The Importance of City Website Design for Economic Development

November 16, 2009

Written by
Rickey Hayes (Retail Attractions, LLC) and
Rob Nichols (Torxweb Design, LLC)
If you’re reading this, chances are your city is looking to grow by increasing sales tax revenue through economic development. One way to grow your tax base is by recruiting retail development. One of the key components of successful recruitment is your city’s website. Most [...]

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Cars Are The New Cigarettes

November 15, 2009

This chart comes from a favorite blog of mine by Tom Vanderbuilt, How We Drive.

The phrase “Cars are the news cigarettes” was coined by Jonathan Maus at BikePortland.org

I love the analogy and though it is a stretch to assume that consumers will act in exactly the same way with both products, there will definitely be some correlation.  I sense [...]

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Streetfilms: Bill Lind, a Conservative Voice for Transit

November 15, 2009

via streetsblog.org
 

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One of the Worst Examples of Wasteful Spending

October 7, 2009

Once in a while, I run across a law that makes my head hurt. A perfect example of one of these laws is Senate Bill 1347 which was signed into law in 2004. To see the effect of this law, I would suggest a drive down Memorial Road at the site of the new Broadway [...]

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Retail and the “Quality of Life” Factor

October 2, 2009

Cross posted at Retail Attractions Blog
Written byRickey HayesRetail Attractions, LLC
What makes a city great? The “cool” factor, an affordable cost of living, good schools and low crime rate are just some of the qualities that come to mind. An infrastructure that can support growth and well planned residential subdivisions are also crucial if a community truly [...]

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Using Technology to Market Your City

August 23, 2009

One of the first tasks a city must master to gain a competitive advantage is applying technology appropriately.  In long-term efforts to reach out to new businesses, retailers and potential residents, efficiently using state of the art technology allows cities to reach more people with the right message more quickly. The Internet has fundamentally changed [...]

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When a 404 is not a 404

August 13, 2009

After getting the Google Custom Search engine up and running on the richmondgov.com website it was only a matter of time before someone found a bad result. In my case it was my director who did a search on their name and had two bad results. One was a 404 and one was expired content. [...]

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Pro-Growth Cities

August 5, 2009

In tough economic times like today, it is important that cities encourage continued business growth. It can be difficult to achieve this, but one way is to avoid passing new ordinances that make it harder for businesses to expand.
I live in Muskogee, Oklahoma. The recession took a while to hit our area, but the inevitable [...]

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Is The Search of Municipal Websites Not Working?

August 1, 2009

I have a unique sort of view on municipal websites. So I not always sure that I am a fair customer as I view 250+ cities at any one time. But I do have a chance to compare lots of things with websites that have very common websites. With that said I started doing design [...]

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A Primer for Cities on Retail Development

July 20, 2009

Co-authored by Rickey Hayes and Mandy Vavrinak
More and more cities and communities are realizing that growing their retail base wisely is an integral part of any balanced and long-term economic development strategy. Not every city can support extensive retail; overbuilding in some categories and areas has contributed to today’s economic woes in the retail sector. [...]

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Stimulating Economic Development via Public-Private Partnerships

July 14, 2009

One of the key components in economic development for small cities is the development of public/private partnerships. The growth of any locality depends on the vision of those in leadership, and it takes vision and courage to take the lead on growth and development issues. For sustained growth to occur, an environment must be [...]

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Community Versus Consensus

July 6, 2009

Much public debate on modern issues facing cities and towns focuses on “building community.” In reality, these efforts are generally seeking consensus, not furthering community. There is a difference, and it is an important one.
Webster’s defines community as “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.”
Consensus, on [...]

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Cleanliness Is King

June 27, 2009

Image by krisdecurtis via Flickr

 
For the next few days we are going to take a hard look at the needs of our communities.  We need to do this because our communities are failing and it isn’t because we lack resources (not always anyway).   We are failing at appropriately identifying which projects merit our tax dollars [...]

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Green or Red?

June 19, 2009

 
Green or red?  Cake or death?  Both paradoxical questions seem strange to me and I guess that is the point of at least the latter one.  The former isn’t a question I hear often,  but a choice I am seemingly faced with each day.   My Monty Python stump question is about the politics of choosing [...]

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Real City Planning

June 17, 2009

 
Real city planning isn’t complicated.  Real city planning doesn’t have to involve laws or regulations.  Real city planning doesn’t need a degree or important people.  Real city planning is you.  You, your vision, your attitude for your community.
The single greatest force in any community is the will of its people.  Complacency, spirit de corps, [...]

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