building a tactical revitalization plan for downtown albany

Step 2: Outreach & Complete Focused Market Analysis (Months 4, 5 and 6)
A series of workshops with each of the Working Groups are proposed to identify challenges and
opportunities, develop priorities and gain “ownership” in the Plan from a variety of constituencies. We
envision a two hour workshop format that would be repeated for each of up to five Working Groups.
Participants would be provided with background on recent planning efforts and would be asked to
brainstorm on improvements and set priorities. Improvements and priorities from each of the Working
Groups would then be compiled and analyzed.
The first of two Open Houses is proposed following the
initial Working Group sessions. The Open House would
build upon the priorities and opportunities identified by
the Working Groups. A general education and
information session would be followed by small group or
“idea station” development. For example, we envision an
Open House that could be built upon the body of
research compiled by P.U.M.A. such as the “Top Ten
Global Trends Affecting Downtowns and How to Respond
At Home”. This presentation looks at future trends in
demographics, lifestyles and global competition, and how
these trends could present opportunities in Downtown
Albany. “Idea stations” could then allow participants to
provide further applications specific to local conditions.
Wow factor! P.U.M.A.’s exclusive and ground
breaking Global Trends analysis places downtown
Albany in a dynamic global economic context &
guarantees a visible, positive and provocative
public event for the Tactical Revitalization Plan.
Wow factor! If Global Trends doesn’t float
your boat, you can’t beat Albany’s own Pulitzer
Prize winning author William Kennedy – part of
the Mower/P.U.M.A. team and available
throughout the project for historical
perspectives, Open House insights and
seasoning the Tactical Plan product.
To augment the workshops and Open House, an online
survey is proposed. The survey would be distributed to
a wide variety of downtown and community stakeholders,
including employees, residents, property and business
owners. In a downtown planning effort we recently
conducted for Rochester, MN, nearly 5,000 residents and
employees responded to a similar online survey. Social
media through CAC and its partner organization
networks can also be utilized to maximize community
engagement in the process, Open House and survey.
To balance community aspirations revealed by the
preceding outreach process with market reality, we will
also complete the focused market analysis that will
include:
‣ A compilation of downtown’s existing economic conditions, revealing current conditions and
opportunities in a variety of segments, including office, retail, residential, hospitality, etc.
‣ Focused analysis of challenges and opportunities in up to two key market segments within the
downtown (i.e. housing, hospitality, arts and culture, private sector employment, etc.).
‣ Development program projections for downtown, utilizing data from the existing conditions analysis
and developing localized forecasting assumptions.
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