Reporter Seth Dickerson explores a neglected downtown building. (Henrietta Wildsmith/The Times)
In 2007, a Denver, Colorado-based economic development and planning firm called Progressive Urban Management Associates (P.U.M.A.) started reporting on global trends, those trends happening elsewhere that would likely eventually affect us all. By 2014, P.U.M.A. was talking about the resurgence of downtowns in a big way. Last year, P.U.M.A. reported that the market forces that had been positively impacting downtowns and urban centers had accelerated and that ‘urban areas that once took decades to improve are now transforming in a matter of years.’
Stephanie Meeks, the president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation wrote in her recent book The Past and Future City that saving and restoring historic fabric can help a city create ‘thriving neighborhoods, good jobs and a vibrant economy.’ The national phenomenon of urban resurgence- ReUrbanism- is on display in downtowns from Buffalo to Pittsburgh, transforming former Rust Belt and other city centers that until very recently looked all but lost. The whys are as interesting as the hows and theories abound- from changes brought on by the recent housing crisis to the desire to drive less to the wish to be more socially engaged. Meeks believes there is even more to it; that people have a yearning to be some place rather than no place. Downtowns are some place, they have a history, they have stories, and now, they have a future.
Several weeks ago, nationally syndicated columnist Froma Harrop wrote about the resurgence of Main Street retail, a shining spot in brick and mortar in an era when malls are losing out to online shopping. Her belief is that personal attention and proximity to other downtown excitement- and that feeling of being a part of something- is what is making the difference.
In 2018 downtown Shreveport will be seeing even more changes as those global trends P.U.M.A. predicted continue to take place. The historic Goode-Cage Drug Company, a 30,000-square foot mess of a building at the corner of Travis and Spring Streets, has been sold and the new owners are planning a total historic rehab that will kick off in 2018. 2018 will also be the year that 509 Market, a historic skyscraper that has sat mostly vacant for 20-plus years, will come back to life with apartments and a small grocery. 2018 will see the completion of the new Ridgeway Square condos at 719 Marshall St.
Interest is high in two much-loved historic buildings downtown. Architects have been engaged and numbers are being crunched and as we like to say, “hopes are high.”
The supporters of Shreveport Common, that 9-block art and culture district in the western part of downtown, continue efforts to find matching dollars to bring a needed green space to life, and building owners nearby are not waiting to invest private dollars into residential and creative/artist spaces. The former SporTran terminal on Crockett Street has sold to a Monroe businessman, and business owners and fledgling entrepreneurs continue to be intrigued with changes in downtown. Downtown is still the place for art and culture and events, so many events it is hard to find either the time or money for them all. 2018 is also the year for local elections, several of which will impact downtown in large and changing ways. Yes, we do live in interesting times.
Bill Hudnut, a popular four-term mayor of Indianapolis, Indiana, once famously said in making his case for downtown, “you can’t be a suburb of nothing.” He was saying that a strong downtown makes neighborhoods, and ultimately a city, better- and we couldn’t agree more. May 2018 be another great year.
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