The Changing Role of Downtowns: An Examination of the Condition of Cities and Methods to Reinvent the Urban Core

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dc.contributor.authorByrd, Kevin Ryanen
dc.contributor.committeechairKoebel, C. Theodoreen
dc.contributor.committeememberMayer, Heikeen
dc.contributor.departmentUrban Affairs and Planningen
dc.coverage.cityRoanokeen
dc.coverage.stateVirginiaen
dc.date.accessioned2011-08-06T16:01:37Zen
dc.date.adate2004-06-01en
dc.date.available2011-08-06T16:01:37Zen
dc.date.issued2004-04-28en
dc.date.rdate2004-06-01en
dc.date.sdate2004-05-24en
dc.description.abstractDowntowns across America have changed as a result of suburbanization. Population shifts and changing land consumption patterns caused by advancements in technology, such as the Interstate and the Internet, along with social and economic factors, alter downtown development. The city, and particularly its downtown, used to represent the nucleus for all commercial, retail, and industrial activities. As population and commerce suburbanized, the 'central' business district became one of several business centers and lost much of its retail function. Currently, cities are re-evaluating their development strategies to determine the best methods to attract people back to the urban core and to regain the vitality that once defined city life. Efforts to redevelop downtowns typically assume the characteristics of place-based strategies by following either infrastructure strategies or consumer strategies. The former method is more traditional, with attention given to specific land uses, such as residential, retail, or entertainment activities. Essentially, infrastructure strategies rely on the 'build it and they will come' motto. Consumer strategies strive to attract young professionals, single-parent families, and "empty nesters" for urban living by accentuating amenities unique to the city lifestyle. Roanoke, Virginia serves as a case study for evaluating suburbanization trends and methods of redevelopment for a small- to medium-sized city. By calculating and analyzing household and office employment projections, the Roanoke market shows signs of strength among young, renter households and Central Business District office employment. With a downtown residential market emerging and downtown office employment growing, adaptive reuse of urban space may prove to be Roanoke's method of reinventing its downtown by orchestrating a consumer-based redevelopment effort.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Urban and Regional Planningen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.otheretd-05242004-154534en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-05242004-154534en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/9949en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartByrd-MajorPaper-Final.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectRedevelopmenten
dc.subjectOffice Employmenten
dc.subjectCentral Business Districten
dc.subjectSuburbanizationen
dc.titleThe Changing Role of Downtowns: An Examination of the Condition of Cities and Methods to Reinvent the Urban Coreen
dc.typeMajor paperen
thesis.degree.disciplineUrban Affairs and Planningen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Urban and Regional Planningen

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