Kyle Priestley’s Post

🏙️ Exciting times for Cincinnati! Attended an insightful panel discussion by SMPS Cincinnati focused on revitalizing our downtown. Key takeaways: ▪ Transforming office spaces into apartments is a game-changer. It not only adds life to the city but also supports local businesses. ▪ Historical tax credits are vital in preserving our heritage buildings, making urban renewal projects more feasible. ▪ The Children's Theater of Cincinnati highlighted the role of 'play' in urban spaces. Proud to have the oldest children's theater in the nation right here! ▪ Amenities aren't just extras anymore; they're essential for creating vibrant communities where people can work, live, and play. ▪ Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of community growth. ▪ Attracting and retaining talent is key. Our connection with local universities, community engagement, and the unique, welcoming culture of Cincinnati make it a place people love to call home. 🌟 What stands out about Cincinnati is its scale – big enough to offer diversity and opportunity, yet small enough to maintain a strong sense of community. ✨ Let's keep the momentum going. Engaging with communities early in development projects is crucial. We're not just building spaces; we're building relationships. #CincinnatiRevitalization #CommunityDevelopment #UrbanRenewal #HistoricalPreservation #DiversityInclusion

Today, Brandon M. Scott released Downtown RISE: A 10-Year Vision, a comprehensive long-term outlook for downtown that builds on Mayor Scott’s Downtown RISE: Strategic Action Plan, launched last month. This 10-Year Vision, a collaboration between Mayor Scott’s Administration, Gov. Wes Moore’s Administration, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, Baltimore Development Corporation and a diverse downtown stakeholder group, serves as a framework to make #Baltimore’s #Downtown more livable, pedestrian friendly, and vibrant. Congrats to Shelonda Stokes and team on its release! Full Website: https://lnkd.in/eptritHd Downtown RISE: A Strategic Action Plan provides strategies across key four focus areas: 1) economic development, 2) infrastructure development, 3) arts, culture, and entertainment, and 4) public safety and cleanliness. The full plan can be found at https://lnkd.in/eg_cGtBn. Downtown RISE: A 10-Year Vision is a framework for a more livable and inclusive downtown, and the release kicks off 6 months of community engagement. Direct link to the pdf version can be found at https://lnkd.in/efB5Kp_r.

Thanks Lyndhurst Foundation Inc, PlayCore, Chattanooga Design Studio, City of Chattanooga, and Eric Myers for bringing Gil Penalosa to #chattanooga on February 22. In 6 short years, Gil and his team built 200 urban parks and activated roadways, sidewalks, school yards and public areas for public uses across Bogota. His team's successes showed the world that creating great cities isn't about having plenty of resources, or waiting for some long, drawn out bureaucratic process or glacial pace decision making effort to reach a measured conclusion. Rather, creating great cities beyond what we may think possible is simply a matter of priorities. Who gets to set these priorities? It's the people who live in cities, because they are what make cities so special, resilient, and powerful. Gil's 8 80 Cities team and value proposition challenge cities to prioritize creating the good things - livability, mobility, opportunity, fun, beauty, health, and wellness. All possible, especially in cities like Chattanooga where landscapes swim in culture, ecology, adventure, art, sport, faith, and creativity (and Usher). Listen to this interview to learn more. Hope to see y'all at CIVIQ. https://lnkd.in/e4U2N49G #parks #urbanplanning #conservation World Urban Parks

The Center for an Urban Future has just issued a superb commentary about specific steps NYC could take to support neighborhood parks partners. The problems and solutions it identifies mirror those for small BIDs in NYC, which I wrote about with @RPA last year in Go Local! Help Us Help You. The through line, not just in NYC but in many cities, is the need for proactive and positive policies to make place-centered partnerships more empowered and equitable, through Trusted Partner programs and other innovations. NYC has made very good progress under its new Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu, but there's still much more to be done. Finding solutions to these issues across sectors and across cities is my focus at the Sustaining Places Initiative at NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management. https://lnkd.in/eW78_-8R Go Local Report: https://lnkd.in/eHUKcM6T Sustaining Places: https://lnkd.in/ePFEpsJr.

One building can spark positive change in an entire neighborhood! Thank you, Seth Kaplan for advocating for the neighborhood perspective, our engaging dialogue, and for sharing our thoughts. For us, #NeighborhoodMaking is an approach, rather than scale. It’s about seeing every element—whether a building, park, or street—as contributing to the neighborhood’s sense of belonging and identity. When these elements work together, they create social value that truly impacts where it matters most: our #neighborhoods, where we #live, raise our #children, and build our lives. #NeighborhoodMaking #SocialValue #NeighborhoodStrategies

How can a single building contribute to a socially flourishing neighborhood? How can the way we design the physical support the social?   Here are some great ideas on how a single building can adopt a neighborhood approach: 1.       PLACE IDENTITY – Help strengthen the local culture and character of the area. 2.       DESIGN – Focus on human scale designs that encourage social connections and safety. 3.       FACILITIES – Provide services or spaces that meet unmet needs in the neighborhood. 4.       TARGET GROUP – Understand the neighborhood's population and how certain groups can benefit or drive positive change. 5.       SOCIAL SPACE – Make shared indoor and outdoor areas available for community gatherings and activities. 6.       GATHERING – Open up certain activities or spaces to the entire neighborhood to encourage social interaction. 7.       URBAN SYNERGIES – Work with local businesses to promote social responsibility and build community ties. 8.       NEIGHBORHOOD BOARD – If possible, create a network of property owners, the municipality, and residents to identify needs, share responsibility and coordinate common actions.   Thank you, to Neighborhood Lab and Ofri Earon for gathering this list. Great ideas that we can all use in different contexts. Robert Steuteville Mallory Baches AICP, LEED-AP, CNU-A Todd Hornback Erin K. Peavey Kevin Ervin Kelley, AIA Tim Tompkins Bart Mitchell Egbert Perry Frances Kraft Majora Carter Ethan Kent PlacemakingX Placemaking Education Madeleine Spencer Ryan Smolar Nathan Storring David Erickson David Edwards Carol Naughton Ron Ivey Sam Pressler #community #neighborhood #loneliness #urban #design #health

People Planning

Downtown Coldwater is taking big steps to revitalize its historic downtown and create a place for families and residents of all ages. The Downtown Coldwater Main Street program is working to support a dynamic environment that consistently demonstrates collective energy and synergy. They strive to foster entrepreneurial investment and growth and encourage a vibrant, multi-cultural, family-oriented downtown that is enjoyed by its community. Learn more about what the Coldwater Main Street program is doing to support their community in the 2024 edition of their Impact Report at https://lnkd.in/gZG5b-Qp. Here are a few key highlights: 💵 Downtown Coldwater Main Street saw nearly $1.5 million worth of private investment in the district between 2022-2023, totaling $2,023644 since the program's inception in 2021. 🏛 Downtown Coldwater celebrated 7 new businesses between 2022-2023, and 6 renovations to facades & building upgrades took place just in 2022-2023, bringing the grand total 11 new businesses and 10 facade & building rehabs since the program's launch. 🙋♀️ Downtown Coldwater Main Street welcomed 23,000 folks into the community for events and gatherings, bolstered by 318 volunteer hours at the value of $9,588 for the year. Their programmatic goals are to provide family-friendly experiences with a focus on arts and culture; to revitalize buildings and public spaces to enhance an authentic sense of community that is attractive to all ages; and to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports existing and new, experience-based, and multicultural businesses. Each year, Michigan Main Street supports local communities in compiling its annual Impact Report to demonstrate the power of Main Street programming. From transformations of commercial districts to community revitalizations across the state, Michigan Main Street’s dedicated economic efforts over the decades have been leading economic growth in downtowns across the state. Read the compilation of their efforts for the past 20 years in the report recently published, detailing Michigan Main Street’s economic, fiscal and community impact: https://lnkd.in/gespseip

Downtown is BACK! “A new study of more than 60 downtowns across the U.S. and Canada places downtown Minneapolis at the top of the pack when it comes to an increase in visitors over the past year…A previous Downtown Recovery study in mid-2023 by the University of Toronto’s School of Cities determined that downtown Minneapolis was third to last in foot traffic recovery compared to the same period in 2019.” This type of progress doesn’t happen by accident, but is the result of hard work by small businesses, city leaders, local organizations, and community organizers. But most importantly this type of progress is the result on Minnesotans showing up and investing their time, money, and energy in the small businesses and local events at the forefront of downtown’s resurgence. Keep up the good work, Minnesota! #ShopLocal #ReadLocal #VoteLocal

Building inclusive spaces is an essential component of creating a robust, thriving community. When done well, it’s also one of the most effective ways to truly bring communities together in a more meaningful way than ever before. For example, Jacksonville’s Emerald Trail will encompass approximately 30 miles of trails, greenways and parks that encircle the urban core and link at least 14 historic neighborhoods to downtown, Hogans Creek, McCoys Creek and the St. Johns River. The trail links to 16 schools, two colleges and 21 parks, among other destinations like restaurants, retail and businesses, with 13 additional schools and 17 parks located within three blocks. Another great example is the Atlanta BeltLine, which continues to be built on a historic, defunct 22-mile rail corridor that loops around the city. The Beltline is a walking trail that connects a network of public parks, multi-use trails, transit, and affordable housing. It enhances mobility, connects intown neighborhoods, and improves economic opportunity and sustainability. And it’s been an incredible success. There are countless other examples, and in most cases they’ve achieved their missions thanks to thoughtful planning and inclusive execution. Finding ways to tie our communities back together for the benefit of all is what makes being part of those communities great.