"Any town that doesn't have sidewalks
doesn't love its children."
- Margaret Mead
The Community Land Use and Economics (CLUE) Group is a consulting firm
that helps communities create vibrant, dynamic downtowns and neighborhoods.
We help local and state governments, developers, and nonprofits design
innovative downtown economic development strategies, cultivate independent
businesses, recycle historic buildings, attract young talent, strengthen
downtown management programs, and craft planning and land use tools
that mitigate sprawl and stimulate town center development.
We specialize in downtowns. Kennedy Smith
directed the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main
Street Center for 13 years and is considered one of the world's leading
experts on downtowns, downtown economics, independent business development,
and the economic impact of sprawl, with a career in downtown revitalization
spanning 23 years. She created the retail market analysis methodology
now used by most historic downtowns in the US. Josh
Bloom spent ten years as a program officer at the National Trust's
Main Street Center , focusing on the economic and organizational dynamics
of commercial district revitalization, particularly in urban neighborhoods.
Our work is driven by several key principles:
Comprehensive action
No community development challenge exists in a vacuum.
We examine all the interrelated problems and opportunities together to get beyond symptoms and address the core issues.
Practical implementation
The best plan in the world is useless if it isn't implemented. We provide step-by-step guidance on putting our market analyses, business development strategies and historic preservation plans to work right away.
Balance
We recognize that communities have
tough decisions to make. We'll help you carefully and objectively weigh the many factors involved in community development decisions.
Clear goals
Strong, rewarding collaboration begins with a clear sense of a project's ultimate purpose. We'll work closely with you to explore your project's possibilities and clearly define its goals.
We provide a broad range of economic analysis, business development, planning, policy and evaluation services for downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
Economic analysis and business development planning:
- Retail market analysis
- Business mix and land use analysis
- Retail sales gap analysis
- Business development plans for commercial districts
- Independent business development and recruitment planning
- Business profile development
- Economic and fiscal impact analysis
- Identification and development of niche markets and clusters
- Adaptive use and rehabilitation finance strategies for historic commercial buildings
Strategic and implementation planning:
- Practical, detailed implementation plans for revitalization programs
- Strategic planning for downtown and neighborhood commercial district revitalization initiatives
- District marketing and promotion strategies
Consumer and public opinion surveys:
- District intercept surveys
- Community-wide surveys
- Business surveys
- Economic and lifestyle profiling of key customer groups
- Focus groups and community input processes
- National Downtown Business Survey
Policy and program performance:
- District assessments
- Evaluations of district management organizations
- Economic benchmarking
- Local, regional and state policy planning to stimulate and support revitalization initiatives
Training workshops, speeches, and keynote addresses:
We offer speeches and workshops on a broad range of downtown and neighborhood commercial district economic development topics.
Our clients include local and state governments throughout the United States; local, state and national nonprofit organizations; private developers; and government entities in Canada and the United Kingdom.
