“The Smartest People in the Room are Local”
It’s clear that COVID-19 will forever alter the way we view cities. On Tuesday’s episode of Life Style Business,https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucekatz1/ ( Bruce Katz) and an all-star team from Louisville joined us to discuss urban development and the opportunity we have now to rethink how we develop Main Streets in a more inclusive way. Bruce Katz, Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University and co-founder of https://www.thenewlocalism.com/ (New Localism Advisors), promotes inclusive and sustainable growth of cities in all his work. Bruce shared his thoughts on how now is the time to rebuild cities with a greater focus on inclusive solutions. He shared that the “smartest people in the room are local” - and we should listen to those who know their cities best, while also fostering “a new interplay” between bottom-up and government initiatives. Bruce also reflected on the potential of https://www.thenewlocalism.com/newsletter/needed-main-street-regenerators/ (Main Street Regenerators) that can help rebuild the economy of any downtown, whether urban or rural. He conveyed that the combination of local and government collaboration will create both “product innovation and institutional transformation” with the hopes of this crisis resulting in a more equitable, civic-minded society. We were then joined by community builder https://www.linkedin.com/in/gillholland/ (Gill Holland), in addition to https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariah-gratz-067b223/ (Mariah Gratz) and https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashlyn-ackerman-134a8612/ (Ashlyn Ackerman) from http://weylandventures.com/ (Weyland Ventures), who are all leaders working on redeveloping the Portland neighborhood of Louisville. They shared the importance of historic preservation, green space, and “work-live-play” developments, especially in a COVID-19 world. Portland is the midst of a $35M project that will develop 22 acres in the neighborhood, and projects including a sculpture garden have continued through this shutdown period. Key Takeaways from Tuesday’s Episode: We are at an important moment where we can create “replicable, actionable, scalable” strategies that will reinvigorate Main Streets across the country, which will be essential to the rebuilding efforts. Making sure there is room for bottom-up solutions will help us rebuild cities that are stronger than before. We will need to be intentional about community-building as evidenced by the success of places like Louisville, as community gatherings will remain an important part of neighborhood life, even in a new way. https://www.youtube.com/c/LaunchPadlptv (Life Style Business) is every Tuesday and Thursday at 12pm PT/ 2pm CT / 3pm ET via https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ZidpquY3Ra-IBZ4_ie8WTg (Launch Pad TV). Join us twice weekly for virtual community building and knowledge sharing with the Launch Pad team and special guests! Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/LaunchPadlptv (HERE). Stay in the loop by following us on Twitter https://twitter.com/launchpad (@launchpad) and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/launch.pad.nation/ (@launch.pad.nation). If you have comments or suggestions for topics you’d like to see covered or if you’d like to be a guest on the show, send us at email at chrisandanne@lp.co.