City Center

Greenville, South Carolina, took an opportunity to dramatically enhance its downtown area by opening up and preserving its waterfalls, creating pedestrian-focused places in the heart of the central business district. Changes in the local economy and labor market resulted in downtown disinvestment in Greenville. Over the course of about 30 years, city and state governments worked with private businesses to create a new vision for downtown Greenville that would reestablish the city as an attractive place to be with a viable business center. Economic development and rising land values have allowed residents and workers to now use spaces that were once viewed as eyesores and unsafe.

East Liberty

Because investing posed a high risk for private developers in this Pittsburgh neighborhood, local government played a pivotal role in early revitalization efforts. Located near downtown, East Liberty borders both a more affluent community and a lower-income community. A key first project, a home-improvement center brought residents together and kicked off two decades of revitalization. As the neighborhood transformed, perceptions of the market changed, and private developers gained the confidence to invest more heavily. The proportion of government subsidies declined, housing values rose dramatically, and crime fell by half.