It provides small business ownership opportunities, jobs, retail sales and property tax revenues. Promotion - Create a positive image of downtown for residents, shoppers, visitors, and investors. Design - Enhance the visual qualities of downtown that make it a unique place to shop,work, or live. Economic Restructuring - Develop a diversified economic base while retaining and strengthening existing businesses. There are four major reasons why downtown is important.
Downtown is an area that needs to be protected for investment reasons.
City investment is in the form of sewers, sidewalks, streets, alleys, and water lines. It is the obligation of the city and private citizens to protect downtown to see that the tax base stays strong. Downtown is an incubator for new businesses. Starting and overhead costs are often too high in shopping centers for new merchants. Downtown, where the overhead is lower, is the logical place for beginning businesses.