September 15, 2020: News from Main Street

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September 15, 2020 / canurb.org New Designs for Main Street A Main Street Design Challenge entry from A4 architecture + design on reimagining outdoor retail lines. The Main Street Design Challenge is a coordinated engagement that invites anyone interested in design to develop innovative, responsible, sustainable, and resilient design solutions for Canadian main streets. Submissions from Cycle 2 are now available on our website! This set of submissions has ideas on public art, public washrooms, and much more. You can still submit your design ideas to help Canada's main streets: Cycle 3 deadline: September 18, 2020 Playbook full release: Fall 2020 View Cycle 2 Submissions Main Street Data Primer This primer from Andy Yan, Director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University highlights core data concepts, provides tips for data collection and analysis, and includes a list of sources that can be used to support main street data projects. "The collection and use of data about main streets is essential for understanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for informing the development of strategies and interventions to support economic recovery. COVID-19 has been an accelerator of long-standing trends and changes in retail and services on main streets, amplifying pre-existing weaknesses, and inequalities. Having the right data and analytic approaches are key to addressing these issues." Read Now Fight Unemployment Fight Unemployment is a campaign that showcases how individuals, businesses, BIAs, and municipalities can take steps to help bring people back to work and fight unemployment in their community. Through the #ShiftYourSpend challenge, the campaign encourages supporting local businesses. Read our Latest Memos Memo #13 Main Street Faith Buildings: Evolving through COVID-19 and Beyond By Barbara Myers and Graham Singh, CEO, Trinity Centres Foundation Memo #14 Who has the Right to Allocated Space? By Mitchell Reardon & Emma Clayton Jones, Happy City Five Bright Ideas Signs of innovation, creativity, and resilience on our main streets: The City of Toronto announced that 45 live music venues will receive a combined $1.7 million in property tax relief to support Toronto’s live music industry and address the unprecedented challenges that are threatening live music venues across the city. The Downtown Halifax Business Commission has launched the Meet Me Downtown campaign in order to encourage spending time in the area and help boost local business and tourism. The City of Guelph created the Guelph Shops platform to provide an opportunity for consumers to search for specific products from local businesses. We Are Santa Fe Safe is an initiative to help local businesses be COVID-safe for customers and employees alike. It offers an all-in-one program toolkit to help businesses engage with their customers.  Street Lab is a nonprofit that creates and shares extraordinary programs for public space across New York City—pop-up reading rooms, open-air drawing studios, and more.  Find more bright ideas like these at CityShareCanada.ca. Thank You to Our Partners We are grateful to all of our partners for supporting us in building a stronger urban Canada. Donors and Program Funders Bring Back Main Street is supported by Business Improvement areas and Economic Development organizations across Canada, Vancity and Vancity Community Investment Bank Partners Black Business and Professionals Association, Bloor-Yorkville BIA, Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council, Canadian Business Resilience Network, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Canadian Institute of Planners, CGLCC: Canada's LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce, City of Calgary, City of Edmonton, City of Toronto, City of Vancouver, Develop Nova Scotia, Downtown Halifax, Downtown Halifax Business Commission, Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, Downtown Yonge BIA, Environics, Financial District BIA, National Preservation Council, National Trust for Canada, Ontario Business Improvement Area Association, Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Regina Downtown BID, Retail Council of Canada, Royal Architecture Institute of Canada, Rues principales, Save Canadian Small Business, St. Lawrence BIA, Tamarack Institute, The Waterfront BIA, Toronto Entertainment District BIA, Trinity Centres Foundation, Vancouver Economic Commission Main Street Design Challenge Partners Canadian Institute of Planners, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, Council for Canadian Urbanism, ICOMOS Canada, National Trust for Canada, OCAD University, Rue principales, STEPS Initiative, Trinity Centres Foundation Research Team 360 Collective, Happy City, Simon Fraser University, Fathom Studio, JC Williams Group About CUI CUI is Canada's Urban Institute. 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