ABSTRACT

Just as residential, retail, commercial, and industrial areas of our cities are changing and evolving so too are central and suburban business districts. In the past central business districts were at the center of urban areas and that is often no longer the case for a variety of reasons. As the housing development was driven to the suburbs after World War II in the United States it led to several companion urban planning patterns that led to the eventual decline of central business districts. To make cities with an urban core more viable, cities have been working hard to create central business districts that are clean, safe, and attractive to development and habitation to keep and attract citizens to the areas. Cities see their city centers as an opportunity to create new wealth as well as developing, maintaining, and expanding the land use tax base that supports all the services citizens have come to want and demand.