown and historic neighborhoods from access to the Niagara River and Lake Erie.
There really is only one path forward for Buffalo. It's especially obvious now that even the economic development experts (after so many failed silver bullet projects) have realized that the best economic development is actually #placemaking.
Buffalo can easily reclaim its title as America's best-designed city - and it does not require some insanely expensive expenditure or innovative invention. The money and technology to fix it exist right now. It is eminently doable. It simply requires removing the freeways.
This is not even a radical proposal anymore. #FreewayRemoval has been done in cities all across America and around the world, and it has worked every time. Milwaukee, Seoul, San Francisco, Rochester, the list goes on.
Stephanie Barber Geter spoke the truth. Hopefully, other civic leaders will finally rise up and call for the removal of freeways, the reconnection to the waterfront, and complete restoration of Olmsted's parks and parkways.
It's taken a few months, but I have my newest deep dive history of downtown Gainesville, part two of a three-part history. The 1980's were the first steps in revitalization. By focusing on designing for people and investing in the arts we created the sparks that would make downtown a lively city center by the early 2000's. How we funded that and how these decisions made downtown what it is today was what I focused on. Give it a read and let me know what you think:
https://lnkd.in/gdCwxspF
Today, I’m standing with Mayor Breed and Sen. Wiener to announce the first Entertinment Zone in California - Front Street!
“Downtown San Francisco needs a nightlife renaissance post-pandemic. Launching California’s first ever entertainment zone on Front Street is significant and will catalyze more reasons to come downtown,” Robbie Silver, executive director of the Downtown SF Partnership, said in a statement.
Kevin TruongThe San Francisco Standardhttps://lnkd.in/da6Y_3vx
--MRS. HONEY ROSE FROM OUTEAST!!! COMMUNITY CHAMPION! ADVOCATE ! COMMUNITY QUARTERBACK!!!!
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