New economies need old places RevitalizeWA 05 06 15
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Transcript of New economies need old places RevitalizeWA 05 06 15
New economies need old places:
practical business and money
reasons why Main Streets make
cities better
Della G. Rucker, AICP CEcDWise Economy Workshop
For RevitalizeWA
May 6, 2015
Your Presenter
• All those letters?
• Economic Revitalization/Public Engagement
• My Thing: Communities that work long term–
▫ Strong economy
▫ Resilient economy
▫ Invested people
www.wiseeonomy.com
Barrygott.com
• French revolution picture with slash through it
• Ocean waves
Four drivers of the Local Economy Revolution
•Multiplication of Options
•Quest for Uniqueness
•Interdependence Dependence
•People Power
• Spoiler Alert: Main Streets support all of these.
Multiplication of Options
Multiplication of Options
Multiplication of Options
What do downtowns have?
• Different building types
• Different types/sizes of spaces
• Different appearances
• More choices…
Multiplication of Options!
Quest for Uniqueness
Quest for Uniqueness
Value = measure of importance/relevance/need
Uniqueness = relevance to a niche
Service to a niche = importance/relevance/need to niche
Uniqueness = economic value to niche
However,
Uniqueness =/= value to non-niche. Sorry.
And downtowns?
• Unique
• Niche!
• Value to Niche!
• (Not Value to non-niche).
• (sorry.)
Interdependence Dependence?
Interdependence Dependence?
Interdependence Dependence.
Interdependence
OK. Downtowns?
• Visual interdependency
• + Physical proximity (“collisions”)
• +Small business owner friendly
• = Interdependence Petrie dishes!
People Power
People Power
People Power?
Let me guess. Downtowns…
• People Power depends on something people emotionally connect to.
• For lots of businesses trying to use People Power, that’s hard to do.
• Downtowns have things that people emotionally connect to. In spades!
Great. Then why….
And why…
And Why…
Historic Downtowns have some big advantages in the emerging economy.
What can we do to capitalize on that?
How we try to fix business districts
(and often fail)• “We just need a streetscape!”
How we try to fix business
districts(and often fail)• “We gotta get rid of those vacant buildings!”
How we try to fix business districts
(and often fail)• Cars, cars, cars
What did we say the emerging
economy wants back in the beginning?
•Multiple Options
•Power of Uniqueness
•Interdependence Awareness
•People Power
Multiple Options
• Bigger is not always better
• Small has advantages
• Tiny can be even better▫ Capacity
▫ Collisionable-ness
• Are you offering start up or experimentation-sized spaces?
Power of Uniqueness
• Conventional thinking: non-cookie cutter =hard.
▫ Business and real estate
▫ TMTR (Too Much Thought Required!)
▫ So not for everyone.
• But market for “Conventional” is glutted
▫ Retail, service, real estate
▫ Race to the Bottom
• How is your business gonna stand out?
Interdependence
• How much capacity do you have?
• How much do you wish you had?
• How alone are you?
• How alone do you want to be?
Interdependence
People Power
• People want to be where other people are
▫ More than ever before?
• People attract other people
• People make people feel safer
• People increasingly do weird things to be where other people are going to be.
• People care about places that have people.
• Given that, how do we attract people?
People Power!
In Summary…
Your Downtowns are the Nursery of the
New Economy.• New Needs =/= Old Needs
• New Things Need Old Places
▫ Identity
▫ Access
▫ Value
• New business growth is crucial to economic success
▫ Increasingly, you can’t buy it
▫ Increasingly, you have to grow it.
▫ More of it stays if you grow your own.
Do realize…
• Not everyone belongs in a nursery
▫ Nursery is a Niche in the larger Local Economy.
• Babies often need some help
▫ Babies can be a pain.
▫ But (unless we find a way to live forever)…
We all need babies.
Let’s talk
www.wiseeonomy.com
Thank you!
For more information:
www.wiseeconomy.com
www.localeconomyrevolutionbook.com
Twitter: @dellarucker
Also on LinkedIn, Facebook, SoundCloud, YouTube, etc.
www.wiseeonomy.com