The Successful Few: Healthy Downtowns of Small Metropolitan Regions

Abstract

In the face of increasing suburbanization during the past half century, most downtowns have experienced decline, particularly those of small metropolitan regions. A survey of planners (both practitioners and academics) and other urban professionals has sought to identify small metropolitan regions considered to have successful downtowns and the factors associated with this success. Only a small number of such North American metropolitan regions were perceived as possessing a very successful or successful downtown. Factors that characterize such success are described. We conclude that revitalization policies should concentrate on niche markets that show little interest in homogenized suburban activities. More specifically, planners should focus on the retention and enhancement of the distinct physical characteristics that clearly distinguish downtowns from suburban environments.

More and more U.S. cities and towns are coming to realize the benefits of greater street connectivity: reduced traffic on arterial streets, more continuous and direct routes, better emergency vehicle access, and improved utility connections. Here is an excellent overview of recent efforts by communities across the U.S. to increase street connectivity. The authors look at the motivation behind such efforts, the wide variety of issues raised, and the different approaches taken to resolve them. Planners, decision makers, and neighborhood residents will gain a better understanding of the concept of connectivity and how it applies in their own communities.

Ideally, the jobs available in a community should match the labor force skills, and housing should be J. available at prices, sizes, and locations suited to the workers who wish to live in the area. Some argue that the market is the mechanism that will achieve a balance between jobs and housing. Jerry Weitz researched several types of jobs-housing imbalance and concluded that, in fact, the market failed to achieve such balance in three out of four scenarios. Weitz explains the details of jobs-housing balance– a planning tool that local governments can use to achieve a roughly equal number of jobs and housing units or households, resulting in overall community improvements.