LISC #CorridorChallenge Storefront Improvement Design Guidelines

Last month, we wrote about the importance of using PR and Communications to build buzz around important commercial corridor work – with the Commercial Corridor Challenge as a prime example. LOA has been working closely with the New York office of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) on the Commercial Corridor Challenge, a program funded by Citi Community Development that provides financial and technical support to some of New York City’s most underserved and rapidly changing communities.

As part of our work, we helped put together a set of guidelines that not only informs Corridor Challenge participants about relevant New York City code and regulation requirements related to storefront improvements but also suggests best practices for these improvements. With architectural expertise from Dadras Architects, the guidelines also features renderings of potential storefronts on Bay Street in Staten Island, Southern Boulevard in the Bronx, and Fulton Street in Brooklyn.

The guidelines covers a range of storefront improvements including signage, lighting, awnings, façade and paint and color. It offers visuals of best practices in each section so that users of the guidelines are able to easily understand and implement the improvements.  

Here are some highlights of the guidelines:

• Avoid the use of security gates to increase store transparency. If necessary, open-mesh security gates on the interior can still provide visual access for security (preferred by law enforcement) and will not be subject to alteration by graffiti.
• Maximize the visibility of your signs without compromising transparency of storefronts. This might include illuminating signs with separate light fixtures and ensuring signage does not block doors or windows.
• Avoid waterfall-style awnings. Retractable canvas awnings are highly recommended because they get less dirty and last longer than fixed awnings.
• Use interior and exterior lighting to illuminate your storefront and street. Adequate lighting is a proven crime deterrent.
• Fix broken windows and avoid paper signage. Broken or boarded windows negatively impact the overall commercial corridor and paper signage obscures the business activity from potential customers on the street.
• Use color and painting to enhance storefront appearance. Remember to coordinate colors to fit the context of the neighborhood.

By increasing the transparency, lighting, and physical attractiveness of businesses, the Commercial Corridor Challenge program hopes to provide long-lasting benefits to participating corridors by boosting foot traffic and improving sense of safety in these areas. For more useful tips around storefront improvements, download the guidelines here!

We hope this resource will also prove helpful in rethinking and redesigning your storefront.

Saving bodegas, saving third spaces!

Nur Asri is an associate at Larisa Ortiz Associates

This week, two ex-Googlers announced their recent innovation, “BODEGA”, a vending machine, or five-foot-wide pantry box, slated to become the next big convenience stop or amenity in cities across the country. A convenience that is in fact already being provided by already existing bodegas (as they are known here in NYC), or corner stores. These stores, typically run by immigrants, are “frills-free symbols of consumer access and gritty mini-embodiments of the city’s diversity and 24/7 ethos”, and have become more than just a convenient neighborhood retailer. They are ‘third spaces’, extensions of many residents’ homes, and locations where ideas are exchanged and relationships are built. Most importantly, bodegas represent the livelihoods of thousands of immigrants in cities across the country.

Needless to say, “BODEGA” was faced with a great amount of backlash the day it was announced. And we won’t sit quietly either so here’s a quick summary of why “BODEGA” won’t be filling a market gap here, or in most other cities, and will never match up as the amenity that a real bodega is.  

1.       Bodegas are already convenient in most neighborhoods, particularly ones that are not well- served by full-service grocery stores

I did a quick search of NAICS-code defined ‘Food and Beverage stores’ (NAICS: 445) that only had 10 or fewer employees and had annual sales of less than $1 million (Admittedly, these are just some of many characteristics that are presumed to be typical of small family-owned bodegas in New York City but it was the quickest way I could get an estimate of where bodegas or corner stores are already located in a locality) to look at just how convenient they are location-wise.

Estimate location of corner stores and bodegas in North Brooklyn, NY (Source: LOA; ESRI Business Analyst Online)

In North Brooklyn, just by eyeballing, there appears to be at least 1 bodega or corner store every 0.2 mile (mostly! – note the bodega deserts by the Gowanus canal and in Prospect Park). Given that most people are only willing to walk 0.25 mile as part of a commute or to access amenities like parks and public spaces, we can safely say that bodegas here are within the realm of  being convenient and of ‘walking distance’.

Likewise in Lower Manhattan, bodegas and corner stores are everywhere, safe for along the East River but remember, this part of Manhattan is better-served by full-service grocery stores anyway.

Estimate location of corner stores and bodegas in Lower Manhattan and Williamsburg, NY (Source: LOA; ESRI Business Analyst Online)

Operation hours-wise, bodegas are typically open between 16-18 hours per day (if not 24/7), making it accessible to almost everyone returning home at all hours of the day. Furthermore, for some people in NYC, where apartments are shoe-box sized, the lack of a full fridge means that the bodega is also the convenient extended freezer. So you know where you’re going to get that tub of ice cream in the middle of the night when you’re craving a treat.

2.       Bodegas are increasingly offering a wide range of products

A wide selection of fresh fruit at a corner store
in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn, NY

From non-perishables to fresh produce and beers, the bodega has it! Unlike “BODEGA” that can only carry non-perishable goods (because you know, it’s essentially a vending machine), the bodegas we already have in our neighborhoods can carry almost anything and everything and are therefore more useful to households in the long run. I buy cheese, milk and eggs every other Saturday when I’m finally itching to make an omelet for a leisurely breakfast and I doubt “BODEGA” will ever be able to meet this need. Other residents in Brooklyn today are a little more fortunate and have local bodegas that carry really high quality fresh produce.

3.       Many bodegas are already ‘smart’

Both bodegas that I frequent in my neighborhood have ‘feedback boards’ that enable customers to write the names of products that they wish to see in the store. It’s a simple solution that involves a small cork board, Post-Its and Sharpies, yet owners are able to get more information than “BODEGA” will ever get from its cameras. The cameras in “BODEGA” will apparently track what items are being removed from the machine before sending this data back to main offices to restock the item.

Another thing we need to remember – bodegas also have real people manning the counters, the aisles, the sandwich counters. These people constantly chat with customers to find out if there are any products their customers wanted to see in store. “BODEGA” claims it will have motion sensors to track what products are more popular, and for whom, but I think it’s much easier when I can just express this same information to a person who owns/ manages the store in real-time, don’t you?

4.       Bodegas are hyper locally-sensitive and have personalities

To add on to the earlier argument about the humanness of bodegas, as neighborhoods rapidly change in cities, one block may be extremely different than the next one which also means that bodegas are now stocking almost entirely different products on a block-by-block basis. They are often responding to socio- economic demographics at a block-level and “BODEGA” hasn’t indicated the same capability.

As Adam Chandler wrote in the NYTimes, each bodega is “oddly curated” and no algorithm is clever enough to come up with these eccentricities (at least, not yet). From the Polish specialty foods to Colombian snacks, each bodega has its own specialty treats and delicacies.

5.       Bodegas are third spaces

Franklin Deli Bodega in Greenpoint, Brooklyn NY.
 Photo: Shawn Hoke via Flickr

A relationship with your bodega means you could get a sandwich hook up at an odd hour of the day. More importantly, bodegas are your literal neighbors. They are located below your apartment or next to your building or across from you and are operated by the same people day in and day out. You can chat about the English soccer game happening at the moment, or you can chat about the fact that it’s been a little loud on the street this past weekend, and they’re more than likely to share an opinion about the topic. In one instance, I had a full-blown conversation with the guy at my bodega about how much tastier Pepsi Light was compared to regular Pepsi and the kids in line behind me were more than excited to chime in.

Whether these interactions and relationships are forced or not, they are bound to occur in the small spaces of bodegas, making them vital community spaces for residents in cities across the country.

6.       Bodegas are natural surveillance systems for the neighborhood.

As mentioned earlier, bodegas are open 16-18 hours of the day and in some cases open 24/7, which means bodega employees and customers walking in and out thru late hours of the night serve as ‘eyes on the street’ and round-the-clock surveillance.

7.       Bodegas are employment centers for immigrants

Finally, bodegas are a large employer of immigrants. A Fiscal Policy Institute study published in 2011 found that more than 48% of NYC businesses owners are foreign-born, and in particular, they dominate certain lines of businesses such as dry cleaning, taxi services, and grocery stores (of which bodegas and corner stores make up a reasonable share of this category).

In NYC, retail trade is the broad industry with the largest number of immigrant small business owners. While a full 90 percent of the city’s dry cleaning and taxi service owners are immigrants, a close 84 percent of grocery store owners are also immigrants.

These immigrant business owners already face numerous obstacles in running their businesses, most commonly lack of access to capital (which, apparently “BODEGA” has not been short of) and inability to comply with city business regulations. For now, it seems “BODEGA” will only serve to add problems by becoming a new source of competition for our bodegas, if it does get rolled out in cities like New York, where corner stores and bodegas are already popular.

Like everyone else we'll be paying close attention to where “BODEGA” gets expanded to see if its co-founder, Hunter Walk, keeps his word on “not disrupt[ing] or replace[ing] the urban corner store… the bodega”. 

Strengthening Your Downtown Night Time Economy

Nur is an associate at Larisa Ortiz Associates

Lower East Side is a popular night-life hub in NYC

Night time economies are typically characterized by business done between the hours of 6pm and 6am. This includes a large range of economic activity taking place in food and drinking places, entertainment centers like cinemas, theaters, comedy clubs, sports and recreation facilities, and even retail stores. While these are typically labelled core night time economies, there are additional non-core night time economy sectors that you might less likely be aware of including transportation, health care and infrastructure. Around the world, many downtowns and cities are seeing an overall growth of businesses operating at night and are therefore taking proactive measures to strengthen those economic sectors that help promote the sustainability of the area.

The importance of sustaining your night-time economy

Opponents of the concept however, including residents and business owners alike, have negative perceptions of the crime and disorder that night time economies are supposed to bring. Many fear alcohol-fueled violence on the streets and heightened underage drinking offences, and as a result, higher spending on policing, emergency services and law enforcement. These potential problems of crime and violence, however, have increasingly been shown through research to be easily overcome by numerous other benefits brought by night time economies, including increased employment opportunities, increased footfall and sales for businesses from extended business hours, extended overnight visitor stays, and ironically, even improved crime and safety. In fact,a report found that a more diverse night time crowd in Belfast City not only impacted footfall but crime & anti-social behavior and perceptions statistics.

London, UK shows it has a strong Night Time Economy.

In the UK, night time economies has been estimated to value up to 27% of total town and city center turnover and between 5-10% of overall employment figures. In London, the nation's most populous city, that figure is even more impactful with 1 in 8 people employed in the night time economy. Night time footfall across a number of city centers in the UK has also been found to have outperformed figures captured during the day.

Meanwhile in Australia, a similar contribution was reported by night time economies to job creation and revenue. Between 2009 and 2013, night time economy sales increased by 20% from $90 billion to $108 billion, even higher than the broader Australian economy growth of 14% in the same period. In addition, the night time economy in Australia employs over 1 million people nationwide.

Other studies have also found that night time economies increase the vibrancy of cities through increased access to businesses, services and entertainment for residents and visitors, and promotes and markets local cultural venues that are typically only open in the day and inaccessible to most of the working population. For smaller downtowns and cities, night time economies can go so far as attracting and retaining the younger Millennial population seeking nightlife options in their place of residence, and this might even prevent a brain drain in the local workforce.

Strategies to boost the night time economy

London's Night Czar Amy Lame and Mayor Sadiq Khan

These measurable impacts of the night time economy in various parts of the world have since led more cities to take on a more comprehensive outlook on managing the night time economy, including establishing offices or commissions of the downtown night life. Many cities in Europe have taken this on including London, whose Mayor formed the Night Time Commission and appointed Amy Lamé as the city's "Night Czar". Last month,  New York City Council passed a bill allowing Mayor de Blasio to appoint a Director of Nightlife to oversee a newly-established Office of Nightlife. Regardless of title, the role of such an office and/or leader is to effectively bring together various stakeholders in the night time economy before planning and implementing a suite of strategies that will tie together all of a city's retail, cultural, entertainment attractions. In a way, these Night Mayors are really the downtown's "place managers". Their greatest task of course is to convene all of the unsung night time heroes who work to keep downtown alive and safe at night, from business owners, waiters and bartenders to security staff, police and sanitation workers. Every voice needs to be heard in the planning conversations in order to ensure the night time economy is sustainable.

Some strategies that Offices of Night Life across the world have implemented to boost the night time economy include: 

1. Coordinating extended retail and cultural institution opening hours - whether annually, bimonthly, or weekly. 
2. Implementing quality urban design features along nightlife corridors - lighting, CCTV cameras, ground floor transparency
3. Maintaining a robust night-time program that converges with business hours - light festivals, outdoor music performance, cultural events
4. Conducting a liquor law review to ensure appropriate businesses are able to serve drinks late at night
5. Creating a new or building upon an existing cultural quarter to serve as a new hub of night life

These strategies, however, must be supported by a slew of other more complex actions that are critical to ensuring a safe, viable and sustainable night time economy. Sanitation procedures must be managed and well-coordinated in order to protect the amenity of local residents and businesses without disrupting the flow of night time festivities. Garbage pick-up times, for example, may need to be revised on nights where businesses are open late and a light festival is expected to take place with over a thousand participants roaming the streets.

Public transit authorities and local cab companies also need to be in close coordination with entertainment venues and bars to ensure that late night revelers are able to travel safely before and after spending time downtown. In addition, police authorities and public safety partners must be aware of business hours and night time programs and be prepared to delegate personnel to core areas of night time economies. 

Late night business operation licenses must also be carefully granted to businesses that can demonstrate appropriate safety measures, including the ability to disperse patrons quickly and quietly when the premises closes so as not to have an adverse impact on neighbors. If the downtown does not currently allow mobile food trucks to operate in the night, it may be a good idea to extend the licenses and permits to allow for such businesses to operate late into the night so as to ensure a diverse offering of food and drinking places for patrons. 

How to know if your night time economy is successful?

Sydney produces an area profile sheet annually
to track the progress and impacts of its late-night
management stategies

London and many other cities around the world that have adopted comprehensive strategies to boost their night time economies have also begun to measure the impacts of their actions. For them, the success of a night time economy not only depends on the ability to attract a diverse range of people to a variety of activities at night, but also the ability to increase sales and tourism receipts downtown.

The easiest ways to measure these are of course total sales figures, employment statistics, visitor rates, and pedestrian counts (comparing night time figures to daytime figures, or year-on-year changes). Town centers in the UK have also taken a step further to measure qualitative impacts of their night time management plans by surveying customers and making social observations of the types of street activity and behaviors that take place during the night.

After all, monitoring and managing the process of your downtown's night time plan and strategies is a critical step in the process to ensuring long-term success of your downtown night time economy.

Managing Homelessness Downtown

Our recent experience working with downtowns in the state of New York and in North Carolina this past year has brought to our attention a spike in stakeholder concerns over homelessness downtown. The homeless population is often referred to as the people who “lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence". In downtowns, the homeless are often seen occupying public or private places that are not designed to be regular sleeping accommodation including parking lots and garages, storefront stoops, transit stations, vacant buildings/ lots etc. In addition to this group, there are also the homeless who live in substandard buildings that lack sanitation, cooking facilities or heat, who are often disregarded.

Trend

Seeing the rising concern over homelessness in our own projects led us to dig a little deeper into the trends happening elsewhere. As it turns out, homelessness is indeed spiking in cities all across the country, and particularly in downtowns. In San Diego, for example, tent cities have begun proliferating downtown near freeway on-ramps and commercial districts and homeless service centers. On a recent trip to Seattle, WA, I witnessed the same trend occurring under the on-ramp to I-90 by the CenturyLink Field and Chinatown District.

A myriad of factors contribute to the rising homeless population downtown but many leaders are increasingly placing blame on criminal justice reforms, which have downgraded some felonies to misdemeanors and therefore keeping some people out of prison or drug treatment and instead leaving them on the streets.

The more popular reason for the rise in homelessness downtown, however, remains the increasing cost of rents and disappearance of residential hotels. As more people look to live in convenient and vibrant downtowns across the nation, the high demand for downtown apartments and houses is slowly driving prices up for all housing stock. Meanwhile, homeless advocates are also pointing to the significant loss of single-room occupancy units, or SROs, as a key factor in the homelessness crisis. Many SRO units that still remain are unfortunately uninviting and unaffordable.

Why do homeless people gather downtown?

While those who can afford to live in downtowns are moving to these areas for comfort, convenience, and entertainment, homeless individuals on the other hand are coming in droves because downtown is often the best place to seek day service centers, social service centers, and basic amenities such as bathrooms and water fountains.  Downtown is also the place where homeless folks can get a meal, a shower or a shelter bed – resources that often cannot be found elsewhere.

During a stakeholder interview for our work in Middletown (NY), Director of the Thrall Library, Matt Pfisterer informed us that the homeless population there was particularly active around the library because they needed bathroom access in the day when they were not in shelters. Later in the afternoon, he reports, the homeless crowd migrates towards the soup kitchens and other downtown homeless service centers as they start to compete for safe and comfortable night time lodging. The Thrall Library, as do many other libraries across the nation, does its best to accommodate this group by ensuring bathrooms are monitored and maintained constantly throughout the day by staff and personnel to ensure that all library users can continue to use the bathrooms hassle-free.

Issues

Bathroom lines and litter are hardly issues when it comes to dealing with homelessness downtown. Many cities are facing harder problems such as drug use in public, rise in reported theft, and overall, a perceived lack of safety amongst residents and visitors. This overall unwelcoming atmosphere is not only discouraging some from living and investing in downtown, but also discouraging customers from shopping and visiting downtown. In our experience, we have heard from business owners and property owners that homelessness downtown has negatively impacted foot traffic and in turn, sales. In some cases, the homeless population has been driven to spend nights on storefront stoops and use back alleys as latrines, giving store employees additional work in the morning when they return to open and operate businesses.

Lower patronage downtown has even resulted in businesses closing in Portland, OR. A dance studio in downtown Portland, OR experienced dwindling class attendance from out-of-towners who felt scared walking to and from parking lots and dance class in the evenings as a result of the spike in the homeless population there.

Management Solutions

Whether perceived or real, this lack of safety experienced downtown can be managed by downtown organizations. The first step in managing homelessness downtown is counting, keeping track, and being aware of the current situation. After all, you cannot manage what you don’t know.  By keeping count of your homeless population, you will be able to determine the actual size and scope of the issue and at the same time identify hot spots with high concentrations of homeless folks and their peak visiting times during the day.

A common way to count the population is to use the ‘point-in-time’ method. This method requires that the count take place on one day every year across the city or downtown and therefore provides a Point-In-Time snapshot of the homeless population. This can be conducted by public or private sector volunteers including, of course, the downtown organization. This information can then even be registered with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to become a part of a nationwide database for understanding homelessness across the country and will be required to be considered for federal funding to combat homelessness.

The limitation with this method, however, is that volunteers counting are only limited to what they can see by eye. In essence, they count the number of homeless people seen in cars, and on foot and if there are those who are hidden in tents, an assumption is made that there are two people per tent and may therefore be undercounting. Keeping a consistent counting method throughout the months and years is crucial for comparing data over time accurately and as long as this limitation is recognized, downtown organizations will be able to make informed decisions.

Downtown San Diego Partnership takes counting a step further by organizing a monthly survey instead of an annual one. Homeless outreach workers with the Downtown Partnership cover 275 city blocks between midnight and 5 a.m. on the last Thursday of every month and they have been counting since 2012. This has enabled them to see changes year-on-year and the data has helped the Partnership determine what actions need to be taken to manage the spike in homelessness and also to determine factors that may be affecting the numbers.

Taking Action

There are a number of actions that can be taken by downtowns to manage their homeless populations depending on size and scope.

First, developing a Vulnerability Index has been critical to many downtowns and cities in order for them to identify and prioritize the homeless population on the streets that should qualify for housing. A Vulnerability Index typically measures length of homelessness and mortality risk and is a practical application—a person-to-person survey—that is “revolutionizing the speed at which … chronically homeless population is placed into permanent housing”.

In some cities, non profits are stepping forward to create diverse housing stocks for the formerly homeless and low-income residents. Mixed-income permanent supportive housing is becoming a popular strategy to house the homeless population in larger cities such as DC and NYC.Often these buildings also feature community spaces such as rooftop terraces, gardens, lounges, gyms and laundry rooms that help the residents get out and engage with neighbors – a holistic environment for recovery from homelessness or any other dire situation.

While providing housing stock may be a longer term strategy, other short to medium-term strategies are also in place in many downtowns across the country. Libraries, as mentioned earlier, are becoming top community spaces that support the homeless population. The DC public library, for example, now provides an innovative outreach program for the homeless since its first hire of a Health and Human Services Coordinator. A Knight Foundation grant in 2015 enabled DC Public library to create an online interface of health and human services data  and train librarians in homelessness outreach so that when homeless folks come up to a librarian, he/she is able to direct them to the right service providers and give the correct referrals. This is a simple yet essential tool for supporting homeless folks and getting them back on track.

In other instances, business improvement districts have partnered with existing homeless-serving organizations to carry out supportive programs. In Los Angeles, CA, Downtown Center Business Improvement District  funds homeless outreach teams to contact, interview and assist homeless people living in the west side of downtown. Over $255,000 has been funneled from the BID to two social services agencies in order to hire staff to do this outreach work. PATH, or People Assisting the Homeless, is one of the organizations that provides services, including street outreach, shelter and housing construction. Chrysalis, a skid row program, then provides job preparation and temporary work experience, and also has been tasked with picking up litter in areas heavily-trafficked by homeless folks. In the first year of funding from the BID, outreach workers completed 196 assessments, and placed 36 people in permanent housing and enrolled 56 in PATH’s housing services.

Downtown San Diego Partnership, on the other hand, has set up a Clean and Safe Program and DowntownDC BID partnered with the city government and 20 local service providers in order to facilitate various efforts to end homelessness. This includes a partnership with Pathways to Housing DC that has deployed a 4-person, clinically-based outreach team that provides street-level intervention to move individuals beyond homelessness to independence. In addition, DowntownDC BID’s Safety/ Hospitality and Maintenance employees have 12 specially-trained members, known as the Homeless Outreach Service Team (HOST), who work closely with the Pathways to Housing DC Team and are trained to recognize and engage individuals with mental and addiction challenges. The smallest yet most impactful effort made by DowntownDC BID, however, remains the brown bag discussions that help educate the public on homelessness and raise awareness.

Installing public bathrooms is another potential strategy that might mitigate instances of public urination/ defecation. Although not all instances of this offence is carried out by the homeless, the compassionate approach rather than law enforcement approach has been widely praised by residents of the city of Denver, CO, where a pilot program of mobile public restrooms was established last year. These mobile facilities cost $12,000 per month to lease and are cleaned nightly and rotated regularly to different locations. Public bathrooms are basic amenities that should be made available to all users of downtown.

Given that vacant lots are often targeted for homeless camps to set up, downtown organizations may mitigate the situation by requiring or ensuring that private property owners have reliable property management companies in place to monitor compliance with zoning codes.

Finally, as downtown organizations plan ahead the annual schedule of events, they might start thinking about organizing events in partnership with homeless groups and shelters to accelerate and coordinate the move-in process. These processes normally take 60 days to happen but can be expedited in a single all-day event that serves as both outreach to homeless folks and also one that raises awareness amongst the general public.

Take a Comprehensive Approach

Overall, it is important to acknowledge that ignoring the homeless population downtown will not make it go away. A comprehensive approach must be taken by downtowns, in partnership with city, state or even federal agencies, and nonprofits and local community groups. Addressing the full range of issues faced by the homeless including housing/shelter, employment services, meals, and rehabilitation is crucial to managing the problem. It is also important to remember to count and measure the scale and scope of the issue first before taking any mitigating steps. This ensures that the response or strategies implemented directly serve those in need rather than simply blanket the problem.

IDA Atlanta: A Few Takeways

We came back from IDA Atlanta inspired with the exciting panels we had the opportunity to attend. For those who missed the conference (and the fun!) here are some key takeaways:

The rise of mid-tier cities – millennials are moving back to mid-tier cities attracted by real estate affordability and quality of life.  Some lessons learned:

•       Yes, millennials are moving back but they want to see positive change if they are to stay. They not only want to see those cities improving, but they want to be part of the change. Cities willing to attract (and especially retain) this population need to provide avenues for active civic engagement (and not just events).
•       Walkability and the availability of multiple transportation options are the main factors attracting residents and businesses downtown.
•       Availability of retail (eating establishments as well as stores) within walking distance of work is an amenity increasingly valued by employees and employers alike. Thus, investing in downtown commercial corridors, making them walkable and vibrant, is a necessary economic development strategy for those cities willing to attract the young skilled labor force (of the not so distant future).

Vibrancy is an economic development engine, but in districts with an active nighttime activity it is fundamental to balance the needs of customers and nearby residents. Some lessons learned:

•       After complaints from residents, Edmonton installed urinals and found that over 500 people used them every night. With that information in hand, local commercial district practitioners were able to successfully advocate for the installation of public restrooms. 
•        Night transportation is a problem.  In many cities public transit stops service before restaurants and bars close, forcing people to rely on automobiles. In many nighttime areas, traffic becomes a problem, with all the taxis, ubers and lyfts parking around to pick up customers. To address this problem, Austin created designated places for taxis and car service companies with strong enforcement.
•       The creation of a local Hospitality Business Association (or Committee) is a first step towards establishing better interactions between businesses and local communities. Having open meetings between the association and community members allows for constant communication and having issues addressed before they become a problem. 
•       A successful example includes the creation of local Community Court programs that allow people who commit low-level misdemeanors to avoid a criminal record if they complete community service and pay a smaller fine. The service typically ranges from clean up to graffiti removal events. The Beach Area Community Court in Pacific Beach has had an acceptance rate of 88% (of offenders accepting to participate in the program) and reports a recidivism rate of less than 5%.

      Civic engagement is no longer an option -  it is a must in creating more authentic and inclusive revitalization initiatives. Some of the main challenges include avoiding narrow interests to hijack the public dialogue, including the voices of the typically missing groups (minorities), and maintaining public trust in the process and the players. Some ideas and tools to address these challenges include:

•       One way to generate meaningful participation includes the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach by focusing (and valuing) on what is working in the district, analyzing why it is working and fostering more of it. The basic tenet of AI is that a district(or organization) will grow in whichever directions the people in the district focus their attention.
•      One way to reach people that are typically absent from the discussion is to bring the questions (the process) where they are and at the times that they are there (i.e. engage local students and have them interview their elders; bring the project to a local coffee shop, or the farmers market, and ask only one or two questions to make sure more people participate).

Some interesting engagement tools include:

Liberating Structures is an engagement model that facilitates relational coordination and trust. It consists of microstructures that foster lively participation in groups of any size, making it possible to truly include and unleash everyone. The website has a menu with 34 structures on how groups can organize interactions and work together in multiple ways.  

Neighborland is a platform that allows civic leaders to collaborate with local communities in an accessible and participatory way. It does that by integrating on-site and online community feedback within the project website and allowing for continual feedback and online discussions.

MetroQuest is a community engagement software designed to educate communities and collect informed input in a short period of time. Participants can see the impact of their choices in real time and learn alternatives and tradeoffs based on their own priorities.

Five Design Principles that Every Facade Improvement Program Should Incorporate

By Patricia Voltolini, Associate, LOA

What is the first thing you notice when you visit a commercial district? Storefronts and buildings probably make that list. Great storefronts are critical to a vibrant street environment. They engage passersby and contribute to active street life. Not surprisingly, façade improvement programs have become a common and effective tool in many commercial district revitalization efforts.

Yet many facade programs go wrong quite quickly. Without design guidance, the "after" might not look much better than the "before", and resources spent will have less impact than you might like. Unfortunately, overcoming this issue can be a challenge. Many BIDS, BIAs or CDCs working to revitalize low-income or distressed corridors do not have the budget to engage a retail designer to help prepare and review façade improvement applications. Even when they do, this person is often not a retail design expert.

With that in mind, we thought it would be helpful to share some of our own insights as they relate to the key takeaways from a wonderful new publication entitled, Laying the Groundwork:Design Guidelines for Retail and Other Ground-Floor Uses in Mixed-UseAffordable Housing Developments, prepared by the Design Trust for Public Space in partnership with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The publication is the result of extensive research and collaboration from a broad range of design and retail experts - including our own Principal, Larisa Ortiz - who served on the advisory panel. It is available for purchase on the Design Trust website.

While the report outlines best practices and provides practical guidance for those building new retail space in mixed-use buildings, we think it also provides excellent insight for those looking to develop facade improvement programs. A good facade improvement program not only impacts the overall look and feel of the district, but if done with certain principles in mind, can help businesses achieve higher sales. Incorporating these concepts into your facade program design will help ensure that the program meets the objectives of your district stakeholders as well as the businesses themselves.

So keep in mind the following key principles as you design your facade improvement program....

1. Maintain Transparency

There is growing recognition of the importance and value of transparency in driving retail sales. A transparent storefront invites customers inside with products and services on display. It also discourages crime by providing what urban theorist Jane Jacobs called “eyes on the street”. Making the facade as transparent as possible allows for a full visual exchange between indoors and outdoors. Customers and shopkeepers inside the store see what is happening on the street and pedestrians outside see the activity and offerings in the store. This interdependent relationship benefits both customers and retailers. 

The same storefront with different window treatments create a very different corridor environment. The previous merchant (also a pharmacy) completely covered the windows and failed to create any visual connection to the interior of the store. The new pharmacy made the windows completely transparent, and uses them to showcase products while allowing enough visual exchange between indoors and outdoors.

In order to maximize transparency, the design guidelines recommend having 70% of the façade surface completely transparent between 2’ and 10’above sidewalk-level, with measures in place for attractive privacy solutions when needed.

In many urban districts, retailers (even after a façade improvement program) cover their windows with sales posters and signs. Store-owners want to attract customers with these signs but in doing so they block visual connection between inside and outside and often create an uninviting storefront. A customer who can't see inside a business is highly unlikely to walk inside.

One way to keep the façade transparent and place signs  at the lower (or upper) section of the storefront, immediate below (or above) eye-level.

The same facade before and after renovations. The image above (before) shows all windows entirely covered with signs, a typical feature of many supermarkets and delis in urban districts. The image below shows the same supermarket after a facade renovation. Despite significantly covering the windows with sales posters, the owner  made an effort to keep some level-of transparency by placing signs below and above pedestrian eye-level.

This dollar store has large windows (over 70% of its facade is glass) but the store owner has covered it almost completely with products, blocking any visual connection to the interior of the store.

Another common occurrence is having non-retail stores (salons, professional offices, etc.) with minimal transparency. These businesses should also be regarded with the same design standards as other retail businesses as they are also key components of the streetscape and as responsible for creating vibrancy in the corridor as retail stores are. In fact, the design guidelines presented in Laying the Groundwork  target not only retailers but also banks, laundromats, and even community uses like cultural space, healthcare and childcare facilities.

This facade provides an excellent example of what non-retail stores should look like (or not). The space on the left has a highly transparent and engaging storefront while still providing some level of privacy to its users. The space on the right, however, has windows but they're completely covered with shades and gates and impede any visual connection between inside and out.

In order to guarantee full transparency, facade improvement programs should add a clause requiring windows to be kept free (or with minimal) signage and that product display should not block vision to the store's interior. In fact, the  minimum of 70% transparency recommendation does not refer only to the substantial presence of store windows, but that these windows be kept fully transparent.

Exterior illumination provides light on the sidewalk and highlights the facade at night. Exterior lighting can also be used to accent trees and planting. An active, well-illuminated street frontage improves safety for retailers, residents, and the district. It also reduces the need for security gates by creating a safer street front.

One important consideration is the relationship between lighting and store signage. Both should be coordinated and the new façade design should minimize lighting presence above the sign, especially if the units above are residential.

2. Maintain  Connections between the Storefront and the Street by Minimizing Barriers

An active, well-illuminated street frontage improves safety for retailers, residents, and the district. It also reduces the need for security gates by creating a safer street front. Ideally, security gates should not be allowed in retail spaces under lease agreements. There are many other ways to provide security, including security systems with video, sensors, alarms, etc.

Unfortunately, in many urban communities, transparency is often trumped by safety concerns. For example, many retailers elect to put up solid security gates as a anti-theft measure. However these gates only serve to accentuate concerns about safety. Your facade program should discourage, or require, less obtrusive forms of security. If roll down gates are required, share alternatives to exterior rolls down gates. (See our previous post "Are there viable alternatives to roll down gates?")

Air conditioning units can also be barriers and jeopardize a facade design's  potential to creating vibrant streets. Avoid whenever possible the installation of air-conditioning units over doorways or having them protrude through the façade. Instead, plan the placement of louvers to enhance the facade and the quality of the retail storefront. Provide a clear zone for louvers on the exterior storefront. Finish louvers to match the color of the surrounding storefront elements so that they are an integral part of the facade design.

A store's visibility has significant impact on retail sales - this is why businesses pay more for corner locations ("end caps" in retail parlance) where the store is visible to customers from a variety of angles. Effective signage can also play a role in improving visibility. In pedestrian environments, signage that projects from the building (i.e. blade signs) offer pedestrians strong visual cues that there are businesses in the vicinity. In one community where we worked, the installation of blade signs increased pedestrian traffic down a previously quiet street by 30%. (See our post "Pittsburgh Neighborhood Unveils Strategies Aimed at Drawing Tourists")

3. Keep the Street Wall Continuous and Avoid Gaps

The conditions of street-level retail are intimately connected to the quality of the customers’ experience in your district. The benefits of well-designed storefronts extend far beyond district attractiveness. From fostering community pride to serving as catalyst for further economic investment, they create positive changes to the social, economic and environmental health of the commercial district and surrounding communities. Although this recommendation is not technically about facade improvements, it does suggest that by clustering facade improvements and/or creating a continuous street-wall of improved storefronts, the program can have greater impact. Consider using the the facade program in a targeted way along a single block front for a limited amount of time. Or design the program as an incentive to fill vacancies - perhaps by increasing the allowable grant contributions when used for a vacant space. 

4. Maintain Flexibility for a Variety of Potential Tenants

Effective retail spaces are flexible. In many districts, the needs of tenants vary widely. Offering flexibility means greater potential to fit the needs of a larger set of prospective tenants. One suggestion is to design the façade program so that it has the potential to accommodate multiple entries. Another is to require improvements that result in on-grade pedestrian entries to ensure ease of access. Consider a retailer whose customers are young families with children - a set of steps will cause immediate concern. How might a parent with a stroller make it up the steps? Or a senior citizen - or anyone with mobility challenges? 

5. Remain Distinctive so that Shoppers Can Easily Find the Retailer

Retail entrances that are clearly marked and distinct from other street-level uses (residential or office entrances) facilitate wayfinding and help catch a shoppers eye. While the guide suggests a minimum of 15 feet between any retail entrance and other uses, we think that clear visual delineations are more important than actual physical distance. Awning and other design elements, like signs, can be deployed in a way that ensures a retailer has a clearly defined entrance.  

News Roundup: The Importance of Commercial Density, Combating Crime Proactively, Reinventing MLK, Bank Local, The Misappropriation of ED Incentives

Commercial or Residential Density: Which is Most Important?
Urban Kchoze presents a detailed analysis of the relationship between commercial density and residential density to uncover which promotes walkability more. Spoiler alert: commercial density. They also incorporate an interesting new metric, "farthest commercial use."

Urban Planning Practice Shows How Design Can Combat Crime

This design guide's prescription is to be proactive not reactive to crime. Good design and maintenance of the public space prevents crime from even happening. The alternative - NOT suggested - is to react to crime by adding more measures that further label the area as a target of crime.  

The Remaking of Martin Luther King Streets

City Lab looks at the reinvention of the more than 900 street and thoroughfares named after the late Martin Luther King Jr.

How to Find a Bank That Invests in Your Local Economy

Eat Local...Buy Local...Now there is Bank Local. According to the article, banks with more than $100B in assets accounted for 27% of small business lending while those with $10B or fewer assets accounted for 54% - demonstrating that small and ostensibly local banks support and finance local and small businesses.

Website capture of local banks near Jackson Heights.

How Economic Development Incentives Hurt Small Businesses

This piece discusses incentive programs and how many states wanted to help small businesses, but the majority of incentives went to large corporations. According to their research, large companies captured between 80 and 96 percent of these small business incentives.

Professional Development Opportunity: Philadelphia, PA, Safe Commercial Corridor Program

For our Philly folks...some info. on what promises to be a good opportunity to learn about strategies to address public safety issues.

This event is presented by the Philadelphia Commerce Department and Philadelphia Police Department (PPD), with Philadelphia LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation) and AlterNation Consulting.

The event is free, and space is limited to the first 100 registrants. Click here to register.

LOCATION:
Monday, July 27 from 3:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M.
PECO, Energy Hall, 2301 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

SESSION DESCRIPTION:
How can community collaboration and design enhance public safety?

This Information Session introduces a pilot initiative of the Philadelphia Commerce Department and PPD to address public safety along and around commercial corridors.

The July 27th event seeks to provide community members, police officers and leaders of city agencies and neighborhood organizations with tools and methods aimed at reducing crime, enhancing safety and strengthening those crucial relationships between the community and police that ensure safer neighborhoods.

This opening session will include: an overview of SafeGrowth® and Crime Prevention Through
Environmental Design (CPTED) led by internationally-recognized safety expert Gregory Saville,
presentations of successful anti-crime, pro-safety projects in West and Eastern North Philadelphia and the outline of a six (6) month pilot initiative to address public safety issues along selected commercial corridors through SafeGrowth® and CPTED.

SafeGrowth® is a proven method of organizing and training teams of diverse stakeholders, including
leaders in community development, design, planning, law enforcement and government, to positively impact real-life crime and safety issues. CPTED is also an anti-crime approach that focuses directly on the impact and the relationship between the physical environment and the incidence of crime.

While the Information Session is designed for managers and directors of community based organizations, police districts, and city agencies, all citizens concerned about community safety are
welcome.

What does a burned out and looted CVS have to do with upward mobility?

The Baltimore riots came to be exemplified by a looted CVS 

I have been fascinated by the recent coverage of upward mobility in the New York Times ["In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters"]. This topic is of interest to me because our firm is often engaged in improving retail environments in under served urban communities. Consider the CVS that was looted during the recent Baltimore riots. Did you ever stop to wonder how long it took to attract a CVS pharmacy to that neighborhood? And do you think that CVS or any other retailer will be eager to return as things settle down, regardless of how much demand and need there might be? In the end, the politics of place matters quite a bit when it comes to improving the retail environment for local residents.

Neighborhood Environments Impact Outcomes
This is why I found the research that the NYTimes covered quite riveting. Two Harvard economists conducted a time series analysis on the impact of neighborhood environment on the outcomes of poor children. In short, they found that the neighborhood environment in which a child is raised is one of the most important determinants of income (by age 26). From the standpoint of a low-income family living in a low-income community and looking to meet the needs of their children TODAY, not tomorrow, the news is not good. Basically, the research suggests that mobility is the answer. Get the hell out, basically. But the authors acknowledge that this solution is not scalable, and I agree. Moving every family out of poverty stricken neighborhoods is not a long term solution. It’s a band aid fix for an intractable problem. The real problem is the quality of the neighborhood in which they live. Addressing that problem is where the future of public policy SHOULD be if we are truly interested in improving the outcomes of poor children over time.

So what kinds of neighborhoods produce better outcomes? If we can answer that question, we can begin to craft policy solutions that will support these conditions in low-income communities. The study found the following, places that had higher rates of upward mobility demonstrated five key characteristics:

- less segregation by income and race
- lower levels of income inequality
- better schools
- lower rates of violent crime, and
- a larger share of two-parent households

Policy Solutions?
According to the authors, “our findings provide support for policies that reduce segregation and concentrated poverty in cities (e.g., affordable housing subsidies or changes in zoning laws) as well as efforts to improve public schools.”

In the short term, we must, must, must find ways to do the following:

• REDUCE the concentration of poverty and INCREASE racial diversity. This means encouraging economically integrated neighborhoods by combining efforts to attract higher-income families WITHOUT involuntarily displacing existing residents. That means building – yes, building – NEW housing. This in turn means that some communities will need to be rezoned for density. But while that happens, we must ensure that existing families have the opportunity to remain as a neighborhood improves. Some potential policies include strengthening landlord-tenant laws that prevent harassment of tenants, helping tenants with the right of first refusal and provide financing to enable them to buy their properties and stay in place, and providing incentives or loans to landlords that allow them to rehab their buildings in return for maintaining affordability. These are just some interesting ideas advanced by The Center for Community Progress.
• Make these neighborhoods “communities of choice” by addressing the quality of schools, the quality of the physical environment, access and transportation to jobs, and the retail offerings and cultural amenities that make a neighborhood a compelling place to live. By doing that, we create an environment that is not only better for the people who live there, but is also attractive to people of all incomes and races who are necessary to ensure diversity.
• Reduce violent crime. The impact of crime over time on the lives of children living in a community is significant. The study found that 20 years of exposure to high violent crime rates causes a reduction in average income. Not only that, but children get caught up in crime, paying a steep price through incarceration and shortened life span. Addressing crime is critical not just for people living in a community, but its common sense that crime has a strong negative impact on people’s residential decision making. Residential sorting – where people CHOOSE to live – is directly impacted by the crime rates in a particular neighborhood. So if we are trying to reduce poverty and encourage economic integration, we have to address crime too, otherwise those with a choice to move somewhere else will do so. 

While this is only the beginning of a conversation, I am extremely hopeful that this research will drive fact-based decision making and help change the dialogue public policy dialogue. 

Downtown Police Stations - a catalyst for revitalization

I was so pleased to see this recent piece on Middletown, CT where I first cut my teeth in downtown revitalization in the late 1990's. At the time, plans for a downtown police station with ground floor retail were on the drawing board, and William Warner, Middletown's Director of Planning, was working hard turning that vision into a reality. Many years later the station is being heralded as a "catalyst for our growth" by Quentin Phipps, Executive Director of the Middletown Downtown Business Improvement District. ["Downtown police stations seen as catalyst in 2 cities", NorwichBulletin.com, 10/13]. Other cities in Connecticut are now looking to replicate this success. Norwich, CT is now asking taxpayers to finance a bond of $33.4 million to construct a similar police station.

Middletown, CT downtown Police Station
Source: Google Streetview

But the police station was not the only investment made in downtown. At the time, the City successfully applied to become one of Connecticut's first state Main Street programs. Lots of additional small investments have also made a difference. Since then the City has formed a Business Improvement District, welcomed a 12-screen movie theater and a 100-room inn to town. These investments - a mixture of public and private partnerships - are now being considered a model for other towns. I couldn't agree more!

Do you know your 'district orientation'? If not, here's why it matters...

I am often called upon to help communities develop revitalization strategies for their downtowns - and the most common question I get asked is "how do we know what to do first?" What may have been the right set of first steps for one community, may not work in another, so it's sometimes hard to figure out how to prioritize your efforts and resources.

A professor from my days at MIT, Karl Seidman, is an author of a number of publications on urban commercial district revitalization strategies that offers a framework I find useful in my work. Karl starts by helping to unpack the question of “what kinds of intervention makes sense and when?” His field research on seven “urban” Main Street programs in three cities (Revitalizing Commerce for America's Cities) found that districts often fall into four ‘orientations’ depending on where each district is in its implementation efforts. If you can figure out your district orientation, you have a better chance of figuring out what kinds of activities you should take on first, second and third.

These orientations are useful because they help us avoid a far too common mistake made by practitioners: the tendency to apply known, familiar solutions to new challenges that require adaptive solutions. (For district managers in the Coro Neighborhood Leadership Program, this will sound very familiar!). What I mean is this - what typically happens is that a BID hires someone with a background in say, marketing, and all of a sudden all of the BID's activities are oriented towards marketing, whether or not these are right solutions to the problems at hand. Or the BID hires someone who really know real estate development, and lo and behold, all of the 'right' solutions for the district become about real estate. It is important to first take a step back and figure out what kind of district you are so that you can apply the right set of solutions to the challenges you face, rather than simply apply the only set of solutions you may be familiar with.

So with that, I offer Siedman’s framework below, with one exception - the addition of a ‘clean-and-safe-oriented district’. This additional category recognizes the critical contribution that neighborhood safety plays in neighborhood commercial district stabilization.

• Development-oriented districts are areas in need of significant investment in physical improvements. There are often numerous vacant buildings and sites in need of development. Buildings and infrastructure have deteriorated overtime, and private investment is unlikely because few see opportunity for return without some form of public subsidy. Marketing and promotion cannot occur until the market is more stable and there is something of substance to market and promote.
• Organization-oriented districts need help getting started. There is limited administrative capacity to take on any initiatives – and no established consensus around where to start or who will lead the initiative. These areas may have cultural or language barriers that make achieving consensus a challenge or they may suffer from ‘planning malaise’ or lack of leadership.
• Promotion-oriented districts start from a position of relative strength. They may have clusters of strong existing businesses that are struggling to remain relevant in the face of neighborhood change. These districts need help growing the customer base, which may have changed or diminished over time. Retention-oriented districts often share many of the same attributes.
• Retention-oriented districts typically have occupied buildings and few vacant sites. In these districts, the challenge is ensuring that the existing businesses benefit from development and escalating rents that often mark neighborhood change. These districts focus on providing resources and services to existing businesses. Promotion-oriented districts often share many of the same attributes.
• Clean-and-safe-oriented districts struggle to manage the perception and/or reality of crime, which hurts local businesses in their efforts to attract customers. This challenge undermines nearly every effort to improve the district. Reducing crime and improving perceived safety is critical to neighborhood can often serves as the primary catalyst for change and engagement from residents and businesses alike.

So which district orientation are you??

The "Small Box" Trend Requires Some Rethinking

It's exciting to see more and more news covering what I call the "Big Box to Small Box" trend. ["Big-Box Giants Downsize to Drive Productivity with Smaller, Urban Stores"; Retail Traffic, 3/30]. Clearly retailers are getting over what they once considered major obstacles to investing in urban markets. A 2004 survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Business for Social Responsibility found that 88% of retailers cite 'insufficient concentration of your target customer' as a factor influencing the failure to establish stores in underserved markets. Seven years later, the growing interest in urban markets suggests that many retailers are rethinking this long-standing misperception. We can now add Old Navy, going from 25,000 sf to approximately 10,000 sf, and Sports Authority, going to a 12,000 - 15,000 sf model called S.A. Elite, to our growing list of retailers exploring urban formats.

Yet commercial district managers know that challenges remain. Big box retailers exploring "small box" opportunities in urban markets must overcome concerns that still keep them out of urban markets. As one Walgreen's executive shared with me a few weeks ago, their concern is less about product disappearing through the front door with customers, than about product disappearing through the back door, i.e. with employees at checkout or during shipping. Proper surveillance and inventory control can help to address these issues.

Retailers also have to get used to lack of parking. The ICSC survey found that 83% of retailers are concerned about 'inadequate parking'. Yet, the best locations in dense urban markets are not typically known for easy automobile access or ease of parking. Consider Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn -- the subway stop at the intersection of Nostrand Avenue and Fulton Street sees 12,800 boardings a day in a community whose retail leakage is estimated at $785 million a year. Yet amazingly, there is no national drugstore at this busy intersection.

And we all know that crime still scares away some retailers. 93% of retailers cite crime or the perception of crime as a reason for their decision to steer away from urban markets. This suggests that our jobs as commercial district managers will continue to play a significant role in improving the reality and perception of crime within our districts. Bed-Stuy Gateway Business Improvement District is tackling this challenge directly by establishing a Public Safety and Environmental Control program that identifies hotspots of criminal activity and works closely with law enforcement to develop strategic interventions, as Colvin Grannum, President and CEO of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation notes in his regular Bed-Stuy Patch column.

As the retailing industry considers urban markets, they have got to realize that many issues related to the shopping environment are completely outside of their control, and that commercial district managers can play a role in maintaining the standards that many of these retailers have come to expect in more controlled shopping environments. Whether this includes managing public safety concerns, maintaining clean streets, or addressing the district vacancy rate, the role of commercial district managers will become increasingly critical to ensuring that the shopping experience inside the store is matched by the shopping experience outside of the store. Some industry experts posit that 30% of a shopper's desire to return to a store is based on what happens outside the store. If this is true, then retailers can ill afford to be lax about addressing the needs and participating in the efforts of their local commercial district management entity.