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The Skills That Drive Successful Redevelopment
Jennifer Gomez, MPA, Exec. Director of Economic Development & Redevelopment, City of Tulare
For staff, analysis and critical thinking also need to be balanced with the ability to be flexible and creative in finding solutions. To be successful in redevelopment initiatives, you need to have the ability to think outside the box and be open to working with developers and business owners to strike the right balance in achieving success for everyone. Reviewing procedures and programs, then providing recommendations to update stale policies and establish new strategies, is key to moving the community forward.
Within our organization, I like to share my ideas or concerns with other departments and get their feedback. Some staff can offer historic knowledge about past strategies that did or did not work, while newer hires can bring their experience from other organizations. I have found that embracing a team approach to find solutions has been an excellent tool so that I can benefit from everyone else’s strengths.
I have also had no problem after visiting a town that had areas I found inspiring, to simply reach out to their staff and ask about their programs! Be willing to look at the successes in other communities and modify them to fit your needs.
Balancing economic growth with community and equity considerations
Careful planning with appropriate zoning is the best tool a city has in balancing economic growth with community and equity considerations. Knowing what type of businesses are permitted by right or with conditional use permits must be taken into consideration.
This helps determine the impact they will have on residents. If any residential areas are near industrial areas, then construct wider streets and green spaces to create buffers.
Strategies for Attracting Investment to Underutilized Areas
Economic development is the cornerstone to generating new revenue, which will beautify parks, create recreational programs, fund police and fire, and repair streets. So, there must be a strong commitment to an investment in economic development by your City Manager and City Council to ensure success in providing the programs and services the community wants and needs.
“Economic development is the cornerstone to generating new revenue which will beautify parks, create recreational programs, fund police and fire, and repair streets.”
Beginning with small projects by the city to show immediate successes and focusing on improvements that the residents and local businesses will appreciate will gain trust and support. Many downtown areas have become distressed with vacant buildings and the loss of a cohesive look, yet these are the areas where residents still look for their community identity. Beautification projects that I have worked with in the past include improved lighting, decorative street signs, and landscape improvements. Future improvements that I am looking to pursue for the City of Tulare are murals or art to commemorate the history and impact of the different cultures in our community, self-enclosed trash cans to keep the sidewalks cleaner, and wayfinding signs to direct visitors to key locations. Keeping a vibrant and attractive downtown creates new dining, entertainment, and residential opportunities for residents and visitors to enjoy.
In addition to the City’s own investment in a downtown area is their investment in businesses and private properties themselves. Offering façade programs is a common mechanism that cities offer, but I have seen success with the City of Tulare offering forgivable loans to property owners who need to make various improvements to their buildings to bring it up to code or update infrastructure to attract new tenants. Buildings that have been vacant for years are now filled with thriving businesses. A key element to bringing additional customers downtown was to increase the number of food and beverage establishments. To accomplish this, the City of Tulare implemented a grant and forgivable loan program for those wanting to locate a restaurant downtown that needed financial assistance with new construction or an existing restaurant just needing to update their kitchens with more efficient appliances. The City’s own investment, along with the financial assistance programs, attracts the private sector to invest in their businesses and buildings. Tulare’s downtown is starting to thrive again under these strategies.
Measuring Long-Term Redevelopment Success
The keyword here is “long-term”. While you can measure short-term success with the opening of a new business or capital improvements, it truly takes years to finally see everything come together.
Seeing businesses thrive over a long period of time and increased revenues for the city, but if I hear people complain that they have trouble finding parking, then I feel like that would be a good problem to have, and it will be a great indicator of redevelopment success.
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