Community Renewal through Municipal Investment

Local officials are making investment decisions to enhance the quality of life in their communities and to improve economic development conditions. These new programs are not municipal give-aways, or, as some call them, corporate welfare programs, but efforts to invest wisely in downtown areas and neighborhoods with the goal of revitalizing them, with the hope that business and commerce will follow.
This work presents case studies from Atlanta, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Berkeley, Boulder, Cambridge, Charleston, Chattanooga, Chesterfield County, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, DuPont, Grand Forks, Hampton, Hartford, Hayward, Houston, Kansas City, Lake Worth, Little Rock, Madison, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Bedford, Newark, Oakland, Orlando, Petuluma, Portland, Saint Paul, Santa Monica, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington, D.C. The case study topics include streetscapes, public plazas, museums, libraries, cultural parks, walkways and greenways, major infrastructure improvements, transit and transportation enhancements and other works.

Roger L. Kemp, Ph.D., ICMA-CM, has been a city manager on both the East and West coasts for more than 25 years. He is presently Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Public Administration at Golden Gate University and a Fellow of The Academy of Political Science.

Edited by Roger L. Kemp

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 254
Bibliographic Info: tables, directory, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2007 [2003]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3156-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0910-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1

1 Municipal Self-Investment for Community Renewal      3
2 Atlanta Builds Inner-City Parks to Revitalize Downtown      16
3 Atlanta Stabilizes Inner-City Neighborhoods with New Public Housing      20
4 Baltimore Uses Linear Trails to Link Neighborhoods to Harbor District     26
5 Baton Rouge Uses Master Plan to Revitalize Historic Downtown      34
6 Berkeley Revives Its Old Downtown through Creation of an Arts District     39
7 Boulder Redesigns Residential Streets to Restore Quality of Life to Its Neighborhoods   43
8 Cambridge Designs Civic Spaces to Improve Living for Downtown Residents    49
9 Charleston Builds New Public Library to Stimulate Community Development     54
10 Chattanooga Creates Town Center Out of Aging Inner-City Mall      58
11 Chester.eld County Protects Nature to Foster Quality Residential Areas     64
12 Chicago Uses Civic Leaders to Plan for the Future of Their Downtown     67
13 Cleveland Uses Private Planning Group to Improve Its Downtown and Lakefront Areas     73
14 Denver Uses Transit System to Enhance Downtown Access for Both Residents and Tourists      78
15 Denver Metro Area Voters Raise Revenues for Scientific and Cultural Facilities    82
16 DuPont Uses “New Urbanism” Concepts to Plan for Downtown Civic Center    89
17 Grand Forks Rebuilds Its Old Downtown Creating Open Spaces and Walkways    94
18 Hampton Approves New Type of Business Improvement District      99
19 Hartford Revives Riverfront to Stimulate Inner-City Tourism      103
20 Hayward Uses Transit Villages to Stimulate Downtown Redevelopment     109
21 Houston Makes Public Improvements to Entice Private Development     113
22 Kansas City Renovates Old Train Station to Jump-Start Downtown Renewal    120
23 Lake Worth Restores Shoreline Property to Revive Beachfront Commercial Area    123
24 Little Rock Makes Improvements to Redevelop Its Downtown Riverfront Area    128
25 Madison Integrates Land-Use and Transportation Planning to Curb Spawl     132
26 Minneapolis Revises Zoning Code to Allow More Flexible Development     137
27 Nashville Invests in Riverfront to Stimulate Downtown Redevelopment     143
28 New Bedford Uses Old Street Patterns to Revitalize Aging Waterfront District    148
29 Newark’s Performing Arts Center Creates Rebirth of Downtown      154
30 Oakland Uses Transit Improvements to Revive Inner-City Neighborhood     161
31 Orlando Uses Free Rapid Transit to Improve Downtown Transportation     165
32 Petaluma Provides Transit Options to Revive Downtown River Area     169
33 Portland Guides Urban Growth Through Public Transportation      172
34 Saint Paul Uses “New Urbanism” to Revitalize Downtown Riverfront Area     178
35 Santa Monica Uses Promenade and Public Transit to Revitalize Old Main Street    184
36 Seattle Uses Branch Library as a Tool for Community Renewal      187
37 Toronto Updates Zoning Code Favoring Mixed-Use Development to Revive Old Waterfront Area     192
38 Washington, D.C., Stimulates Development by Linking Suburbs to the Inner-City Using Public Transit    198
39 Washington, D.C., Promotes Development Near Transit Stations to Spur Neighborhood Renewal     203
40 The Future of Municipal Self-Investment      208

Regional Resource Directory      217
National Resource Directory      223
Bibliography      227
About the Contributors      237
Index      239