Neighborhood Business Center (NBC) Revitalization Strategies

Neighborhood Business Centers Program

Program Manager, Teri Cameron Stripes
tstripes@spokanecity.org
(509) 625-6597 or 625-6983
808 W. Spokane Falls Blvd.
Spokane, WA 99201

The City of Spokane Neighborhood Business Centers (NBC) Program is working with neighborhood business associations and neighborhood councils to revitalize Spokane’s historic pedestrian oriented commercial districts. These neighborhood centers add strength and diversity to Spokane's economy. NBC fosters community well being, local character, a sense of place, and prosperity by supporting small businesses, community interests, safety, tourism, and local events within vibrant family oriented neighborhood commercial districts.

To protect, preserve and enhance these walkable, traditional business centers, which are a unique destination for the tourist or resident at large and yet they are the neighborhood center and community gathering spot. They offer numerous antiques and antiquity expertise; the usual and the unusual music and expertise on instruments, lessons, and production assistance; the funky and fun gift, jewelry, and book stores along with some of the best coffee houses, bakeries, and local restaurants in the city all nestled among historic buildings, playgrounds, and neighborhood parks.

Because an inviting atmosphere created through vibrant pedestrian scale streetscapes, economic vitality, traffic calming, attractive window displays, parking areas, building improvements, street furniture, signs, sidewalks, street lights, and landscaping all conveys a positive visual message about the commercial district and what it has to offer.

The City of Spokane Neighborhood Business Centers (NBC) program is a network member of the National Trust Main Street Center http://www.mainstreet.org/ and participates in the Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development's (CTED) Downtown Tier System at the Affiliate level. Though NBC is a few years away from reaching Main Street’s coordinating/citywide status, we still follow its Four-Point Approach ™ to revitalization. Currently, we provide organizational and technical assistance for funding and implement capital improvements, and work on promotion with the neighborhood business associations.

1. Design/Improvements -- mean getting the neighborhood business center into top physical shape. Capitalizing on its best assets — such as historic buildings and pedestrian-oriented streets — is just part of the story.

   An inviting atmosphere created through attractive window displays, parking areas, building improvements, street furniture, signs, sidewalks, streetlights, and landscaping, conveys a positive visual message about the commercial district and what it has to offer.

   Design activities also include instilling good maintenance practices in the commercial district, enhancing the physical appearance of the commercial district by rehabilitating historic buildings, encouraging appropriate new construction, developing sensitive design management systems, and long-term planning.

   NBC implements capital improvements and programs that affect the public realm such as streetscape improvements, façade improvements, safe neighborhoods, etc.

2. Organization Development involves getting everyone working toward the same goal and assembling the appropriate human and financial resources to implement a neighborhood business center revitalization program.

   A governing board and standing committees make up the fundamental organizational structure of the volunteer-driven program.

   This structure not only divides the workload and clearly delineates responsibilities, but also builds consensus and cooperation among the various stakeholders.

   NBC provides six mini-workshops a year to help the associations building their knowledge and skills as well as providing direct mentoring and assistance to existing associations.

3. Promotion/Marketing sells a positive image of the commercial district and encourages consumers and investors to live, work, shop, play and invest in the neighborhood business district.

   By marketing a district's unique characteristics to residents, investors, business owners, and visitors, an effective promotional strategy forges a positive image through advertising, retail promotional activity, special events, and marketing campaigns carried out by local volunteers.

   These activities improve consumer and investor confidence in the district and encourage commercial activity and investment in the area.

   NBC promotes the business associations through its web site, coordinates with 4-5 business associations in putting on an annual neighborhood shopping event; Girls Day Out, works with the Mayor's office and Channel 5 to film the Your City with the Mayor in the districts – promoting them as great places to live, work and play.

4. Economic Restructuringstrengthens a community's existing economic assets while expanding and diversifying its economic base.

   Neighborhood business center revitalization helps sharpen the competitiveness of existing business owners and recruits compatible new businesses and new economic uses to build a commercial district that responds to today's consumers' needs. Converting unused or underused commercial space into economically productive property also helps boost the profitability of the district.

   Coincidentally, design, promotion, organization and economic restructuring correspond with the four forces of real estate value, which are social, political, physical, and economic.

   NBC is creating baseline data for the Centers to begin tracking their economic health and vitality. NBC has created a center/district Market Analysis model that it will use to work with the business associations in creating their business development, retention and recruitment plans.

Currently, NBC Works with five formal non-profit business associations, and six neighborhood councils to implement neighborhood priority projects and the Comprehensive Plan in the "Centers and Corridors."

Yes and no, NBC provides assistance and great information to everyone. NBC can also assist you with guidance in building your organizational capacity and/or in forming a business association. Once your organizations grows NBC can start working with you on specific projects and the implementation of your priorities.