‍Introduction:

We’ve all seen—some of us even experienced firsthand—how downtowns across the country declined in the wake of car-centric planning, suburban sprawl, and the rise of shopping malls. However, the nationwide emphasis on downtown revitalization we are experiencing today is a fascinating glimpse into decades of research into what builds self-sustaining, happy, and healthy communities. Over the next several paragraphs, I will outline some of the most prominent reasons for the demise of our nation’s downtowns, what research has found to be key to revitalization, and lastly, a few examples of successful downtown revitalizations across the US.

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Part 1: What Went Wrong?

Over the course of the nearly seven decades since the opening of the first enclosed shopping center, in Edina, Minnesota, we have seen an astounding increase in autocentricity, as well as a decline in downtowns across the United States. Over the thirty years from 1950 to 1980, the percentage of Americans living in central cities vs suburbs flipped from 60% and 40% to 40% and 60%. But what do those numbers really mean? Simply put, folks living in central cities were less dependent upon vehicles to move through day-to-day life, as they could walk, bike, or take public transit to work, buy groceries, or go out for dinner. However, as more and more people shifted their living to the suburbs, they were moving further from their destinations, thus walking and biking became almost impossible options, and public transit became unviable.

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Part 2: What the Research Says

There are lots of discussions about what went wrong, so  how do we learn, grow and improve from the way that we have let our downtowns flounder? Thankfully, there have been a number of folks across the country conducting research on this topic  over the course of the last several decades, including educational institutions, planners, community development organizations and more. Such diverse insight is critical as we hope for all cities to find some level of success that benefits their businesses, citizens, regions and even nations.

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The first useful insight I’d like to bring to the table is a great article titled “The ‘10x Downtowns’ Route to Better City Centers” by Adam Williamson, AICP, PLA, LEED-AP, published on Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU). While his entire list is valuable, I want to highlight the first item he lists: Reimagine streets as multi-functional spaces. Why would I choose this item? It highlights a simple but important change: prior to our addiction to the automobile, we played in the streets, talked in the streets, traded in the streets and paraded in the streets. A contemporary example of this can be found in the way that so many communities took to outdoor dining, drinking and events during our foray into COVID-19 a few short years ago.

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More useful insight can be found in SmartGrowth America’s (Re)Building Downtown: A Guidebook for Revitalization. This guidebook provides a seven-step plan for revitalizing your downtown, beginning with, “Understand your community”. It is important to place great emphasis on this step, as not understanding the wants and needs of your community is akin to building a massive building on a bed of sand. Once you understand your community, the remaining steps fall perfectly into place, but not without a great deal of elbow grease.

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Lastly, and from a slightly different angle from the previous insights, I’d like to highlight some insights from an article titled “Traditional downtowns are dead or dying in many U.S. cities - what’s next for these zones?” by John Rennie Short, Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. As we know, COVID-19 wreaked havoc on downtowns across the country, with many businesses closing, others shifting to work from home. Short’s article speaks at length about the suffering of downtowns, but also makes the very keen recommendation that cities work to repurpose office space to something that will be more useful to the community. Given the immensity of the housing crisis facing communities across the nation, it might be reasonable for them to adapt their code and priorities to support transitioning these old offices into housing units. While this may not meet the entirety of the nation’s housing need, which, according to an NPR article in April 2024 calculates the shortage to be around 4-7 million units, it could potentially make enough of a dent to stabilize housing prices.

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Part 3: Great Examples

So now that we know what contributed to the downfall of many of our nation’s downtowns, and we know what the research says about how to begin fixing things, let’s look at some great examples of some cities that have gotten their downtown back up and running. Among the best examples of such revitalization are Kansas City, Cleveland, and Asheville.

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Kansas City

“City of Fountains”, “Barbeque Capital of the World”, “Heart of America”, are just a few of the nicknames given to Kansas City over the years, but one that could easily be added to this list is “Hub of Midwest Revitalization”. In addition to having what CNN’s Harry Enten referred to as “the luckiest good team ever”, in the Kansas City Chiefs, Kansas City has experienced incredible economic leaps over the last ten years. According to the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, the fiscal year 2020-2021 stats are pretty remarkable:

• 28 approved redevelopment projects
• 18 announced redevelopment projects
• 2,569 total jobs created & retained
• $110 Billion in investment

With these numbers in mind, the folks in Kansas City have a lot to cheer about, as Chiefs Kingdom is only getting stronger.

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Cleveland

We all know that “Cleveland Rocks!”, but many people don’t realize that, before the rebirth of downtown Cleveland that has taken place over the last several years, downtown Cleveland was struggling to find its footing. Even though Cleveland has several major sports franchises, it has taken a Herculean effort to get things back on track, with the Downtown Cleveland Alliance playing a critical role in Cleveland’s continuing transformation. When we take a look at the investment numbers, downtown Cleveland is a happening place:

• $4.8 Billion in development underway and planned
• 14 new storefronts opened
• 21,000 residents

These are pretty impressive numbers when you consider that they are from only the “ 2025 Midyear Market Brief”. Given planners are always starving for stats, I highly recommend the Downtown Cleveland Alliance website’s “Data Dashboard”, as it is chock full of stats, ranging from foot traffic numbers to transit ridership numbers to gallons of water used for the flowers, all of which contribute to creating a thriving community. You’ll also see a drop-off in visitors from December into January, so if the Cleveland Browns start making some runs in the postseason, downtown Cleveland will see an even greater surge in revenue. Clearly, Cleveland’s emphasis on data is helping them decide how to allocate revitalization efforts across their downtown. 

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Asheville

Perhaps lesser known, but no less impressive is the work done by the folks in Asheville, North Carolina to revitalize their downtown. Their hard work has even resulted in their “Recreate Asheville: Shaping Our City’s Parks” has been awarded the Merit Award in Analysis and Planning by the North Carolina Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (NCASLA). This comprehensive approach to environmental planning will create a quality compliment to the “AVL 5x5 Strategy” that has been in place since 2010. Some of the most impressive stats can be found on the “AVL 5x5 Strategy” webpage, including: 

• over 2,200 direct, indirect and induced jobs, 
• $1.06 billion invested, and 
• $35 ROI on every dollar invested! 

The Urban Land Institute (ULI), a leader in the fields of development, housing and sustainability, have asked “How can a city honor its history, while building a more sustainable future?” As recently as August 2025, they’ve posted about convening “a panel of experts in Asheville, North Carolina, to explore this question and provide strategic recommendations for building a resilient tomorrow”. With all of these great things coming together, the home of the UNC Asheville Bulldogs is definitely tracking in the right direction.

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Conclusion:

As we’ve learned, it’s easy to blame cars, malls, or any number of things for the often decades-long desertion of our downtowns, but the most important thing to keep in mind today is that there is now a seemingly endless amount of research done to reverse that trend. Whether you live in a town of 2,500 or 125,000, there are tools and resources available to help your pursuit of downtown revitalization. Now, what will you do to play a role in the revitalization of your city’s downtown? It won’t happen overnight, so don’t wait!

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