Have a downtown zoning district that emphasizes small and destination business, entrepreneurial spaces, and allows or requires residential and residential-compatible commercial development.
Best Practice of this action
Rating Guideline
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Describe to what degree the district used the Minnesota Model Ordinances for Sustainable Development. |
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Existence of horizontal mixed use; a downtown overlay district; light industrial uses. |
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Allow mixed use of office, retail, educational, civic, and residential units all located within the same building. |
Resources
- Enabling Better Places: A Users' Guide to Zoning Reform (Congress for the New Urbanism: 2018) is a very readable guide for communities planning to make incremental changes to their codes, to align their key zoning districts/regulations with their goals for placemaking, incremental development, livability, and economic success.
- Village Mixed-Use District and Downtown Mixed-Use District from the 2009 Minnesota Model Ordinances for Sustainable Development.
- Made in Place: Small-Scale Manufacturing & Neighborhood Revitalization (Smart Growth America: 2017) presents the opportunity of small-scale manufacturing to grow local entrepreneurship and to revitalize downtowns and business districts. Small-scale manufacturers include breweries, furniture makers, textiles, local food production, 3D printing. By integrating manufacturing businesses into downtowns and other existing neighborhoods instead of locating them in industrial parks or standalone facilities, communities can build the character, appeal, property tax benefits and success of walkable neighborhoods.
Order Number
5