Tag Archives for: IDA

IDA Releases In-Depth Research Reports on Top Urban Issues

November 15, 2019

 

 

 

IDA Releases In-Depth Research Reports on Top Urban Issues

 

 

 

The 2019 Top Issues Council reports explore housing attainability and municipal partnerships.

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The International Downtown Association’s Top Issues Councils are a strategic research initiative that brings together industry leaders to produce research briefs on the top urban issues. This strategic initiative, now in its fourth year, promotes the expertise of the profession and provides meaningful tools and information to the urban place management industry and relates fields.

 

“The expertise of IDA members has been pivotal in the revitalization of urban centers for decades. We are once again excited to share that knowledge with the world,” said David Downey, IDA President & CEO. “It’s excellent to see the depth of insight and breadth of topics that our industry leaders experience each day.”

 

The 2019 Top Issues Council reports take a deep-dive into challenges facing the profession in the areas of housing attainability and municipal partnerships. Each Council authored a guidebook for sharing trends, case studies, and recommendations. The reports are now available after six months of in-depth research by IDA members.

Housing Attainability

Every community needs housing options that meet a diversity of incomes and lifestyles. The Housing Attainability Top Issues Council report demonstrates how urban place management organizations of all sizes and resource levels can play a role in encouraging more housing at a variety of price points and of varying styles.

 

Municipal Partnerships

The Municipal Partnerships Top Issues Council examined the fundamental nature of working relationships between urban place management organizations and governments to identify the best practices for producing the most beneficial and enterprising partnerships. The report is a useful toolkit for understanding the scope and breadth of these relationships, including case studies and sample agreements from organizations around the globe.

 

 

About International Downtown Association

The International Downtown Association is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit www.downtown.org.

IDA Awards Top Industry Honor to Seven Organizations

November 10, 2019

 

 

IDA Awards Top Industry Honor to Seven Organizations

 

 

IDA Presents Awards Recognizing Innovative Achievement in Urban Place Management

 

 

 

Washington, DC – The International Downtown Association (IDA) recognized 21 outstanding projects as winners of the Downtown Achievement Awards which identify improvements to urban centers by dedicated organizations around the globe. The winning organizations represent over 20 cities in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom. The top seven projects received Pinnacle Awards, the industry’s highest recognition, representing the most creative and inspiring innovations in urban place management.

 

Urban place management organizations are on the front lines of solving challenges related to placemaking, economic development, urban planning and branding. These organizations activate public spaces and make cities vibrant, healthy places for everyone. During a comprehensive review, this year’s projects were awarded by a jury of IDA members in the following categories, downtown leadership and management; economic and business development; events and programming; marketing and communications; planning; and public space.

 

“These innovative projects received the IDA Pinnacle Award for setting the new standard for improving cities worldwide,” said David Downey, IDA President and CEO. “Each award-winning project has made an impact on its city and the people who live, work and play in the community, and demonstrates the continued commitment to champion livable, vital and thriving urban centers.”

 

Winners of this year’s Pinnacle Awards are:

 

  • CC2DCA Pedestrian Connection Feasibility Study

Crystal City Business Improvement District – Arlington, VA, U.S.

The Crystal City BID saw an opportunity to further leverage the DCA airport’s proximity to their downtown by bringing it a few steps closer. A new pedestrian connection could harness the multitude of transportation assets in Crystal City, seamlessly linking them into a multimodal hub, and positioning the neighborhood to attract additional rail service such as Amtrak, regional commuter rail, and even a future high-speed rail station.

 

  • Pop-Up Winnipeg Public Toilet

Downtown Winnipeg BIZ – Winnipeg, MB, Canada

The Pop-Up Winnipeg Public Toilet initiative aims to lead by example through providing an accessible, clean, secure, well-maintained, monitored public washroom facility. The Pop-Up has captured the imagination of people in Winnipeg and beyond, generating enthusiastic media coverage, and stirring conversations recognizing the importance of human dignity and access to public toilets in the downtown.

 

 

  • Garment District Rezoning

Garment District Alliance – New York, NY, U.S.

The Garment District Alliance, which represents Midtown Manhattan, recently played a leading role in a plan that culminated in a New York City Council vote to remove a neighborhood zoning overlay, releasing millions of square feet of space from outdated, use-restricting regulations. The Alliance’s budget will be increased by $2.5 million for ten years to fund programming that improves quality of life and economic vitality for all in the area.

 

  • The Lower Polk Tenant Landlord Clinic

Lower Polk Community Benefit District – San Francisco, CA, U.S.

The Lower Polk Tenant Landlord Clinic (TLC) is an innovative homelessness prevention program serving the historic Lower Polk district of San Francisco. The clinic’s primary mission is to help vulnerable residents save their homes by avoiding eviction. Known affectionately as “TLC,” the program brings together a coalition of experts in myriad disciplines to address the diverse needs of the target at-risk populations. In its first year of operation, TLC helped 87 people save their homes.

 

  • SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan and Sub Area Planning

MIG, Inc. – San Antonio, TX, U.S.

The SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan is multi-layered and sequentially moves from big-picture vision through implementation. The plan includes 13 regional centers, as well as plans for community areas. The downtown is one of five regional centers being planned in the first phase. Those first set of plans will be completed and adopted by summer 2019 and the second phase commenced in January of this year.

 

  • Activating Nicollet | A Street for All

Mpls Downtown Improvement District – Minneapolis, MN, U.S.

There were three challenges in the renovation of Nicollet Mall: capitalizing on the new space, engaging the community, and executing an activation plan. Now, downtown Minneapolis has a plan to attract inclusive, year-round events, amplify partner efforts, and fill in future programs.

  • OverFlo: Hurricane Florence Preparation, Recovery and Resilience

Wilmington Downtown Incorporated – Wilmington, NC, U.S.

Wilmington Downtown Incorporated led a herculean effort to prepare for, and then recover from, Hurricane Florence. The process included working closely with Emergency Management personnel, property owners, and others. After organizing six months of events, OverFlo raised more than $128,000 for six nonprofits providing food, shelter and other services for hurricane victims.

 

In addition to the above Pinnacle Award winners, 14 projects were awarded an Excellence Award for their outstanding response to an industry challenge.

 

IDA’s members have a proven track record of creating collaborative public-private partnerships to tackle weighty issues. More than 2,500 downtown management districts exist in cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Place management organizations affect significant change in every major metropolitan area throughout North America in an industry that is growing rapidly around the globe. Place management work touches every discipline of city building, including economic development, leadership, marketing, events, public space management, policy, planning and infrastructure.

 

The 2019 Downtown Achievement Awards are sponsored by Sky Connect Networks. All seven projects were honored at the 65th Annual Conference & Tradeshow in Baltimore, Maryland on Tuesday, October 29, 2019.  Additional information on the Pinnacle award winners can be found online at downtown.org.

 

 

About IDA

IDA is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are city builders and downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit www.downtown.org.

 

Place Management Industry Convenes to Discuss Emerging Trends in Downtowns and City Centers

October 04, 2019

 

 

 

Place Management Industry Convenes to Discuss Emerging Trends in Downtowns and City Centers 

The 2019 conference will bring together over 900 inspired leaders shaping cities to showcase Baltimore’s urban renewal projects, diverse residential communities, innovative districts, and thriving cultural scenes. 

 

 

Washington, DC – The innovative members of the International Downtown Association (IDA) will come from around the globe this October for a three-day conference themed “Proudly Urban” to discuss topics facing downtowns and city centers, and to learn how embracing this proudly urban mindset can benefit districts of all sizes. IDA’s Annual Conference & Tradeshow is the premier gathering for professional placemakers and urban champions creating vibrant and healthy cities around the world. 

“We are honored to host this year’s IDA Annual Conference & Tradeshow in Baltimore where attendees will explore this dynamic city and be inspired by top urban thinkers,” said David Downey, President and CEO of IDA. “Our members bring new ideas, trends and innovative solutions to challenges in urban place management from cities all over the world to support their downtowns and bring city centers to life.” 

More than 900 industry leaders from around the globe will meet to discuss topics facing downtowns and city centers such as culture and community; parking and mobility; housing attainability; municipal partnerships; urban design; historic preservation; downtown infrastructure; residential growth; entrepreneurship; and more. 

The IDA Conference features more than 35 sessions and 10 Master Talks, short keynotes from industry leaders. Twenty tours and mobile workshops will introduce delegates to the city and offer an opportunity for study, networking and the exchanging of ideas. Attendees will explore Baltimore’s easily walkable neighborhoods, diverse residential communities, innovative districts, transit connectivity, architecture and thriving cultural scenes. 

“Baltimore is engaging, innovative, and easily walkable,” said Downtown Partnership of Baltimore President, Kirby Fowler. “Within downtown neighborhoods, attendees will see conference themes – like office-to-residential conversion, historic preservation, and placemaking – being put into practice. I look forward to showing off our city to the world.” 

2019 Master Talks speakers include: 

 

• Jeff Speck, author of Walkable City 

• Kate Jonas, Director of Urban Strategy and Development for MIG and former Seattle Deputy Mayor 

• Tom Geddes, CEO of Plank Industries 

• Natasha Moraga, urban artist 

• John Snook, Executive Director, Treatment Advocacy Center 

• Andrea Batista Schlesinger, Partner at HR&A Advisors (Inclusive Cities practice) 

• Albus Brooks, Vice President for Milender White and former Denver City Council member 

•Annie Milli, Executive Director of Live Baltimore

•Molly Alexander, Executive Director of the Downtown Austin Alliance Foundation

•Hilton Carter, plant/interior stylist, fine artist, and re-patrioted Baltimorean

The 2019 “Proudly Urban” conference is co-hosted by IDA and the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, and takes place October 28-30, 2019. View the full conference schedule here.

 

About IDA

The International Downtown Association is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit downtown.org.

 

About Downtown Partnership of Baltimore

Downtown Partnership of Baltimore oversees Maryland’s oldest and largest BID with initiatives that increase investment, retain business, solve transportation challenges, improve parks and green space, and create workforce development opportunities. Downtown Baltimore’s easily walkable neighborhoods include a range of architecture, public spaces, dining and cultural attractions, as well as some of the United States’ first urban renewal projects. For more information, visit www.godowntownbaltimore.com. 

IDA’s 2019 Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program Attracts Top Urban Champions

March 08, 2019

 

 

 

IDA’s 2019 Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program Attracts Top Urban Champions

 

 

 

Fellows to learn essential leadership and place management skills in New York City

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The International Downtown Association (IDA) selected 30 of the industry’s brightest professionals for the 2019 Emerging Leaders Fellowship (ELF) program. These senior staff members hail from 3 countries and 17 provinces or states, including Newcastle, UK; Vancouver, BC, Canada; Milwaukee,WI; SanFrancisco,CA; Austin,TX; NewHaven,CT; Jacksonville,FL; and Denver, CO.

 

 

 

Alumni of the IDA Emerging Leaders Fellowship program, launched in 2016, are fast becoming sought- after leaders for the future of city building worldwide. In just three years, the ELF program has resulted in at least 20% of its graduates receiving promotions and significant pay increases. Graduates have become new CEOs, accepted CEO positions in other organizations, and others have elevated to more senior stafflevels.

 

“The success of our Fellowship program underscores how critical this training is to our growing   industry,” said David Downey, President and CEO of IDA. “This is the only program of its kind created specifically for urban place management professionals. IDA is looking to further illustrate the importance of our industry by elevating leaders with the necessary skills to champion inclusive citybuilding.

Professional development remains a hallmark of IDA.”

 

The Emerging Leader Fellowship is a week-long experiential program bringing together a cohort of IDA professionals from within the urban district management industry. The fellows learn essential leadership and place management skills and gain practical tools in the areas of place-based economic development, the live-work-play experience, and public-private partnerships.

 

“The International Downtown Association is looking to build the future of our industry, and these accomplished executives are the rising stars of our profession,” said Downey. “With this program, we’re educating and inspiring the next generation of leaders.”

 

The program takes place June 16-21, 2019 in New York City featuring intensive instruction delivered by IDA partners at Baruch College, City University of New York, Times Square Alliance and Coro New York Leadership Center. Professionals from several business improvement district organizations across the city provide technical in-the-field training. The event takes place at various locations throughout Manhattan with field visits provided by several local BID leaders.

 

Congratulations to the 2019 cohort!

 

 

About the International Downtown Association

The International Downtown Association is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information and a list of other upcoming IDA events, visit www.downtown.org.

 

About the Coro New York Leadership Center

Coro New York Leadership Center is New York’s premier leadership training organization and a community of over 2,300 alumni across business, government, schools, and non-profits that is shaping our city’s future. Coro training helps individuals hone their visions for change and learn how to exercise leadership with greater self-awareness, intention, and effectiveness. We work with leaders, both seasoned and emerging, from many different fields who come to Coro to discover how cities really work and how policy is shaped, while also learning how to collaborate across differences, build culture and community, and make progress on shared challenges. From commissioners and city councilmembers to activists, executives, and entrepreneurs, those who come to Coro build the skills, knowledge, and networks to help them pursue their visions for change with greater effectiveness and impact.Through a series of three leadership training sessions, Coro will provide participants in IDA’s Fellowship with a set  of frameworks and strategies to help them develop best practices for leading change. Focusing on the personal, interpersonal and systems-level, each session will examine change-making from a different lens and provide new tools, along with experiential activities to test out these new ideas inaction.

Second Edition of The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities Report Released by IDA

January 31, 2019

 

 

 

Second Edition of The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities Report Released by IDA

 

 

 

Report expands data to 24 cities, identifies link between established downtowns and increased economic prosperity 

 

 

 

 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Cities and regions have the potential to generate profound lasting benefits through investment in downtowns and center cities, according to The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities: Second Edition report released today by the International Downtown Association (IDA). While small in physical size, downtowns are immensely valuable, diverse, efficient, inclusive and resilient on multiple levels. From driving tax revenue and business activity to spurring smart development and innovative workplaces, downtowns play a pivotal role in the long-term health of a region.

 

The report updates The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities study released one year ago, with data and analysis that expands the scope to a total of 24 downtowns with urban place management organizations across the United States. IDA carried out the survey in partnership with Stantec’s Urban Places team, an interdisciplinary hub joining the global firm’s urban experts.

 

With two years of data, IDA grouped each of the center cities into one of three downtown tiers:Emerging Downtowns, Growing Downtowns and Established Downtowns. These tiers are defined by stage of development of the district in relation to its city and region, and based on average growth in employment, residential density, population growth, job density and assessed value per square mile.

 

Key trends identified in this year’s expanded study are that downtown populations continue to grow and that their economic prosperity increases as they mature towards established downtowns. Additional key findings include:

 

  • Downtowns all bring outsized economic value to their city, but tax revenue increases as downtowns move from emerging to established. Property tax revenue in emerging downtowns averages 11% of citywide property tax revenues but increases to 32% in established downtowns.

 

  • Downtown population growth far outpaces citywide growth, and it accelerates as downtowns move toward the established tier. Between 2010 and 2016, population grew by 29% in established downtowns, 37% in growing downtowns and 14% in emerging downtowns.

 

  • The data show that as downtowns grow more robust, the income of their residents rises relative to the rest of the city. Median household income in emerging downtowns was only 70% of the citywide median. Growing downtowns reached near-parity with their cities, at 96% of the citywide median. Established downtowns outperformed their cities, with median income at 110% of the citywide figure. This pattern underscores the importance of developing policies and mechanisms for keeping downtown housing accessible to all income levels.

 

  • Downtowns become more concentrated employment centers as their stage of development progresses. Emerging downtowns average 17% of citywide jobs, growing downtowns 30% and established downtowns have 52% of citywide jobs.  Across all stages of development, downtowns are centers of knowledge-industry growth and of innovation.

 

  • Downtowns are multimodal hubs that rely less on cars than their cities. Emerging and growing downtowns have higher Walk, Bike, and Transit Scores than their respective cities, and established downtowns have nearly perfect Walk and Transit Scores (96 and 98 respectively).

 

“The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities report demonstrates both individual and compelling collective results. With 24 center cities analyzed and tiers established based upon the value characteristics found in a given district, we are furthering our understanding of the development stage for an urban area in relation to its city and region,” said David Downey, CAE, Assoc. AIA, President & CEO of IDA. “It’s fascinating to imagine how the strategies and programs of an urban management organization are evolving through these tiers.”

 

The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities focuses on understanding the value of downtowns through five principles – economy, inclusion, vibrancy, identity and resilience. The resulting report articulates the mutual benefits of downtown investment to a broad range of relevant stakeholders and shows the impact a downtown has on its city and region. The research in this study is designed to empower local leaders to work with the public and private sectors on multiple levels and support the continued evolution of downtown.

 

“For the second year, the data behind The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities report and rankings highlights the role downtowns play as the anchors and economic engines for their cities,” said Craig Lewis, FAICP, Principal of Stantec’s Urban Places team. “The things that matter most to urban success—jobs and investment, municipal revenue, cultural strength, economic mobility, and resilience in many forms—all begin with a healthy downtown. Successful urban place management organizations know that a city can’t produce vibrant, memorable, walkable urbanism unless it pays scrupulous attention to the human experience. This investment in quality of place has been the differentiator that enables downtowns to produce outsized benefits for their cities.”

 

In 2019, IDA will work with a third cohort of 12 downtowns to further standardize and benchmark the value of American downtowns.

 

The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities: Second Edition is now available as a free download on downtown.org. IDA’s CEO David Downey will join David Dixon, Planning and Urban Design Leader for Stantec’s Urban Places team, and other panelists to present the current findings at the American Planning Association annual conference in San Francisco in April.

 

IDA thanks participants in the following organizations for their cooperation in the 2018 research: Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority (Michigan); Atlanta Downtown (Georgia); Downtown Austin Alliance (Texas); Downtown Dallas, Inc (Texas); Downtown Durham, Inc (North Carolina); El Paso Downtown Management District (Texas); Downtown Greensboro Inc. (North Carolina); Downtown Indy, Inc. (Indiana); MPLS Downtown Council and MPLS Downtown Improvement District (Minnesota); Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership (Oklahoma); and Downtown Tucson Partnership (Arizona).

 

 

About International Downtown Association

The International Downtown Association is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit downtown.org.

 

 

About Stantec

Communities are fundamental. Whether around the corner or across the globe, they provide a foundation, a sense of place and of belonging. That’s why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind.

 

We care about the communities we serve—because they’re our communities too. We’re designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers, innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Balancing these priorities results in projects that advance the quality of life in communities across the globe. Stantec’s Urban Places team is an interdisciplinary hub within the firm bringing together leaders in planning and urban design, smart mobility, resilience, development, mixed-use architecture, smart cities, and brownfield redevelopment. We work in downtowns across North America—in cities and suburbs alike—to unlock the extraordinary urban promise of enhanced livability, equity, and resilience. Learn more at www.stantec.com/urban-places.

 

IDA Releases Six In-Depth Research Reports on Top Urban Issues

November 13, 2018

 

 

 

IDA Releases Six In-Depth Research Reports on Top Urban Issues

 

 

 

Reports explore economic development, parking, place branding, inclusive places, nighttime economy and urban mobility.

 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The International Downtown Association’s Top Issues Councils bring together urban place management leaders to produce research briefs on the top urban issues identified by IDA members in the areas of economy, experience and partnership. This strategic initiative, started in 2016, promotes the expertise of the profession and provides meaningful tools and information to the urban place management industry. The third annual IDA Top Issues Council reports are now on sale after six months of in-depth research by members.

Over 45 IDA members served on six Top Issues Councils this year, supported by IDA staff and the IDA Research Committee, each exploring a key topic within the industry and authoring a guidebook for sharing trends, case studies, and recommendations. This year’s reports cover a diverse range of challenging topics, from economic development to inclusive places and nighttime economies.

“The expertise of IDA members has been pivotal in the revitalization of urban centers for decades. We are once again excited to share that knowledge with the world,” said David Downey, Assoc. AIA, CAE, IDA President & CEO. “It’s excellent to see the depth of insight and breadth of topics that our industry leaders experience each day.”

Each report takes a deep-dive into challenges facing the place management industry, from strategies for nighttime economies to best practices for economic development and place branding.

  • How We Do Economic Development: Best Practices and Trends for Place Management Organization

sponsored by ICSC

Downtowns, as areas of rapid growth, have become key tools in the economic development arsenal. They have created the places where entrepreneurs and businesses want to work. This document represents an effort to chronicle and report on the intersection of downtown management and economic development. Today, economic development has become a staple program of downtown organizations, and the variety of approaches to downtown economic development is immense, reflecting differences in downtowns and their communities. This report discusses best practices and trends in economic development for place management organizations.

  • Inclusive Places: Prioritizing Inclusion and Equity in the Urban Place Management Field sponsored by MIG

Despite a remarkable urban revival over the past few decades, wealth and income disparities have widened inexorably in city centers, including both within and between metropolitan regions. Some place managers are asking themselves if their work has unintentionally fostered increasingly homogenized and exclusive urban districts that may be unwelcoming. This report explores the challenges and opportunities in prioritizing inclusion and equity in the urban place management field. It provides toolkits designed to help UPMOs to incorporate a more inclusive approach into their programming.

 

  • Nighttime Economy: A Guidebook for Emerging, Growing and Established Nighttime Districts

After decades of decline and flight from center city districts and neighborhoods in North America, many of these cities’ central cores are enjoying a modern-day renaissance.  Throughout this transition, urban place management organizations have employed a variety of strategies to attract investment and increase opportunities for the surrounding community. This report provides a guide for emerging, growing and established nighttime districts to regularly reference as they face and address challenges to supporting a nighttime economy.

  • Adjusting to the Changing Parking Landscape: How to Best Position Your District for Success sponsored by Parking Today

The goal of the IDA Parking Top Issues Council report is to address the broad menu of parking challenges downtowns face as they function today and plan for the future. The reader of this report should be able to better understand competing priorities related to parking, identify items to consider when addressing  common parking issues, and find some best practices to research further. This report will also highlight three success stories, offer lessons learned from real-life scenarios and provide takeaways that readers can apply to their own downtowns

  • Place Branding: Best Practices and Strategies to Brand and Market Your District

Each downtown and urban district is unique and offers different experiences. More than just a logo, tagline or marketing campaign, place branding identifies and distills a district down to its core identity and sense of place. The IDA Place Branding Top Issues Council has developed this report as a guide for urban districts to evaluate different tools and approaches for their own place branding efforts. Learn best practices and strategies to brand and market yourdistrict.

  • Urban Mobility: The Role of Urban Place Management Organizations in Prioritizing Connectivity

Urban place management organizations can have a positive impact on urban mobility in their communities in a variety of different ways, from direct involvement to policy advocacy. The Council looks at public transportation, the growing demand for bike infrastructure, and the emergence of technology-driven changes to how people traverse urban places in the 21st century. This report provides suggestions and case studies meant to demonstrate the role UPMOs can play in the context of urbanmobility.

The reports are available for purchase as hard copy bundles or digital PDF (bundle or individually) in the IDA webstore.

 

About International Downtown Association

The International Downtown Association is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are downtown champions who bring urban centers to life,  bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit  www.downtown.org.

 

 

IDA’s 2018 Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program Attracts Top Urban Champions

April 23, 2018

 

 

IDA’s 2018 Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program Attracts Top Urban Champions

 

 

Fellows to learn essential leadership and place management skills in New York City

 

 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The International Downtown Association selected 30 of the industry’s brightest professionals for the 2018 Emerging Leaders Fellowship program. These senior staff members hail from 3 countries and 21 provinces or states, including Cape Town (South Africa), Calgary (Alberta), Honolulu, New York City, Anchorage, Sioux Falls, Sacramento, Houston and Denver.

 

Alumni of the IDA Emerging Leaders Fellowship program are fast becoming sought-after leaders for the future of city building around worldwide. In just two years, the IDA program has resulted in at least 20% of its graduates receiving promotions and significant pay increases, including one Fellow who became Chief Executive Officer of his organization. “The success of our Fellowship program, launched in 2016, underscores how critical this training is to our growing industry,” said David Downey, President and CEO of IDA. “This is the only program of its kind created specifically for urban place management professionals. IDA is looking to further illustrate the importance of our industry by elevating leaders with the necessary skills to champion inclusive city building.”

 

The Emerging Leader Fellowship is a week-long experiential program bringing together a cohort of IDA professionals from within the urban district management industry. The fellows learn essential leadership and place management skills and gain practical tools in the areas of place-based economic development, the live-work-play experience, and public-private partnerships.

 

“The International Downtown Association is looking to build the future of our industry, and these accomplished executives are the rising stars of our profession,” said Downey. “With this program, we’re educating and inspiring the next generation of leaders.”

 

The program takes place June 17-22, 2018 in New York City featuring intensive instruction delivered by IDA partners at Baruch College, City University of New York, Times Square Alliance and Coro New York Leadership Center. Professionals from several business improvement district organizations across the city provide technical in-the-field training. The event takes place at various locations throughout Manhattan with field visits provided by several local BID leaders.

 

Congratulations to the 2018 cohort!

 

For a list of other upcoming IDA events, please visit downtown.org.

 

 

About the International Downtown Association

The International Downtown Association is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit www.downtown.org.

 

About the Coro New York Leadership Center

Coro New York Leadership Center is New York’s premier leadership training organization and a community of over 2,300 alumni across business, government, schools, and non-profits that is shaping our city’s future. Coro training helps individuals hone their visions for change and learn how to exercise leadership with greater self-awareness, intention, and effectiveness. We work with leaders, both seasoned and emerging, from many different fields who come to Coro to discover how cities really work and how policy is shaped, while also learning how to collaborate across differences, build culture and community, and make progress on shared challenges. From commissioners and city councilmembers to activists, executives, and entrepreneurs, those who come to Coro build the skills, knowledge, and networks to help them pursue their visions for change with greater effectiveness and impact.

 

Through a series of three leadership training sessions, Coro will provide participants in IDA’s Fellowship with a set of frameworks and strategies to help them develop best practices for leading change. Focusing on the personal, interpersonal and systems-level, each session will examine change-making from a different lens and provide new tools, along with experiential activities to test out these new ideas in action.

 

The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities Report Released by IDA

January 29, 2018

 

 

The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities Report Released by IDA

 

While small in size, these dynamic hubs wield substantial regional influence in tax revenue,
employment, housing and retail activity.

 

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Cities and regions have the potential to leverage profound lasting benefits through investment in downtowns and center cities, according to The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities report released by the International Downtown Association (IDA). From driving tax revenue and business activity to spurring smart development and innovative workplaces, downtowns play a pivotal role in the long-term health of a region.

 

 

The report is the result of an eight-month study by IDA, in partnership with Stantec’s Urban Places team, an interdisciplinary hub joining the global firm’s urban experts, and 13 downtown place management organization members across the United States to create a replicable, accessible and standard methodology to calculate the value of downtowns. The resulting report articulates the mutual benefits of downtown investment to a broad range of relevant stakeholders. This research shows the importance a downtown has on its city and region, thus demonstrating its unique return on investment to help advise future decision making and to increase support from local decision makers.

The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities is informed by experts and downtown leaders from around the country, encompassing over 100 key data points, 33 guiding benefits and five principles (economy, inclusion, vibrancy, identity, and resilience). The project examined 13 American downtowns and center cities and was modeled after the award-winning project, The Value of Investing in Canadian Downtowns (2013).

“This project is the most significant body of research IDA has ever produced. It is our first quantifiable study of downtown performance, and its release marks the beginning of our new research division,” said David Downey, CAE, Assoc. AIA, President & CEO of IDA. “I couldn’t be more pleased with the third-party evaluation we have delivered to our 13 member organizations and the new standard IDA has established for the urban place management industry.”

This initial downtown pilot group underscores the powerful impact of these downtowns far beyond their limited physical footprint with a city.

Among its key findings:

Downtowns average just 3% of citywide land, but account for 31% of citywide tax revenue. This means for every 1% of citywide land, downtowns contribute approximately 10% of citywide tax revenue.
Despite the uncertain future of retail, downtown retail is still a significant presence – averaging 16% of citywide retail sales and retail offerings. On average, downtowns generate nine times more retail sales than their citywide counterparts.
Downtowns continue to serve as major employment centers, accounting for 30% of citywide jobs and 40% of citywide office space. They are also adapting to workplace trends, containing 60% of citywide co-working space, 39% of citywide creative jobs, and 31% of citywide knowledge jobs.
Residents aren’t just moving to cities – they are moving to downtowns. Downtown residential is increasing much faster than the rest of the city (38% compared to 5%). Downtowns also saw a 27% increase in residential housing units from 2010-2015, compared to the city’s average of 6%.
Downtowns are multi-modal hubs. Downtowns consistently had higher Walk Scores, Bike Scores and Transit Scores than their greater cities (85-90 compared to 52-57), had higher rates of non-single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) commuters (43% compared to citywide 28%).

The research in this study will empower local leaders to work with the public and private sectors at multiple levels to encourage investment and support the continued evolution of downtown. Investing in a strong downtown is crucial for a successful city and region.

“This report, and all the great data that underlies it, helps to quantify what we’ve known for decades—that a vibrant downtown disproportionately supports the success of any great city. In terms of economic, social, and cultural vitality, downtowns punch orders of magnitude above their weight,” said Craig Lewis, Principal of Stantec’s Urban Places. “Our team is proud to have contributed to this piece of vital research. We look forward to our continuing partnership with the International Downtown Association to help downtowns and business districts—especially IDA members—tell the full story of their importance to city and regional economic performance.”

This year, the partnership between IDA and Stantec’s Urban Places will build and expand upon current research related to successful urban revitalization programs and apply the data towards the development of the first Downtown Vitality Index. This annual index will score urban districts and center cities on key economic, social and environmental factors of downtown vitality using these new data standards and methodology. This novel tool will standardize the value assigned to a downtown as a place for a range of stakeholders; create a useful set of tools for replicable, data-driven measurement; and define a baseline for progress assessment and peer comparison.

In 2018, IDA will work with a second cohort of 12 downtowns to further standardize and benchmark the value of American downtowns.The Value of U.S. Downtowns and Center Cities complete report is now available as a free download on downtown.org.

IDA thanks participants in the following cities for their cooperation in this research: Downtown Partnership of Baltimore (Maryland); Charlotte Center City Partners (North Carolina); Downtown Grand Rapids (Michigan); BLVD Association (Lancaster, California); Miami Downtown Development Authority (Florida); Downtown Norfolk Council (Virginia); Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (Pennsylvania); Downtown Sacramento Partnership (California); Centro San Antonio (Texas); Union Square BID (San Francisco, California); Downtown Santa Monica (California); Downtown Seattle Association (Washington); and Wichita Downtown Development Corporation (Kansas).

About International Downtown Association

The International Downtown Association is the premier organization for urban place professionals who are shaping and activating dynamic city center districts. Our members are downtown champions who bring urban centers to life, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors. We represent an industry of more than 2,500 place management organizations, employing 100,000 people throughout North America and growing rapidly around the world. Founded in 1954, IDA is a resource center for ideas and innovative best practices in urban place management. For more information, visit downtown.org.

About Stantec

Communities are fundamental. Whether around the corner or across the globe, they provide a foundation, a sense of place and of belonging. That’s why at Stantec, we always design with community in mind.

We care about the communities we serve—because they’re our communities too. We’re designers, engineers, scientists, and project managers, innovating together at the intersection of community, creativity, and client relationships. Balancing these priorities results in projects that advance the quality of life in communities across the globe. Stantec’s Urban Places team is an interdisciplinary hub within the firm bringing together leaders in planning and urban design, smart mobility, resilience, development, mixed-use architecture, smart cities, and brownfield redevelopment. We work in downtowns across North America—in cities and suburbs alike—to unlock the extraordinary urban promise of enhanced livability, equity, and resilience. Learn more at www.stantec.com/urban-places.