return to Trends contents page Additional Notes: A detailed survey conducted by the Brookings Institution & Fannie Mae showed dramatic trends toward increased number of people living downtown. A good resource on downtown revitalization efforts is the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center. You can link to local downtown and main street programs from across the country from their web site.

Why Downtown Housing is in Demand from Smart Growth Trends, by Edward T. McMahon (Planning Commissioners Journal #33, Winter 1999) "A 1998 survey conducted by the Brookings Institution and the Fannie Mae Foundation found that one of the fastest growing segments of the nation's housing market is downtown housing. For example, Houston expects its downtown population to quadruple by 2010. Cleveland expects its to triple. Denver, Memphis, and Seattle all anticipate doubling the number of downtown residents in the next ten years. The growth in downtown housing is not restricted to large cities. Many smaller cities and towns are also seeing a growing market for downtown housing. Asheville, North Carolina; Burlington, Vermont; Dayton, Ohio; Bangor, Maine; and Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin are just a few examples. So what accounts for the growing demand for downtown housing? Access. Downtown's usually have the largest concentration of jobs in a metropolitan region, and downtown housing makes walking to work an attractive option. Downtowns also have the most public transportation facilities. Even when downtown residents have to drive, reverse commuting is an attractive option. Amenities. Virtually every downtown has amenities not typically found in suburban neighborhoods -- museums, waterfront parks, colleges, theatres, unique views, and interesting architecture. While the quality of city schools remains a concern for families with school age children, only one-third of American households fall in this category. Pedestrian Friendly Environment. Older downtowns are walkable. They evolved during a period when development was compact, high density, and pedestrian friendly. Senior citizens, in particular, like the option of being able to walk to church, the post office, or shopping. Downtown housing also gives them access to public transportation. A growing number of cities have converted abandoned hotels, old schools, and vacant industrial buildings into housing for seniors and others." Edward McMahon is a land use planner, attorney, and director of The Conservation Fund's "American Greenways Program." He is former president of Scenic America, a national non-profit organization devoted to protecting America's scenic landscapes. McMahon is a regular columnist for the Planning Commissioners Journal. Downtown Retailing from Up With Downtown, by Jack McCall (Planning Commissioners Journal #23, Summer 1996) Downtowns are our cities and towns' cornerstones. They define who we are as a community. Without strong, distinctive downtowns, only the words on the city limits signs will tell us apart. It doesn't have to be that way. The survival of downtown should be the concern of all residents, not just the people making a living by owning stores or working in them. Communities working together can reinvigorate downtown. Retailers can prosper in the shadow of large retailing giants and expanding telemarketers. However, it requires a new way of looking at the world and at the customer. Recovery can begin by creating a broadly based organization, including representatives from a variety of groups. Its first task might be to assess the current situation, in order to learn what kind of stores and services customers want in their home town. Communities also need to understand why people shop at the discounters. It may be a surprise to learn that price is not always the most important consideration. Merchandise selection and availability, and customer service, will often be as important. While local merchants can't hope to compete by having more merchandise selection than the discounters, they can find the gaps in the discounters' inventories and exploit these opportunities. Effective competition must be based on having a very specific selection which meets the needs of customers." Downtown Retailing from Coping with Superstores, by Constance Beaumont (Planning Commissioners Journal #17, Winter 1995) "... Plans that support downtowns: Including good, strong language in a local comprehensive plan can help a city defend zoning actions in court, as Lawrence, Kansas, discovered in 1991 when both federal and state courts upheld the city's denial of a cornfield rezoning for a sprawling mall on the ground that such development would violate the plan. The plan said: 'It shall be the general policy to emphasize and lend support to the Central Business District as the primary regional center and to analyze closely any proposal for the extension of regional, community, strip or spot commercial development in light of potential negative impact on the CBD area.' The U.S. Court of Appeals held that '... retaining the vitality of the downtown area was a legitimate interest of the [Lawrence] city commission. Declining to rezone property in a manner that would threaten the vitality of the downtown retail area is rationally related to that purpose.' Jacobs, Visconsi & Jacobs v. City of Lawrence, 927 F.2nd 1111 (1991)." Constance Beaumont has served since 1989 as the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Director for State & Local Policy. She is the author of How Superstore Sprawl Can Harm Communities and What Citizens Can Do About It (1994).