The Heart of the Community

Towns and cities in rural Minnesota have, for several decades, faced population loss and capital flight associated with the decline of agricultural jobs and agricultural industries. For many small towns and cities, the economic and social transformations of the last forty years have left their once-thriving downtowns floundering.

As the economies of small communities begin to recover, there are many challenges for redeveloping the typical downtown's deteriorated infrastructure, including accommodating the space requirements of chain retail stores in the existing configuration of downtown space. Commercial development needs to be directed away from the edge of town and back into the center.

Residents and local offiicials who re-invent the traditional downtown planning and community zoning processes can ensure that commercial redevelopment accommodates sustainable land use and helps meet resource conservation goals.

What is a Downtown Plan?

A downtown plan is what planners call a "specific area plan," identifying development goals tailored to the specific needs of the downtown area. Applying the priorities and goals of the community, the downtown plan identifies development and redevelopment goals in the community's downtown.

Typical downtown plans address important land use and economic development issues:

• Land Use: Identify existing commercial, industrial, and residential (housing) land uses, and whether to expand, move, or secure current land uses.
• Development Needs: Identify existing businesses and economic activities. Note lots or parcels with redevelopment potential, and identify the appropriate land uses to mesh with the city's economic needs and assets.
• Streetscape: Describe existing downtown streetscape and appropriate changes to the streetscape (including building facades, building design guidelines, historic buildings and places, street furniture, pedestrian travel, landscaping, signage for businesses).
• Transportation: Describe current traffic engineering issues (peak usage, road design, need for road rebuilding or improvements) and parking considerations, and recommend necessary changes.
• Growth and Revitalization Strategies: Identify how to develop or redevelop downtown's physical elements, estimate costs of concept-level public improvements, and outline policies or ordinances that complement development goals.

The Sustainable Downtown Project

Hometown, Minnesota, Inc. was awarded a matching grant from the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance to develop a model sustainable downtown plan. Hometown, Minnesota, Inc. is a non-profit that provides basic downtown planning, promotion, and strategic planning services to member towns that want to incorporate the concepts of downtown redevelopment and sustainable downtown economic planning into their existing land use and economic development policies.

Through this grant, a model sustainable downtown plan was designed for small cities in Minnesota. Specific downtown plans were developed for three pilot communities — the cities of Renville, International Falls, and Montgomery.

Acknowledgements

Creation of this report was funded by the Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance through a FY2000 grant and the Downtown Minneapolis Transportation Management Organization. The author, David Van Hattum, is now employed by 494 Commuter Services.

Look at the online database of past OEA grants.

Posted March 2001