When you ask someone about Philly, the response can go a number of ways, but one thing is sure. The city’s downtown is on the upswing, and the Center City District brings the receipts to prove it. While most locals and many tourists and visitors might not be able to tell you who is responsible for year-round clean & safe, street beautification, and scads upon scads of seasonal activations, the CCD humbly supports this Top 10 City’s downtown core to the nines. And while Philly may lag when it comes to office conversions, that’s not stopping the momentum to bring folks downtown, in particular after hours and on weekends. In this Billy Penn piece, the org’s Vice President of Economic Development, Clint Randall, announces that, “we are back with a vengeance, in part because people are back with a vengeance,” in reference to the area’s resurgent nightlife scene. The CCD has also spearheaded an incredibly popular Open Street series on Sundays, closing a portion of a main downtown thoroughfare to traffic, while activating the roadway with street performers, live music, games, and activities for all ages — and it worked. Piloted last autumn with outstanding results, the program is expanding into Philly’s “Gayborhood” this June, during Pride month, and with good reason. Retailers reported from last autumn’s month of Sundays, that:

  • 79% of retailers reported an increase in sales on the four Sundays in September when streets were temporarily pedestrianized
  • Businesses saw sales jump an average of 68% compared to a typical Sunday, with some reporting nearly threefold increases
  • 92% of the retailers want the program to continue

And while the CCD does so much to support the local economy, activate and engage locals, commuters, and visitors alike, Philly itself has plenty of reasons to boast on its own. Case in point, USA Today recently named Philadelphia the Number One Best City for Street Art(see who the other nine were), and that’s not surprising. With the oldest mural arts organization in the nation, and over 4,000 pieces of public artwork, Philly is literally a massive, walkable outdoor art museum. On top of the popularity and cultural zeitgeist of hit programming like Abbott Elementary, It’s Always Sunny and Mare of Easttown, building global brand recognition, this East Coast convention hub welcomed 550,136 event attendees, resulting in 563,400 hotel room nights and an economic impact of more than $380 million in 2024 alone. This all bodes well for a city poised to host next year’s 2026 FIFA World Cup games, the MLB All-Stars, and countless millions of tourists from around the globe. Yo, Adrienne!

Photo credit: Envato Elements, by dibrova

 

 

Who doesn’t love a li’l healthy competition? We sure do, and we absolutely LOVED this community-based voting contest out of San Francisco. We worked with the LEATHER & LGBTQ+ Cultural District in San Francisco (the world’s first city-recognized district of its kind) on their visual identity and critical Persona development a ways back. It’s been amazing to watch the evolution of their brand, while building consensus with community engagement along the way, and we wanted to share this T-shirt campaign with you. Why?  Because it’s effing brilliant in so many ways. The contest…

  • Engaged local designers, so it supports local creatives.
  • Engaged the community to vote for the favorite design, so the org is giving voice to their constituents, which nurtures community trust.
  • It was a fundraising campaign to support the org itself (and with retail assessments heading the way they have been, you should probably all take note of this campaign). Each vote cast cost a mere dollar, but the collective effort raised much-needed funds for this pioneering district.

We spoke with District Manager Cal Callahan about the contest, and he noted that, “This contest is a great way to support local artists whose work reflects the vibrancy and diversity of the Leather District—while celebrating the rich, radical history that defines our community,” and he offered some helpful insights, should you decide to pursue a similar promo locally! Cal recommends that, “If you’re planning a project like this, I’d say having a clear timeline really helps. Try working backwards from the end date to map out key deadlines—like when submissions are due, when voting happens, and when t-shirts go on sale. Laying it out early, getting everyone to agree to it, and then sticking to it makes it easier to get everyone on board and involved. Don’t forget to build in some buffer in your schedule for logistics or any unexpected surprises that might pop up. But above all, have fun with the contest. It’s a great way to connect with your community!”. Kudos to Cal and the folx from “Leathers” for a stellar roadmap for continued community engagement, support, and fundraising. And BIG congrats to the winning designer Lucky Soul for their intriguingly kinky design!

Photo credit: LEATHER & LGBTQ Cultural District, and Envato Elements

 

… that pedestrianization, POPs and Open Streets initiatives may be the solution to drawing and keeping people content in your downtown? The keys are accessibility, inclusivity, and community engagement, and the upside is astounding. Consider this — before Times Square in NYC was pedestrianized, it was a rat-race of raging vehicles buzzing by, and befuddled theatregoers gawking at illuminated billboards. It’s now one of the top-visited destinations worldwide (with over 131MM visitors a year — more than each of the Disney theme parks worldwide), resulting in $4.8 billion in annual retail, entertainment, and hotel sales. As we looked at above with Philly, Open Streets are an increasingly popular way to activate downtown corridors, and they don’t have to be permanent. In the case of Philadelphia, the programming has been a month of Sundays, and does not require capital investment. Whether you call them POPS, POPOS, or something else, the case for privately-owned public spaces (from pocket parks on corporate property to sky-high gardens in the clouds), cities and citizens need community meeting spaces. With the rapid evaporation of traditional third spaces, urban parks often meet the need or become the focus as community gathering points, places of activation, and celebration. But they’re not without challenge or issue. The following two articles provide deep insights into identifying best practices, vetting equitable space and policy, and insights into the future of urban POPs. We really enjoyed this piece from Cities Today, interviewing Edith Hsu-Chen, the Director of NYC’s Department of City Planning, who openly shared wins, challenges, and prognostications on the role of public/private space in urban enclaves. And then, The Developer recently featured this study of two London-based POPs that explores people’s feelings about the spaces, how they use them, and just what gets under their skin about them. It all comes back to inclusivity and accessibility. Read both, and you’ll take away some tangible applications for your next public/private collab on urban greenspace.

Photo credit: Envato Elements by duallogic

 

Big congrats to Better Block, which is also celebrating a decade of existence in 2025! We’ve followed their amazing success as we’ve grown as well. Starting out as community-driven activation, Better Block Foundation got its official start (and funding) thanks to a Knight Foundation grant in 2015. Since then, they’ve activated alleyways, transformed abandoned lots into parks and playgrounds, and turned dangerous places into safe spaces. We’ve fanboyed their Wikiblock library of FREE, open-source, public space templates and shared them widely. Check out this visual jaunt down memory lane, and give thanks and kudos to these civic activists, urban planners, and inspiring imagineers!

Photo credit:  BetterBlock.org

Spotlight on Lowell, Mass! This former industrial hub, a mere hour by car from Boston, has found new life — multiple times! And today’s “third wave” employs some noteworthy tactics that your city should rip. Like many towns in the U.S., Lowell has seen its ups and downs. From an Industrial Revolution powerhouse, Lowell led the way with textile mills along the Merrimack Riverfront. As that industry dried up, the little-city-that-could again deployed economic development tactics in the 1980s by luring a major computer maker to their market, and again in the interim years, by converting former mill stock into artist space, residential, and commercial spaces. As the times and demographics changed, so did Lowell, which now grapples with affordable and middle housing scarcity. It’s working on those issues, but the piece from this article that stood out to us the most is the vacant property legislation. We see this issue time and again. Property owners want top dollar for their rents, so much so that they’re willing to leave spaces untenanted for years on end. No way, Jose, says Lowell! Empty façades do nothing to ameliorate your downtown or your reputation, so the city has instituted a slate of legislation to entice landlords to sign leases or pay up. The city will also help matchmake potential lesees with vacant property, so the incentives are there to fill the city’s buildings. With multiple municipalities grappling with scores of unoccupied spaces and entrepreneurs longingly looking to lease, the legislation feels like a win-win to us. Got a similar story? We’d love to learn how your district or city deals with stingy landlords and property owners.

Photo credit: on Unsplash by Davood Dashti

 

“Public-private partnerships are essential in keeping these spaces vibrant. Developers provide the infrastructure, but it’s the community that gives these spaces life. The best public spaces are those where people feel a sense of ownership and belonging. That’s why community engagement is so important in the planning and design process.” — Edith Hsu-Chen, Director of the New York City Department of City Planning