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MANY downtowns in the south are thriving more than ever. Savannah, Charleston, Alexandria, New Orleans, St. Augustine, Knoxville, Greenville SC, Athens, Wilmington, and Charlottesville all seem to have as much if not more activity downtown than before the pandemic.
Raleigh's an interesting case here. Since the Triangle's major economic engine is the giant Research Triangle Park in the suburbs between Raleigh and Durham, downtown has been growing primarily with residents over the last 2 decades, and that has only accelerated with primarily young, well paid, knowledge workers choosing to be downtown since many of them don't have to go into the office on a daily basis.
I also agree with the previous post that mentioned Miami. It too has largely grown with residential towers for the last 2 decades. In fact it's something that was often jeered here on C-D as not being a "real" downtown with "real" towers since a huge number of the towers weren't commercial office towers. Miami is getting to laugh now.
Portland ME, Burlington VT, Portsmouth NH, Baltimore MD, Frederick MD, Annapolis MD, Alexandria VA, Richmond VA, Grand Rapids MI, Ann Arbor MI, Champaign IL, Madison WI, Santa Fe NM, Santa Cruz CA, Palo Alto CA, Irvine CA, and Honolulu HI come to mind.
Downtown Baltimore and thriving? Fells Point and Federal Hill are not "downtown". Even Inner Harbor looks dead.
Concur with Frederick and Annapolis, though. Throw Fredericksburg VA on that list also (Even though VA right now technically isn't "blue"...)
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In all seriousness places like Center City Philly is doing fine, downtown Pittsburgh is fine. "Remote Work"? Those are going away more and more, and TBH some jobs you simply can't work remotely.
Milwaukee's downtown is thriving! New high-rise luxury apartments, condos, and Northwestern Mutual's national headquarters in downtown, is bringing 2,000 more employees downtown to work, in addition to what they already have downtown. A couple other businesses are relocating their employees to downtown, as well. Substantial additions to downtown, which is already vital.
With a lot of people still working at home does this mean the death of downtowns across the country? Any cities bucking this trend and still busy? Let me know.
What is the purpose of a downtown moving forward?
My (newer) city of 100k population has a dispersed commercial district and no distinct downtown. It seems to be working fine. You know where to go to get what you want. It sits next to a larger (older) city that has a deteriorating downtown and a more vibrant commercial area situated some few miles to the east and a more dispersed commercial life in other areas. The homeless people essentially turned that downtown area into a no-go zone for many residents and businesses.
For 30+ years I lived in a small town with a recently revitalized downtown -- think gentrified -- with sidewalk cafes, boutiques and specialty shops, ice-cream parlors, a few bars and a poolhall. The upper floors were converted into lofts. It was great for some who could afford it and great for tourists. That revitalization took place after the arrival of big-box stores that essentially usurped the homegrown commercial business. The catalyst for revitalization was a microbrewery that brought younger people back to the old downtown.
I think that the notion of dispersed commercial districts is becoming the de facto (and disguised) shopping mall idea of previous decades. Dispersal is sort of a balkanization of city life. That is partially due to big-box stores. There is better parking, fewer crowds, diversity in commercial offerings, and less exposure to undesired or homeless people. Healthcare offices are clustered around hospitals more than in a downtown area. Will developers continue to invest in downtowns as they are now? Downtowns, if viable, and stabilized, and attractive, will still work in some cities. Tourism cities will need to preserve their historic downtowns at least in appearance if not in function.
Government offices and larger office buildings might keep some downtown areas functional and attractive. They can also cannibalize a downtown area by expansion and leveling useful buildings for parking lots.
Within Florida, Miami, St. Petersburg, and Orlando are killing it. Tampa’s improved a lot but still isn’t great. Smaller cities like Sarasota and Lakeland are doing great too.
Lakeland is certainly booming (by Lakeland standards). Below are a list a projects in downtown Lakeland.
Approved Unnamed (Lake Wire) - 4 stories, 84 residential units
Unnamed (Oak Street complex) - 7 stories, 200 residential units; mixed use
Unnamed (The Ledger Property) - 5 to 7 stories, 1500 residential units; mixed use
Under construction Prospect Lake Wire - 4/5 stories, 300 residential units; mixed use
Why would downtowns die? Not every person has a WFH job.
This times 1000. It’s really a privilege of the few who have office type jobs; which most don’t have, especially the working class and lower. Hospital workers, fast food workers, warehouse workers, couriers, teachers, transit workers, I could go on and on. Yeah, there may be a dip but not the end of the world.
I also had a theory that the more we make society “private”, the more people may long for the type of interactions they would have gotten from work environments…we are social beings. That and the need for “content” in our new social media infused world…to see and be seen….both of these things might have the effect of making downtowns even more popular. I don’t see the world moving out to the sticks just because they don’t have to work in a city.
From what I see downtowns are buzzing right now. Philadelphia certainly; and didn’t have a whole lot of office jobs to begin with; it’s a residential downtown.
My (newer) city of 100k population has a dispersed commercial district and no distinct downtown. It seems to be working fine. You know where to go to get what you want. It sits next to a larger (older) city that has a deteriorating downtown and a more vibrant commercial area situated some few miles to the east and a more dispersed commercial life in other areas. The homeless people essentially turned that downtown area into a no-go zone for many residents and businesses.
For 30+ years I lived in a small town with a recently revitalized downtown -- think gentrified -- with sidewalk cafes, boutiques and specialty shops, ice-cream parlors, a few bars and a poolhall. The upper floors were converted into lofts. It was great for some who could afford it and great for tourists. That revitalization took place after the arrival of big-box stores that essentially usurped the homegrown commercial business. The catalyst for revitalization was a microbrewery that brought younger people back to the old downtown.
I think that the notion of dispersed commercial districts is becoming the de facto (and disguised) shopping mall idea of previous decades. Dispersal is sort of a balkanization of city life. That is partially due to big-box stores. There is better parking, fewer crowds, diversity in commercial offerings, and less exposure to undesired or homeless people. Healthcare offices are clustered around hospitals more than in a downtown area. Will developers continue to invest in downtowns as they are now? Downtowns, if viable, and stabilized, and attractive, will still work in some cities. Tourism cities will need to preserve their historic downtowns at least in appearance if not in function.
Government offices and larger office buildings might keep some downtown areas functional and attractive. They can also cannibalize a downtown area by expansion and leveling useful buildings for parking lots.
Some cities that had done amazing jobs preserving their downtowns long before the pandemic are ‘living cities’ with not only good looks, but also such a high degree of functionality that they bounced back rather quickly post pandemic, and are booming into the future with even better ideas for how to grow their cores while mitigating, or at least trying to mitigate, traffic issues that suburban-style development has caused on the outskirts.
The trick is to convert former office buildings into apartments/condos. Another thing my town did right is build parking garages that are free evenings and weekends. It's very helpful for someone from the burbs to know they can park near the stores, restaurants, and activities.
Midtown Manhattan is livelier than ever. Streets are packed with people to the point that my walk from the office to the train is frought with pedestrian congestion.
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