The Way Forward for Downtown Revitalization

Downtown revitalization has been a popular topic since I first started working for the city back in 2006. Since 2006, downtowns have become even more popular destinations as we are now seeing people living in them. But here in Elizabethton we have some large hurdles to jump before we will likely see the full revitalization of our downtown.

Unlike many other smaller cities, Elizabethton, luckily, has never really seen drastic inactivity in our downtown. Sure, businesses come and businesses go, but all-in-all our downtown isn’t starting from a bad place. We also see some activity still occurring. The Downtown Business Association had committed to improving the two walkways in our downtown. Additionally, the city and the Elizabethton Community Foundation have partnered to renovate the old Bonnie Kate Theater providing variety and entertainment to our downtown. But as I mentioned earlier, we still have a way to go.

There really are a few key elements that are critical to successful downtown revitalization projects. The first is the image of downtown. Often, this is one of the most important catalysts. For our downtown this means development façade improvement programs to fix up and improve the looks of our buildings in downtown. This also means streetscape improvements with tree-lined streets and beautification projects.

We also must nurture the quality of downtown placemaking. We must make downtown a destination and a place people desire to go and visit, whether they intend to make a purchase or not. Put simply, a place you would like to go and simply “hang-out” on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Common placemaking elements include sidewalk cafes where you can enjoy a cup of coffee or a beer and people watch. Public art in and around downtown that you can visit and admire. These are not new things. These are techniques old cities such as New York City, London, Rome, and Washington D.C. have been using for years!

These things can be done and countless case-studies have proven this to be true in both big cities and small towns! It does, however, require investment. Investment by the city government, investment by business owners, and investment by property owners. The city can only go so far and only do so much. Downtown properties owners must be champions wanting to see these improvements and improve or sell downtown properties so others may make the investment. Downtown businesses must be willing to tolerate the growing pains of revitalization which may mean a downtown under construction or turbulence business environment as kinks are worked out. In the end it will all be worth it.

The key to downtown revitalization is that we must start with the end in mind. It will be expensive; there will be trying times, but no one else is going to do it for us. If we want it, we must commit to doing it. In the end I am confident that we will see a positive return on our investment. Let’s talk about it!