Bob Gibbs, retail planner and consultant for Gibbs Planning Group believes so. With over 20 years of research in Michigan, the Gibbs Group thinks that Ann Arbor is well positioned to see retailers thrive in the downtown sector.  According to the research most Michigan cities could support double the retail they currently have.  Often times retailers face many barriers to entry including unavailable space, lack of improvements and parking, or prohibitive zoning.

Bob sees developers shifting focus from suburbia to downtown centers.  However often the city planners and policy makers are behind the mark.  Some believe downtowns should be competitive by selling unique goods and services, cities need to be more receptive to what people actually want, not what they think will work.  He believes within a generation we will see a shift to downtowns taking over the market share of shopping.  If not, dense lifestyle centers outside the city center are likely to pop-up.  Gas prices of course are also a contributing factor in this new urban equation.  More people will embrace mass transit in the months to come which will likely discourage urban sprawl.

Considering most downtowns only capture about 5% of the overall market share, Ann Arbor is well primed to take off and truly become one of the Great American Cities. 

For more about Bob Gibbs, or his visions of Ann Arbor, read the following article: "Retail Rebirth Likely for Michigan’s Downtowns, Neighborhoods" 

Click here to search all Ann Arbor area Michigan
homes and condos with pictures and tours - FREE!
Kathy Toth and Team
www.KathyToth.com
Keller Williams Realty

What I want to know from readers, is what kind of content do you like?

We invite you to...

• Make a Suggestion
  
• Comment on our Blog (below)
  
• Subscribe to Receive Free Ann Arbor Updates
  
• Share this with your friends (below)
  
  Listen to this post
  
  

  You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.