Business

There is a new buzz word in the battle against urban decline and vacant retail space—“pop-ups.” Simply put, a pop-up is a short term use of a retail space. Sometimes they come in the form of holiday stores, which close down after the season, while Target and other large retailers use them to promote specific products or lines.  Urban development initiatives, however, have begun to use pop-ups as a tool to reinvigorate declining shopping districts and main streets by changing perceptions of the neighborhoods they open in and demonstrating to potential investors and entrepreneurs the value of investing in these communities.

Partners’ board member Sam Williams, President of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, carried the banner for business leadership in helping to solve urban problems during remarks last month to the TEDxAtlanta conference. Calling for business leaders to fulfill roles as “urban statesmen,” Williams articulated a vision shared by Partners in which business leaders and elected officials can work together as members of a team to find creative and innovative solutions to urban problems. Service on Partners’ board is just one way in which Mr. Williams works daily to translate this vision into reality.

Discussions of livability typically focus exclusively on urban living, yet 20% of the country lives in rural areas or small towns. As speaker Rachel Goslins pointed out at Partners’ "Building Livable Communities” forum,  “It’s not necessarily true that a livable community is a city.” Goslins, the executive director of the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, asked us all to consider what livability means for small towns and what urbanites can learn from them.

Her observation is a fitting one. Small towns fare well in many aspects of livability, boasting low crime rates, access to natural amenities, affordable housing and land, ease of mobility (for most), and engaged citizens with a strong sense of community. Yet there are many barriers to livability in small towns, as they strive to deal with changing demographics, the decline of traditional industries, environmental damage, and deteriorating infrastructure. These woes may sound familiar to residents of any size city, but the effect and the solutions for small towns are often different. Long distances between amenities, limited resources, and negative stereotypes about rural America can make these challenges more difficult to surmount. 

Nonprofit urban café creates opportunities for local residents in arts and culture and most importantly, in employment.