Revitalization of downtown Amherst

Abstract

The decline of the downtown community is occurring throughout North America. The downtown is the heart of a town or city. It is the center, the core, from which all else flows. Many towns and cities alike have taken on revitalization efforts to breathe economic activity back into the vacant buildings and streetscapes. A review in the literature revealed numerous research studies on this topic. Research on the topic of downtown revitalization emphasized the importance of the engagement of the business community. This research study included surveying the downtown business community to gather information to further enhance the revitalization efforts that began in 2009 when the Town of Amherst, Nova Scotia hired a consulting firm to create a downtown revitalization plan. This study was descriptive in nature and focused on gathering information to establish a business mix, identify strengths and challenges businesses face establishing in the downtown, assessment of economic activity and target market population, feedback from business owners on the obstacles preventing future growth and identified needs of the downtown business owner for future prosperity. Businesses responding were from a mixture of four sectors; 12% from government and non-profit, 15% from professional services, 27.5% from retail and 45.5% was from the services industry. The findings were correlated with findings from the literature review. The results of this study suggest that the downtown business community is interested in having an active role in the revitalization efforts and looks for Downtown Amherst to be a strong economic centre both locally and regionally. This will require effective partnerships of the public and private sector to maximize the revitalization efforts.