The Downtown Curmudgeon

N. David Milder, founder and president of DANTH, Inc. is a nationally recognized authority on downtown revitalization and a leading proponent of developing market niches. He has more than 35 years of experience utilizing market research and management skills to help revitalize business centers.

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Is Your Downtown in an Arts Archipelago? If So, Here’s How to Benefit From It?

Posted on March 8, 2019 by DANTH

By N. David Milder

Introduction

Across the nation over the past decade or so, the idea of
using the arts as an engine for downtown and Main Street economic growth has
attracted a growing number of adherents. One outcome of this advocacy is that arts
districts, a.k.a. creative districts, are appearing across the nation.
Colorado, for example has at least 26 of them, all formed under a state
statute. These districts either cover a designated part of a downtown district
or all of it.

However, very often, arts …

Some More Specifics About Small Town Entrepreneurial Environments (STEEs)

Posted on December 17, 2018 by DANTH

By N. David Milder

Introduction

Back in October of 2017, DANTH, Inc posted my white paper “Toward an Effective Economic Development Strategy for Smaller Communities (under 35,000)”(1). A central concept in that strategic approach was the STEEs (Small Town Entrepreneurial Environments). I then stated that: “Though I strongly suspect that such environments exist today somewhere in the USA, to date, I have not encountered one.” I then proceeded to outline what I then thought the major components of s viable and effective …

Downtown Tourism: Boon or Bane?

Posted on December 8, 2018 by DANTH

By N. David Milder

Introduction

As my years spent in the downtown revitalization field increased, I gradually realized that I unconsciously had been working with the view that bigger and better defined a successful downtown. With time, I also realized –perhaps in an embarrassingly late fashion — that making a downtown better was much more important than making it bigger. Indeed, for many communities, a bigger downtown would essentially change the whole character of the town.

As I came to realize that …

The Use of the Muddled Immaculate Retailer Concept in Leakage Analyses

Posted on September 9, 2018 by DANTH

By N. David Milder

Looking at retail leakage studies, I am reminded of Coleridge’s famous line: “Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink”. Retail leakage studies seem to be de rigueur in the downtown economic development field, but a good one, devoid of fatal errors is hard to find. As I have detailed in earlier posts, leakage analyses have serious analytical and data issues. I want to return to one of these analytical problems because I think our field …

About the Dynamics Within the New Normal for Our Downtowns — in about 1,525 words

Posted on August 5, 2018 by DANTH

By N. David Milder

Introduction

I have been working in the field of downtown and urban revitalization since 1974. Back then, the riots of 1968 had brought considerable attention to our urban distress. Many civic and business leaders became much more aware of the cascading erosion their downtowns were facing. The white flight of shoppers and residents living in the downtown and close-in neighborhoods, disinvestment by landlords and businesses, spreading physical decay, soaring fear of crime, badly tarnished public images, and widespread …

N. David Milder at DANTH, Inc.

Downtown Revitalization Specialist

The Downtown Curmudgeon

Some More Specifics About Small Town Entrepreneurial Environments (STEEs)

Downtown Tourism: Boon or Bane?

The Use of the Muddled Immaculate Retailer Concept in Leakage Analyses