Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

information about where people choose to shop or dine and what their impressions are of a particular business district. Customer surveys can be conducted by phone, by stopping people on the street or in the store, by mail or online. Experts have found that the best questions tend to ask about past behavior rather than asking people to speculate what they will do in the future. Asking where they last bought groceries or what shops they have visited in the past year will give a sense of their behavior as customers. The action plan should also describe the redevelopment area and available sites for development in great detail. Developers and retailers need to know the location of the lot, its size, its visibility to drivers and pedestrians, permissible uses, past performance, available access and parking resources. In gathering this information, municipality leaders should provide information and photographs of the site and answer key questions for developers including: • Is the location on a corner? On a main street? • How much vehicle and pedestrian trafﬁc passes the site? • Is the site close to highways or major roads? • What is the visibility? Will people see it as soon as they enter the community? What is the parking situation? Is there sufﬁcient parking or plans to accommodate increased parking need? • What access will customers have from different types of transportation, from cars to pedestrians to transit riders? • Are there compatible businesses in the immediate area? • Is there a substantial daytime workforce in the area? • Are there major events that will draw regional or distance visitors? • What are the crime rates in the area? Cities Need a Compelling Story About a Positive Investment Climate. Easton ofﬁcials are being proactive about drafting an action plan and creating a coherent story about why developers and retailers should invest in Easton after a recent study found a signiﬁcant need for both. The study found: “What Easton does not have is a coherent plan that can be presented to investors – a “story” that presents a plausible explanation of how this series of investments will lead to rising property values and real estate returns, or a healthier local economy. There is a long list of projects but they are not tied together in any coherent fashion that is understandable to an outsider (and maybe not even locally). Such a plan is part of presenting an image that builds a positive investment climate.” 50 Case Study 9 9. Recruit Restaurants to Create Active Downtown: Media The borough of Media has proactively recruited many restaurants and stores to its Main Street in the past 15 years. In 1974 two malls opened within a mile of Media and downtown suffered. After two decades of strong efforts from its Mayor, Bob McMahon, and City Councilmembers, the town is full of successful restaurants and stores. After agreeing that they were not going to sit around and wait for businesses to come, borough ofﬁcials actively sought out successful regional restaurants and asked the owners if they would be interested in opening a restaurant in Media. While some restaurant owners immediately said no, others, with a little prodding, were willing to come see the available space and consider it. Each new restaurant that came to Media created a larger customer base for other restaurants, brought in more customers to stores and the town theater, and kept the town vibrant at night. The borough goal was not just to attract restaurants with proven track records but to attract a mix of types that would attract people of all ages. After a Cajun restaurant brought in a large number of new diners to Media, the town recruited the Iron Hill Brewery, a successful regional microbrewery that attracted young people, as well as a regional Italian restaurant that has people of all ages waiting in line to get a table. Virtually every restaurant in town offers a discount to theatergoers to support the theater and approximately 40% of theatergoers eat at a local restaurant before or after the show. Mayor McMahon attributes the success of Media in attracting restaurants to its streetscape improvements, which were just completed in 2006, and the domino effect – each successful restaurant attracts new restaurateurs who want to invest in Media. Seeking to recruit a destination project in an old state-owned Armory, Media worked with the state to gain ownership of the Armory and to obtain the funding to reconﬁgure the space and add parking. The Governor provided $1.3 million to refurbish the space and as a result, the borough recruited Trader Joe’s, a California-based grocery chain that the Mayor discovered when he visited his daughter at college in Boston. Getting new restaurants and businesses to invest in Media has been another key achievement in the town’s continuing renaissance. footnotes: step one Note: 45 This section borrows heavily from an online course offered by Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) entitled Using Market Analysis To Create the Right Retail Mix Create the Right Retail Mix in September 2006. http://www.lisc.org/docs/experts/2006/eo_09_20_2006.pdf 46 Using Market Analysis To Create the Right Retail Mix http://www.lisc.org/docs/experts/2006/ eo_09_20_2006.pdf 47 If the business’ customer base draws from tourists or a daytime workforce that lives outside of the town, that business is far less likely to show unmet demand and may in fact show a surplus since they are meeting the needs of customers outside of the area. 48 http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/97EC44.HTM 49 http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/97EC72.HTM 50 Economic Development Review, City of Easton, (January 2006). http://easton-pa.com/vertical/ Sites/%7BFA4C9CDF-8950-476B-A374-640C8515BBE0%7D/uploads/%7B5CC34B787C2B-464B-87E0-7CCE9088B44B%7D.PDF 29 GOAL TWO: PREPARE REDEVELOPMENT AREA FOR MARKET step one: create a detailed action plan http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/97EC44.HTM http://www.lisc.org/docs/experts/2006/eo_09_20_2006.pdf http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/97EC72.HTM http://www.lisc.org/docs/experts/2006/eo_09_20_2006.pdf http://easton-pa.com/vertical/Sites/%7BFA4C9CDF-8950-476B-A374-640C8515BBE0%7D/uploads/%7B5CC34B78-7C2B-464B-87E0-7CCE9088B44B%7D.PDF http://www.lisc.org/docs/experts/2006/eo_09_20_2006.pdf http://easton-pa.com/vertical/Sites/{FA4C9CDF-8950-476B-A374-640C8515BBE0}/uploads/{5CC34B78-7C2B-464B-87E0-7CCE9088B44B}.PDF

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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