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Downtown Strategic Plans
Utilizing our prior experience working as practitioners in the field, we support downtown management organizations in developing tactical strategic plans to guide their evolution, blending local aspirations with national best practices. Selected project examples are featured below.
Norfolk, Virginia
Downtown Norfolk Strategic Plan Update (2023): Downtown Norfolk Council engaged P.U.M.A., in partnership with WPA, to undergo a strategic plan update to identify priorities for the organization and guide downtown’s growth over the next 5-7 years. The plan builds on the previous strategic plan, completed in 2015. The update is timely as downtown adjusts to new challenges and opportunities following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent acceleration of trends affecting downtowns nationwide.
Spokane, Washington
Downtown Spokane Partnership (DSP) Strategic Plan (2023): In early 2023, DSP began a strategic planning and BID evaluation process to reevaluate the way residents, employees, visitors, and BID ratepayers interact with downtown in the post-Covid era. The strategic planning process included external environment and internal organizational assessments that were synthesized to create a roadmap for DSP to support ongoing pandemic recovery and economic resiliency, cultivate greater inclusivity, and identify ways the organization can be more effective moving forward.
San Diego, California
Downtown San Diego Partnership Strategic Plan (2023): After going more than a decade without undergoing any formal strategic planning, P.U.M.A. was hired by DSDP to develop a holistic strategic plan to reevaluate the role of the organization moving forward. Over the course of the process more than 1,000 stakeholders were engaged through interviews, roundtables, and an online survey. The plan provides DSDP with strategies and tactics framed around four external goals that will become the bedrock of the Partnership’s work over the next five years.
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda Urban Partnership Strategic Plan (2023): P.U.M.A. worked with the Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP) to create a new strategic plan intended to guide the organization’s evolution over the next five years. The plan was informed by broad community input during a six-month process, which included capturing feedback from more than 1,000 stakeholders about the needs and opportunities in downtown Bethesda. The plan’s foundation is a new vision and refreshed mission, supported by nine goals organized into three categories – environment, experience, and economy – to reinforce the organization’s areas of work.
Traverse City, Michigan
Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (2022): The P.U.M.A. team, in partnership with Traverse City-based Parallel Solutions, worked with the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to answer two key questions: what is next for Downtown Traverse City, and what is next for the DDA. The final report includes observations and recommendations regarding priorities for future physical public improvements, future services, a governance model to support the future vision for downtown, and financing tools. Learn about the process on the Traverse City DDA’s Moving Downtown Forward webpage.
Flint, Michigan
City of Flint Downtown Development Authority (2023): PUMA completed a strategic plan for the City of Flint DDA to guide the organization’s evolution over the next five years. Recommendations are guided by several core principles, including an emphasis on making downtown inclusive and relevant; positioning the downtown as a cultural and entertainment hub; prioritizing transformative investments in public space and housing; and creating opportunities for next generation entrepreneurs and those historically excluded from business and property ownership. The plan provides a detailed framework for near-term program improvements, long-term considerations for enhancing the DDA’s impact and financial position.
Cleveland, Ohio
Downtown Cleveland Alliance (2022): P.U.M.A. was engaged by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance (DCA) to lead an organizational strategic planning effort to guide DCA’s evolution through Covid-19 recovery and over the next five years. The resulting DCA Strategic Plan responds to the top priorities from more than 1,100 stakeholders that were engaged in the planning process. The Plan offers strategic pivots to refresh the organization’s business model, a revised mission and vision, a new set of core values, goals and strategies, tactical recommendations on how to streamline and reorganize DCA programs and operations, and to create pathways to welcome the next generation of leadership moving forward.
Washington, D.C.
Golden Triangle BID (2022): After initially developing a strategic plan for the Golden Triangle BID in 2016 – a premier urban district in the heart of Washington, D.C. – P.U.M.A. was again engaged to update the organization's strategic plan in 2021-2022. An office-centric district, much of our planning effort focused on helping them adapt to post-pandemic realities for the neighborhood. The plan utilized and updated an existing framework with goals organized into three categories: core, vibrancy, and transformative.
Lynchburg, Virginia
Strategic Plan Update for Downtown Lynchburg (2022): P.U.M.A. was hired by the Downtown Lynchburg Association to craft this plan, which was informed by input from staff, board of directors, a project working group, and City leadership. Community feedback, current market trends, COVID-19 pandemic impacts, and best practices from comparable downtown markets were also collected and analyzed. A pathway to a stronger and more sustainably-funded organization was created, including recommendations for increased partnership with the City, better utilization of current 501(c)3, and BID creation.
Long Beach, California
Downtown Long Beach Strategic Plan (2021): The Downtown Long Beach Alliance hired P.U.M.A. to refresh its mission, goals, and objectives, organizational culture, and operations. Plan priorities were developed with input from more than 550 downtown stakeholders, plus an evaluation of the local office and retail markets. The plan informed the subsequent business improvement district renewal efforts with support given to increased funding for clean and safe services and a new in-house mental health liaison, plus resources for economic development, marketing, and beautification.
Tucson, Arizona
Strategic Plan for the Downtown Tucson Partnership (2021): P.U.M.A. created a strategic plan to guide Downtown Tucson’s evolution and enhance its value proposition over the next five years. The plan was informed by stakeholder input, current market trends, impacts of COVID-19, and best practices from downtown organizations across the country. Priorities were identified, including improved outreach services, storefront activation and occupancy, enhanced public space management, and advanced marketing.
Denver, Colorado
Blueprint for Organizational Alignment (2021): P.U.M.A. facilitated a process for three civic organizations in Denver’s Cherry Creek neighborhood - Cherry Creek North BID, Cherry Creek Chamber of Commerce, and Cherry Creek Area Business Alliance - to unite under a new umbrella structure. The strategic alignment leverages the individual organizations’ energy and resources, and collective ability to influence policies that impact the area's prosperity and quality of life. The new organizational approach incorporated findings from national best practices research and local role models.
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