Experience. Entertainment. Economic Development. The “Three Es” are seemingly at the forefront of recovery for cities, and as we dissect several recent articles on the topic, several themes re-appear, time and again — regardless of location, language, culture, or resources. Fact is — we’ve read hundreds, if not thousands of articles over the past several years that pontificate on what drives a city’s recovery. And they come back to the same set of playbook tactics, perhaps with localized flavor and spins — but one thing is for sure, there’s no lack of media coverage around our industry.
Since this is the first newsletter of the new year, we’re digging deep, and starting off with this piece from SmartCitiesDive, that includes nine predictions for thriving cities in 2025. Most of the crystal-balling in this piece focuses on things that typically only the largest and best-funded districts address (like zoning, housing, and transportation planning & development, or AI & cybersecurity policy), but the big takeaway from this article are right up front, in your face, when you open it. Playground cities will thrive. This trend has been noted, examined, programmed, and is rolling out nearly everywhere. We know that folks are keen on experiences. We know office dwellers are returning (albeit at slower rates, on mottled, hybrid schedules et al,), and despite numerous studies saying younger generations don’t want to drink alcohol — the core driver here is programming experiences with booze. This is playing out in various forms; like San Francisco’s new “Entertainment Zones” (aka “open carry” enforcement areas that are programmed with massive street parties, performances, huge community happy hours, and music. We know that there’s a loneliness epidemic afoot, and we know that our previously cherished third places that are so integral to community building are disappearing. So the onus is on us to create community engagement through events and activations like street fairs, farmer’s markets, concerts, festivals, performances, public art and pop-ups.
Case in point, check out Kathleen Rawson’s quotes in this piece from local Seattle NPR affiliate KUOW, that basically recapped and cataloged trends and takeaways from this past year’s IDA Annual Conference in Seattle. You’ll see some familiar ways that cities are adapting. Again, outside of the orbital undertakings of mega-BIDs (affordable housing, code, planning, and addressing the root causes of poverty), Entertainment and Experiences top the list. Unlimited drinks are a big draw on New Year’s Eve (or any old night, frankly), and this piece from the UK points to a specific trend, and a consumer appetite for ever-flowing grog in service of a good time. In isolating a trend on the most celebratory night of the year, we can extrapolate that the public’s desire for, what the Guardian calls “experiential leisure”, is really just a party with potent potables, regardless of their ABV.
Jumping back to the KUOW piece, you’ll notice our third theme; Economic Development. We explore that more in the next section (Things We 🖤), but basically everything we do as place management orgs comes back to economic development in one way, shape, or form — so it can be tricky to isolate “eco devo” as a trend — but it’s prevalent in the evidence from every city that is making strides or surpassing pre-COVID stats. When we invest in our communities (and not just their social lives), and provide a means to support oneself, become a contributing community player AND a net positive towards tax coffers and assessments; it’s a win for our constituents as well as our districts. So from Denver’s popular push carts to any number of microbusiness accelerators (mentioned below), we are the ones incubating our own stronger, more resilient cities. And lastly, if your org is large enough, or you have the capacity to impact infrastructure, inventory or even influence the fate of your next, new neighbors in terms of architectural style, form, or function — please, oh please, make sure your developers aren’t building “boring” buildings! Ack. Because the last thing time-starved, experience-hungry, wallet-opening citizens are looking for in a place, are buildings that give us the ick, or just downright bring us down. Collectively, our goal is onwards and upwards, but only time, case stories, and statistical success will pave the path for all of us to survive and thrive in 2025. Now, where’s the party?
Got some unleased retail space downtown you wanna activate? How about a random collection of toenail clippings you need to offload? Perhaps you too received a Muppet calendar CD ROM circa the last century as a holiday gift, and you’re totally okay with parting ways in 2025. Now, we’ve seen several inventive ways that downtowns activate unused space, from emerging business incubators, and pop-up programs, to arts accelerators and even window cling-wrapped retail spaces with lots of district logos — but this li’l tongue-in-cheek pop-up museum in Toronto takes the cake, (or perhaps the toenail, as it were) 🤢. It’s a brilliant idea that could be adapted by any downtown looking to activate empty space. We’re just dreaming of all the ways you could reimagine this concept while leaning into your local DNA. We mean, hell, you could develop an entire community-based event, swap meet, or recurring flea market fest with this idea. We’d love to see awards given in categories like Trashiest, Prettiest, Ugliest, Most Inventive, Most Likely to be Composted … and more. The list goes on and on, but any downtown that does something like this needs to submit for a Pinnacle Award, and we’d ❤ to see that!
… that New York City’s Chinatown is a Lychee Martini? Or that Tribeca is a Cosmo? Or that the Financial District is apparently a hearty glass of Guinness? It’s news to us, but what we do know is that Manhattan is a hotbed of creativity. In the last several months alone, we’ve seen some outstandingly clever creative coming out of NYC-based BIDs, like the Hudson Square Annual video (with adult puppets, no less), that kick-ass flow chart that ADNY did with their dining guide) — and now we’d like to draw your attention to this inventive map of every neighborhood in Manhattan as a boozy adult bevvie. Brilliant! Are the drinks on point, as to the neighborhoods they represent? Well, we’re sure that’s a topic for debate (over a few tipples at a bar with an eristic drinker), and the publication has done a pretty nice job of providing provenance or precedence for each pairing. We love this visually-engaging way to tell your city’s story through common denominators like food and beverage. And this could be an easily-ripped strategy for crafty content creators to showcase your local DNA, and give reasons to visit, move to your town, or incite that Virtuous Cycle — so take a tip from us, and pass this along to your fave MarCom designer. Final question. If YOUR district were a drink, what would YOU be?
Photo Credit: The Nix Company on Unsplash
The world of influencer marketing is a natural, given that the internet and social media platforms have replaced much of our former in-person interactions, digitization of peer networks, and trusted WOM marketing taking place online with vibe-driven specialists pumping out content for consumers. While each year brings new turns, twists, and bends, Forbes has rounded up five trends in influencer marketing for 2025 that we wanted to share with you. The fifth trend listed is of particular interest to us as place management professionals, given that most districts undertake their fair share of event programming annually. These community-first activations underpin most of our mission statements, and increasingly influencers are essential to their success. So as you plot out the coming year, take note — and let us know if you have a particular influencer marketing success story or red flag to share with your peers.
Atlanta’s got the Beltline. Philly’s got the Railpark. And ofc, NYC boasts the OG — the High Line. In the 21st century, adaptive reuse of aging infrastructure has played a decidedly large role in reenvisioning, redeveloping, and reactivating neighborhoods in cities across the globe. And not to be outdone, Miami, FL is taking a decidedly “bottom-up” approach with the Underline; a ten-mile linear park and trail network with some of the coolest amenities we’ve seen yet! Naturally, we were hooked when we saw that bioswales were involved. Then we learned that this former stretch of transpo infrastructure also features free Wi-Fi, bike repair and hydration stations, public art, outdoor gym space — and a jumbo 50-foot long, wheelchair-accessible community dining table, which is one of the coolest aspects of this revitalization project. Just imagine the trendy community dining activations you could program at a monumental dining table in your town. From large-scale events like “Le Dîner en Blanc” to homespun potlucks like tiny Salzwedel, DE’s annual “Stadtpicknick” — people just love to make a big to-do over food served from a never-ending worktop! These events are just one approach to community-building, and we have to give a tip of our hat to Miami for this years-long undertaking. The Underline is not only intended as a linear park, it’s also a pedestrian and bike-oriented transportation link, it’s a marvelous example of converting brownfields into a rainwater management system with bioswales and other ecologically-oriented tactics. The thoughtful and community engagement-driven design includes a “pollinator corridor” aspect with plants and landscaping engineered to be home to birds, bees, and butterflies while mitigating previous industrial uses. There’s a game room, with open space, tables, and chairs for all sorts of gaming. Perhaps the most alluring aspect of the project is the introduction of a Japanese microforesting method called “Miyawaki” (add that to your vocab list, homeslice!) that converts degraded land into more useful purposes. So kudos to Miami, FL for taking a great idea, incorporating community input, and developing a completely new take on an established revitalization technique.
“We’re not only planting lots of new trees, but we’re pioneering something called a microforest. It’s a Japanese afforestation method called Miyawaki, and it’s the first time that it’s being used in South Florida,” — Patrice Gillespie Smith, President and COO of the nonprofit Friends of The Underline
