Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

• What are the speciﬁc objectives for achieving that goal? (For example, the goal may be to improve the appearance of all Main Street properties. One of the objectives may be to make money available to owners to ﬁx up their retail storefronts.) • What action steps are to be completed to meet each objective? • What conditions and trends may impact success? (For example, the ability to obtain cooperation of brownﬁeld site owners.) • Who is responsible for getting the work completed? • How will work be done? • When will the work be completed? • What resources are needed? • How will success be measured for each action step? Go to newPA.com/revitalize to download the 1999 Action Plan for the Borough of Media, which demonstrates essential components of a good plan. Use all available data to illustrate a market for new businesses and new development. When a developer enters a new market where they have little or no experience, they assume added risk. A compelling story that conveys a business climate that will make investment proﬁtable will get developers’ attention. This story should include community assets and recent private and public investments, but it should also package data persuasively and creatively to deﬁne pentup demand and untapped markets. This information is typically used by a developer to analyze the market, determine the suitability of a location and document the ﬁnancial feasibility of the project and can be very persuasive. Many datasources can clarify the potential of a redevelopment area. 45 We have outlined some of the basic types of data and their primary uses below. A comprehensive data analysis, however, will require assistance from a local university or college, lending institution, nonproﬁt dedicated to community revitalization or private consultant. Show concentrated consumer buying power. Community buying power is key to selling the proﬁt-generating potential of an older urban market. The on-the-back-of-the-napkin number that retailers, homebuilders and many other investors look at to deﬁne the proﬁtability of the market is the median income for households in the surrounding market area. Developers and businesses traditionally believe that they will make more money where incomes are higher. However, this approach does not take into account the highly concentrated spending power Pennsylvania’s urban areas possess. In towns and cities, many more people live or work within walking or driving distance of a business. These people typically have less disposable income than their suburban counterparts but also fewer alternative places to spend their money locally and this may spell proﬁt for a new retail or service business introduced into the market. The community’s concentrated buying power is an asset. To determine the buying power of a community, its leaders need to know the number of households and the average sales per household. Number of Households x Average Sales per Household = Buying Power Show buying power for a particular product or service. Where an action plan objective is to attract a speciﬁc type of establishment such as a restaurant or supermarket, it may be helpful to detail consumer demand for a speciﬁc retail or service category. Rather than showing the total amount of all sales, show the amount residents spent on one speciﬁc category such as amount spent per year in restaurants. Buying Power for a Product or Service = Number of Households x Average Spending on Product or Service per Household Data Sources to Deﬁne Consumer Demand for a Product or Service: The Consumer Expenditure Survey at www.bls.gov/cex describes how much, on average, each household spends on various groups of items, including food, clothing and housing by income and before taxes. 47 The Census compiles similar information at http://www.census.gov/ econ/census02. These two sources are free. National data providers will analyze this data for a fee. Show unmet need – products or services that residents and workers want but must purchase elsewhere because they are not offered locally. By locally deﬁning the businesses that provide a product or service, municipalities can deﬁne the unmet demand. Unmet demand is the differences between the total amount of money households in the municipality spend on a product and the amount they spend at businesses located in the municipality. Typically consumer dollars leave the community when there are insufﬁcient local choices. For example, let’s say that according to the Consumer Expenditure Survey, households in a community spend an average of $4000 per year on food to be prepared at home. When attracting a supermarket, the community can present the supermarket with a story that describes the 10,000 households in the community that each spend an average of $4000 on food that they bring home to prepare and serve. That means the community members spend $40 million per year on groceries. To show unmet demand, subtract the total sales of any convenience stores or stores that carry groceries in the municipality from the $40 million total expenditures. That amount is the unmet demand that a new supermarket could ﬁll. 47 Unmet demand for a Product or Service = Buying Power – Actual Local Sales Data Sources that show unmet demand: There are several ways to list all of the establishments that provide a service or product in the community. The Census Bureau provides two free data sources online - the Economic Census of Retail Trade 48 and the Economic Census of Accommodations and Food Services. 49 These Census sources provide the number of stores or restaurants within a municipality and the total sales those stores or restaurants earn annually. The Census Bureau compiles this information by polling a sample of owners in the city. To obtain a more detailed picture, it is possible to map local businesses. Obtaining the addresses and types of merchandise for all stores or service businesses in the area and labeling them on a map reveals where gaps exist. SEE CASE STUDY NINE Use surveys to obtain more speciﬁc information about local buying habits. Surveys and focus groups can supplement this information to provide a detailed look at residents’ buying habits and needs. A customer survey for a commercial district can provide Data Sources that Show Average Sales Per Household: There are several national ﬁrms, such as Claritas and ESRI, that sell data on average sales per household that can be used to calculate community buying power. GOAL TWO: PREPARE REDEVELOPMENT AREA FOR MARKET step one: create a detailed action plan 28 http://www.bls.gov/cex http://www.newPA.com/revitalize http://www.census.gov/econ/census02 http://www.census.gov/econ/census02

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

PA Community Revitalization Desktop Guide Table of Contents How To Attract High Impact Investment to Core Communities Goal One: Choose One Asset-Rich Redevelopment Area Interviews with Pennsylvania Mayors Goal Two: Prepare Redevelopment Area for Market Interviews with Developers who Have Invested in Pennsylvania Cities and Towns Goal Three: Welcome Investment Interviews with Developers who Have Invested in Pennsylvania Cities and Towns Goal Four: Apply Strategies That Work Conclusion

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