On April 23-24, 2013 in Greenville, South Carolina, NADO hosted a Southeast Region Peer Exchange for HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning and Community Challenge Grantees working in rural or small metropolitan regions to develop plans and partnerships to bolster their communities’ economic competitiveness by engaging place-based strategies.

In this presentation, Mary Douglas Hirsch, Downtown Development Manager for the City of Greenville (http://www NULL.greenvillesc NULL.gov/EconDev/Downtown/), discussed the city’s place-based investments that have established the downtown as a major economic force in the region.  Greenville has been investing in its central business district since the 1970s and today is recognized as a model for downtown redevelopment planning. Through public-private partnerships with developers, community and faith groups, and other organizations, the City has made strategic place-based investments that have allowed the downtown to become a vibrant center home to restaurants, shops, businesses, and residential housing. These investments have benefitted the city as a whole by improving neighborhoods, making streetscape improvements, providing more retail and office space, and creating opportunities for larger economic development.

Click to download the Powerpoint presentation:  Part 1 / Part 2 (PDF)