Approach to Downtown Revitalization

Approach to Downtown Revitalization

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Flexibility of use between retail, office, and residential.
Ease of vehicle and pedestrian traffic into, through, and out
of the core area.
Availability and proximity of parking facilities both on and
off street.
Aesthetic & cultural characteristics which contribute to the
overall environment of the marketplace, and which serve to
attract shopping and other activities to the downtown.
Adequate and visible public safety to provide security for
shoppers and businesses.

The City of Danbury, through its Planning Commission, its
Parking Authority and Redevelopment Agency, has spent many thousands
of dollars collecting data and developing recommendations for the
revitalization of the downtown. In spite of these many studies,
there lacks an overall goal and philosophy for the Central Business
District. While it Is generally accepted that the downtown, through
its diverse uses, presents a very sound foundation for improvement,
efforts to bring about change have been generally not well coordinated. Rather than wait for d irection from the C ity, some
businesses have chosen to go it alone and have upgraded their
facilities. This approach is risky in that Individual decisions
don't often take into account the full spectrum of interrelated
events that make up the Downtown and give it an I dentity.
A series of studies on the d owntown Indicates that the primary
impediment to e conomic revitalization is a ccessibility. The road
network and traffic circulation pattern in and around the downtown
is insufficient to a ccommodate existing traffic loads let alone that
which would be g enerated by more intensive retail and commercial use
This single issue has the greatest overall capital cost implications
A proposal has been advanced by the City Planning Department for a
study and preliminary design of a Pranklin-Osborne-Maple A venue

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Connector Road which has been previously highlighted as a major
solution to some downtown traffic circulation problems.
Aside from these considerations, there appears to be a great
deal that can be done to improve the aesthetic quality of the area,
In particular, the Plan of Development suggests that a facade improvement program would improve the general character of the downtown.
Facade improvements may include reasonably inexpensive paint-up and
fix-up work, as well as design changes.

Further the plan indicates

a need for sign control so as to avoid the proliferation of poorly
designed, inefficient and unharmonious advertisements.
The cultural aspects of the Downtown play an important role
in generating excitement and interest.

The Danbury Preservation

Trust has i dentified many artistic groups that have located in the
core of the City.

News of the impending formation of a Danbury

Opera Association, Light Opera Company as w ell as the present Danbury
Symphony, Community Chorus and other groups provide a foundation for
cultural e vents in t he downtown.

A m echanism is required to blend

these c ultural a ssets w ith the e conomic base for their mutual benefit.
Police p rotection in the d owntown is generally good.

In f act,

officials visitin.", from other cities have noted the c omparatively
high v isibility a t p eak periods. However, d ue to staffing problems,
the CRD is forced to c ompete with other sectors for ongoing

protection

THE A PPROACH
How can we e ffectively e mploy t he p hysical, c ultural a nd
economic r esources o f the c ommunity t o realize t he u ltimate potential
of the CHD-? There m ust be a p rocess to c hannel all of these elements
Into a f ocused, c ooperative effort.
A r ecent s tudy of e leven northeastern Communities, including
Danbury, conducted by the Council for Northeast Economic Action,
found that the c ommunities that were most successful in stimulating

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revitalization of urban areas were those that enjoyed a solid,
cooperative partnership between business, particularly bankers,
and the p ublic sector. Certainly, in order to form the basis of
a good public/private partnership, it is essential that the
respective participant groups be well organized. This is the
critical area in which previous efforts have failed.
Many communities, large and small, have organized downtown action
groups to sponsor activities designed to promote the CBD for
business, shopping and culture, as well as conduct development
projects. Such a group is now in the process of forming in Danbury.
There are basically nine steps in the process of organizing for
downtown Revitalization:
Step
Step
Step
-•Step
Step
Step
Step
Step

One:
Two:
Three:
Pour:
Five:
Six:
Seven:
Eight:

Step Nine:

Initiating Discussion
Expanding Community Involvement
Exploratory Meetings
Developing an Organization
Setting Downtown Goals
Studies and Surveys
Setting Downtown Objectives
Establishing Concepts, Plans, and Implementation
Procedures
Program Implementation/Evaluation/Continuation

The first three steps have been taken. The formulation of a
basic organization structure is Indicated as the n ext logical a ction,
The central theme of this effort should be to emphasize the
cooperative efforts of the p ublic and p rivate sectors in jointly
seeking to Improve both the aesthetic and market characteristics of
the Downtown. This should include the p articipation of merchants,
banks, the Chamber of C ommerce, community based organizations, local
business, and other p ublic and p rivate agencies. Groups of this

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nature also may sponsor a variety of conferences, cultural and
promotional events, seminars and workshops related to the entire
spectrum of downtown development.
The Council for Northeast Economic Action study also identified
the leveraging of private investment with public funds as a major
measure of successful development activities. A popular mechanism
for stimulating investment in Downtown areas has been the use of
the d evelopment corporation. There are many models for this
particular approach, which can be found in communities such as:
Lowell and Springfield, Massachusetts, Norwalk and Meriden,
Connecticut.
Development corporations typically undertake activities such
as providing favorable loans to businesses for capital investment,
adaptive re-use of older structures, land purchase and other efforts
It offers the advantage of raising capital within the Community, and
the potential of involving a large number of local citizens,
institutions and b usinesses as investors and contributors, in the
makine: of decisions.
It is important that the C ity, through the Planning Department
and other staff professionals provide technical assistance as needed.
The Danbury Preservation Trust could provide input concerning the
rehabilitation and p reservation of suitable structures. The Chamber,
as a r epresentative of all area business, will seek to gather support
for such programs from the general business community. The Chamber
can also be utilized to supply technical staff to assist, In organizational and operational a ctivities.
Following is a s uggested organization structure for a d owntown
action group.

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CHART 2
"Membership
Investors

City of
Dctnbury -• ,

Board
of
Ji rector:

•• •

Chamber
of
—
?ommerce

1

I
Downtown Marketing
Council

1
Promotion
Comm.

— — •"*

Executive
Comm.

1
Special
Events
Comm.

Development Council

\
Finance
Comm.

PI aiming
Comm.

Government
Comm.

This model envisions a combination of promotion and development
functions in one organization. Although it would be possible to have
separate organizations for promotion and development, to do so would
result again in a risk of fragmenting rather than streamlining the
revitalization process. Certainly the organization could be made
operational in states to allow time to consider all alternatives.
The direct continuing involvement of the Mayor is of utmost importance
in this entire process. No other official has such an impact on the
formulation and direction of local policy.
Once the organization is formed and its goals established, it
is likely that it will require a budget to begin conducting its
activities. It may eventually wish to purchase staff or other services
in order to formalize its day to day operations. An opportunity may
exist to seek matching funds from the City of Danbury as a means of
"leveraging" private membership contributions.
Other methods will also be required to finance the development
function, if one is deemed appropriate.

CONCLUSION

It Is important to recognize that neither government nor
business can solve the problems of the downtown alone. The availability of public funds will continue to be severely limited,
requiring Imaginative, financing techniques to accomplish the rebirth
of the CED. In a healthy economy like Danbury's, the climate is
conducive to an on-going collaboration between government and business. Cities in far more distress have succeeded in breathing new
life into once decaying downtowns. It would be b etter to grasp the
present opportunities and a ct, rather than allow conditions to worsen
and react.