DRINKING FOUNTAINS; ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO BE HELPFUL / USEFUL

Something as mundane as a drinking fountain in your down town has the opportunity to be greatly appreciated by those who are visiting.  If you have the cash to install drinking fountains, the cost difference of adding additional amenities for pets is minimal.  Here some examples of what has been done elsewhere:

DOWN TOWNS WITH DAMAGED BUILDING EXTERIORS?  NO PROBLEM!

Most down towns have property owners who are less than eager to keep up the appearance of their buildings (bless their hearts).  While this isn't a "good" thing, there are still opportunities to turn a negative into a positive.     Here are a few examples of where damaged exteriors have been transformed into a "oh wow! cool!" experience:     Getting their permission BEFORE getting creative on their property is always a good idea.

MUSIC / INTERACTION IN YOUR DOWNTOWN

Music is an universal language which will help keep children "less cranky" while their parents shop your downtown.  Here are just a few examples of musical instruments that have been incorporated into downtowns.  Obviously a community will need to  consider proximity to residences / apartments when installing interactive musical instruments.    If done correctly,  interactive music opportunities will make a visit to your downtown an enjoyable experience.

PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN YOUR DOWNTOWN

Another way to draw attention to your downtown may be to hold a photography competition.  A community or local business association could offer modest prizes for best images in various categories (professional, amateur, age groups, etc.).   Besides drawing people into your downtown, you will end up with some great images to incorporate in your future marketing efforts.

As to what is being photographed, you should consider keeping it as open ended as possible.  People are clever and will likely discover unique ways to view your downtown.     Just as an example, here are several "forced perspective images" from the web:

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR DOWNTOWN TRASH CANS

Bringing creativity to your downtown trash receptacles will make your downtown more interesting and will very likely reduce the amount of litter on your streets and sidewalks.

SIDEWALK CREATIVITY

A couple more examples of what other communities have done with their sidewalks:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTER

Even when a downtown has a sizable vacancy rate, residents and visitors are going to draw bigger conclusions by how the community maintains its business district.  Colorful banners hanging over sidewalks overgrown with weeds and broken pavement, deteriorating sidewalks, etc. only makes the experience that more ironic and depressing.

If funding is lacking, communities should seek out local civic groups and other volunteers to (at a minimum) pull weeds, sweep curbs and remove broken pieces of concrete.   Downtown leaders may also want to incorporate the use of art and other techniques while waiting for more substantial improvements to be made.

Just as a side note I found interesting; in the midst of a segment of deteriorating curb / sidewalk, two wild flowers managed to work their way to the surface....

EDUCATION IN YOUR DOWNTOWN

Another, lesser known, way to lure people to your downtown is to educate them.  So long as that education is fun, there is no reason to believe people won't come and at least check it out.  Various communities have incorporated education into their parks and their downtowns.   While your city may not have the resources to do everything shown below... the concept can be modified to be incorporated into any community.  Free standing signs, blank commercial walls can be easily used to accomplish this goal:

VEGETATION IN YOUR DOWNTOWN

While many downtowns make use of landscaping, very few have incorporated vegetation in unusual ways such as vertical gardens or even signage.  There are numerous opportunities to incorporate plants into the life of your downtown:

IDEAS FOR CREATING PERMANENT OR TEMPORARY INTEREST BENEATH YOUR FEET:

SEATING IN YOUR DOWNTOWN DISTRICT; IT DOESN'T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE A HUNTER GREEN BENCH:

While you want downtown guests to be comfortable and given opportunity to sit, there is no law requiring that the seating be hunter green park benches.   Various communities have come up with alternative seating which is interesting and (probably) less expensive:

OPPORTUNITIES WITH SIDEWALK ISSUES

Almost every downtown is going to have some "issue" with the condition of their sidewalks.  As is the case with streets; major damage on your sidewalks will need to be addressed immediately to keep people safe and keep the city out of legal risk.   For those sidewalk issues that do not rise to the level of fixing immediately, here are some unusual, temporary fixes which may create some needed buzz for your downtown.  Again; if you are going to go to the trouble of undertaking a creative fix; at least let the local media outlets know about it: