Nationally, Positive Attitudes Towards Downtowns

Positive attitudes toward downtown and increasing funding for downtown improvements are two of the trends anticipated by the Downtown Idea Exchange (DIX) editorial team as they look ahead into 2008.

To prepare the annual outlook report, the DIX team spoke with a wide range of downtown experts from across the country who identified the major challenges and opportunities facing their areas. A dozen key themes emerged, including:

• Downtowns are making strides in thinking and working on a regional scale;
• Pro-downtown groups are better coordinating their efforts;
• Downtown populations are continuing to diversify;
• Downtowns are striving to be green;
• Downtowns are seeking to stand out with unique businesses.

The full text of the report, "Current and future downtown trends that matter most''--including details on all twelve trends identified by the DIX team--is now available online.