Press release provided by city of Cambridge
The newly established downtown revitalization committee, Discover Downtown, has created six subcommittees to establish downtown as the place where community gathers morning, day and night, seven days a week.
The subcommittees are focusing on beautification and ambiance ideas, traffic, parking, biking, pedestrian concerns, and business mix considerations appealing to ages 8 to 80. Additional work projects include examining multimodal opportunities, future redevelopment, rebranding opportunities, downtown marketing, events and historical significance.
“I’m so impressed by the involvement, dedication and ideas the group is developing to truly revitalize downtown,” said Lisa Iverson, council member and committee member.
Community Connections – Creating connections to downtown through improved access, infrastructure improvement concepts and wayfinding improvements.
• Improving consumer access between north and south of Highway 95.
• Better signage and wayfinding for community parking, pedestrians and bikers.
• Integration of major points of interest and proposed Northern Lights Express.
Experience Downtown – Creating a great visitor experience through amenities, themes and visual improvements.
• Improving the look and feel of downtown through beautification.
• Creating building and streetscape theming concepts.
• Addition of outdoor dining and gathering places for people of all ages to enjoy.
Destination Downtown – Making downtown a destination with new business concepts, attractions and activities.
• Examine redevelopment concepts for vacant buildings and land.
• Research other successful thriving downtowns and potential new businesses and trends.
• Create long-term redevelopment ideas to expand upon known and future consumer and community interests and needs.
Downtown Promotion – Promoting downtown as a community destination through innovative marketing and branding with downtown business and property owner involvement.
• Create a new brand for downtown.
• Research other successful downtown marketing and promotion concepts and strategies.
• Gather interest from community resources to support downtown’s success.
Civic Support – Identify, review and assess Discover Downtown recommendations that could benefit from identified changes or modifications in zoning, planning, ordinances or practices in support of business opportunities and economic vibrancy.
Community Funding Support – Establishing relationships with community organizations, leaders and individuals who desire to support any of the wide variety of projects recommended by Discover Downtown.
The goal of Discover Downtown is to generate a wide variety of ideas, concepts and marketing opportunities the City, businesses and community can start implementing with ongoing downtown and community involvement, guidance and support.
“Cambridge downtown has changed and will continue to change. I am proud of our community and am excited to work with others who love our city and look for new ways to navigate the currents of change,” said Mark Radeke, committee member.
The downtown revitalization project is facilitated by Todd Streeter, principal, Community Collaboration, and sponsored by the Initiative Foundation.
Want to Get Involved?
Discover Downtown invites anyone interested in participating on these committees to help transform downtown into a thriving community center. For additional information and committee participation opportunities, interested participants are encouraged to contact Lynda Woulfe at 763-552-3201, or by email, lwoulfe@ci.cambridge.mn.us.