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Are you an expert in your field? IDA’s Top Issues Councils address a selection of the most pressing issues facing downtowns and city centers. This year’s Top Issues Council briefs cross a variety of topics that UPMOs face. Applications to join the 2025 Councils are open now and due by Friday, January 31, 2025 at 11:59 pm ET. Council work will commence no later than March 2025.
To be eligible for a Top Issues Council position, the applicant must be an IDA member. Further guidelines can be found below on the application. Questions? Contact Cathy Lin, AICP, Director of Research, at cathy@downtown.org.
- Programming for Inclusive Events: Events are a key way for downtowns and urban districts to reflect and celebrate the community within the district and the region around them, and to attract more local visitors to create a vibrant district. With increasing demand for authentic experiences, how can UPMOs reimagine, expand, collaborate, or empower community events?
- Police Partnerships: Safety and security continue to be a top priority in many downtown communities. As police forces work to increase hiring, UPMOs are actively partnering with local police departments to address shared downtown concerns, and working hand-in-hand for the downtown community. This Council will profile several examples of UPMO-Police Partnerships to highlight how and what they work on together, and the impact of such partnerships.
- Retail - Beyond Pop-Ups: Retail vacancies, particularly those that occupy large blocks of downtown or that have been vacant for a long time, are stark reminders of challenging economic conditions. Conditions for investing downtown have changed post-pandemic, and inflation challenges many business owners. How can UPMOs play a more active role to address large-scale retail vacancies with longer-term solutions, better engage the retail brokerage community, or propose new uses to retail spaces?
- Increasing Stakeholder Engagement in Your Organization: UPMOs unquestionably proved the value of the hyperlocal connection to their districts in the height of the pandemic and beyond. However, budgets may be reaching a tipping point as questions arise about the level of assessment funding available if commercial property values drop and municipal budgets are constrained. How can UPMOs can increase stakeholder involvement, through membership, volunteer committees, and other ideas?