Downtown Action Planning

A man conducting a discussion with four people on a city street, explaining a cracked sidewalk with a raised slab. The listeners appear confused, with two women and two men, one woman in orange and one man in blue, all pondering the sidewalk issue with question marks above their heads.

“We Need Focus and a Plan We Can Actually Execute.”

Right now, everything feels important. Meetings keep happening, but nothing is clearly moving. Ideas stack up faster than decisions. Projects start, stall, and fade. Everyone agrees progress matters — but no one is sure what should come first.

You don’t need another long report. You need a short list of priorities and a plan that fits your capacity.

That’s where Downtown Action Planning comes in. It’s designed for communities that feel stuck, scattered, or overwhelmed — and want to see visible results within months, not years.

What This Solves

Downtown Action Planning is designed for communities that feel stuck, scattered, or overwhelmed.

This work directly addresses:

  • Competing priorities with no clear starting point

  • Decision-making that keeps getting delayed

  • Plans that exist but never translate into action

  • Teams unsure what they can realistically take on right now

The goal is simple. Stop circling issues and start moving the right things forward.

What We Do

We conduct a focused assessment to identify what matters most right now and what your community can realistically move with the people, time, and resources you have.

This is not a visioning exercise and not a comprehensive master plan.

It is a practical reset that answers three questions:

  1. Where are we actually stuck?

  2. What will make the biggest difference in the next 90 days?

  3. What can our team execute without burning out?

How the Work Typically Unfolds

Step 1: On-the-Ground Assessment

We review downtown conditions, recent efforts, and current capacity. This includes targeted conversations with key stakeholders to understand what is working, what is stalled, and where energy is getting drained.

Step 2: Stakeholder Interviews

Through targeted conversations, we identify patterns that are quietly draining energy or blocking progress.

Step 3: Priority Filtering

We help you sort signal from noise. Instead of treating everything as equally urgent, we narrow the focus to a short list of actions that will unlock progress.

Step 4: 90-Day Action Plan

You receive a short, executable plan focused on what your team can realistically move in the next three months.

Step 5: Leadership Reset

We align staff, board, and partners so expectations are clear and momentum is protected. Most importantly, you’ll have something tangible to point to and say, “This is what we’re working on now.”

How Pricing Works

Pricing is based on community size and complexity.

Investment range: $4,500 – $6,000

This is fixed-fee engagement, no hourly billing.

Best Fit For Communities That.

  • Feel stuck or unsure where to focus

  • Have ideas but no clear direction

  • Want progress without committing to a long engagement

  • Need an outside perspective to cut through internal noise

  • Are ready to show visible progress quickly

If your biggest challenge is figuring out where to start, this is the right place.

What Comes Next?

Some communities use Downtown Action Planning as a reset and carry the work forward on their own. Others build from here into:

  • Organizational Capacity Building

  • Real Estate Redevelopment Support

  • Small Business and Entrepreneur Assistance

  • Downtown Destination Positioning

This service gives you a solid footing so whatever comes next is intentional, not reactive.

Get Started

If your downtown needs focus and a plan you can actually execute, then Downtown Action Planning is designed to get you there.

Next steps:

Sometimes progress starts by choosing to do fewer things and doing them well.