Unlocking Potential: Incremental Investments in Small Downtowns

Learn about downtown planning processes that reflect communities’ priorities and concerns; the context of equitably economic development as it relates to East Texas; and best practices in pla

Lufkin and Nacogdoches, neighboring towns in East Texas, recently completed and started  Downtown Planning processes with robust community and stakeholder engagement, but much of what the community desires are long-term, capital-intensive improvements. In an effort to maintain their communities’ trust in the planning process, each town’s efforts have identified short-term and low-cost interim solutions that can also advance their community-driven downtown visions. This session will focus on the collaborative public-private-non profit partnerships formed between local organizations, consultants, and the community to unlock creative funding opportunities available to smaller cities, and how creative placemaking can advance long-term goals and implementation tactics.

The session will also highlight broader economic development efforts identified as both communities rebound post-pandemic, and how they’re marketing themselves to potential new residents and the larger tourism economy. East Texas is rich with natural amenities, and has the potential to attract regional tourism compared to the Ozarks and West Texas. Local creatives, organizations, and foundations have expressed interest in an East Texas Ecotourism effort to build an understanding of what assets, infrastructure, and marketing is needed for regional planning efforts.

Our proposed session includes speakers that are highly involved in the development of the Downtown Plans and Ecotourism efforts, and include: Brianna Frey, Senior Planner at Asakura Robinson; Anne Brookshire, Founder of Among the Pines and volunteer for the Lufkin Economic Development Corporation; and Sherry Morgan, Executive Director, Nacogdoches CVB. The Lufkin Downtown Plan will be completed in July 2021 and the Nacogdoches Downtown Plan (and joint Comprehensive Plan) will kick off in July 2021. By November, the Nacogdoches consultants will be engaged and will be invited to this panel.

cemaking, fundraising, partnerships, and public realm design that influenced the recommendations.