KEN BANKS\u2019 MAY\/JUNE 2022<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>PRESS PLAY>>TO VIEW THIS MONTH\u2019S WELCOME VIDEO<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>RE-BRANDING OUR CITIES!<\/p>\n<p>My recent visit to Savannah, Georgia, was short but enlightening.\u00a0 Not having been to the South Georgia city for over 10 years, I was impressed at how the city continues to revitalize itself as a destination for tourist and businesses.\u00a0 The city has long been one of the busiest ports in the US (second only to NYC\/New Jersey in container traffic and it\u2019s river front has been the core for much of the city\u2019s revitalization.\u00a0 To be sure the growth of hotels and fine dining have helped Savannah rival other southern cities as a visitor destination.\u00a0 The squares that define the city have long been historical markers for the city and for the many stories that have been written about it, but the entire area continues to get more appealing for business and entertainment.<\/p>\n<p>This is a typical rebranding story that is going on around our country and is representative of the rebirth of downtown areas in large and small cities alike.\u00a0 Here are some other examples of cities that recognizing the changing attitudes of their citizens and, as a result, are rebranding themselves.<\/p>\n<p>DETROIT\u2014Our final destination on this recent trip continues to experience revitalization from the industrial hub that it continues to be to great place to live and visit. The construction of a new international bridge connecting Detroit with Windsor, Ontario, will replace the depression era Ambassador Bridge which has long been a landmark that has failed to keep up with the growth in population and traffic between the two cities.\u00a0 The Michigan Central train station which had been one of the country\u2019s largest and busiest decades ago before falling to vacancy and disrepair is now a target for rebirth and a new hub within the city.\u00a0 Greektown continues to give downtown a unique personaliy as well as energy from the casino\u2019s that now draw many visitors to the metro area.\u00a0 Belle Isle was once the jewel of the Detroit River and is now a state park with many natural attractions as well as the home of the Detroit Grand Prix minutes from downtown.\u00a0 The downtown monorail is back in business and giving the core of the city a boost in energy along with the new Little Caesar\u2019s Arena for hockey and basketball and the new School of Business for Wayne State University next door. The city will receive $826 Million in funds to continue improving the core for both business and residential growth,.\u00a0 There are still pockets of disrepair but there is a spirit in the city which provides promise for the rebranding.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>ST. PETERSBURG\/TAMPA. St. Pete has been on the move for several years now as it re-brands itself from the retirement haven that I found when I moved here in the \u201870\u2019s to a a cosmopolitan city on the Bay that reminds me of many coastal cities in Europe with sidewalk caf\u00e9\u2019s, boutique hotels, world class museums and art galleries, live theaters, a new pier, and updated parks on the waterfront. Tampa has long been the commercial hub of the Bay area, but it\u2019s downtown was more like a ghost town after working hours.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the case as the city has rebranded itself with a destination Riverwalk along the downtown shore with parks and museums and new hotels and restaurants. The hockey arena buzzes all year long and new hotels and a world class broadway theater and concert hall have brought life to the city all day and all week.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>MINNEAPOLIS:\u00a0 I\u2019ve always liked downtown Minneapolis with its inter-connected walkways to help keep downtown alive even in the coldest of winter days.\u00a0 The city has always been progressive and it has revitalized its North Loop from an industrial wasteland with artists coming to the area in the \u201890\u2019s, a bustling Farmers Market, the Hewing Hotel in a former warehouse and renewed energy.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>CINCINNATI: A city that I got to know during my early Procter & Gamble days, Cincinnati always surprises me with its historic residential areas and it energized downtown,\u00a0 It\u2019s Over-the Rhine district has been revitalized and the Findlay Market (the city\u2019s oldest) has been\u00a0 renovated as well.\u00a0 The train station is now a hub for entertainment and the Underground Museum is world class.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The pedestrian bridge across to Newport, KY, is also a great venue for local events.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>MILWAUKEE:\u00a0 The Third Ward, an 19<sup>th<\/sup> Century industrial district, has been reborn as a hub for artists and studios as well as the Broadway Theater complex.\u00a0 A reborn riverwa;k and public market make this city once known mostly for its breweries into a great place to live and play.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>PITTSBURGH:\u00a0 Once the hub for the steel industry, the city has had a rebirth as one of the top cities in the US to live and work.It\u2019s East Liberty neighborhood with its new Ace Hotel in the former YMCA and Hotel Indigo has led the way to the area\u2019s rebranding. Tourism and relocation have led to the areas growth and revitalization.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>RICHMOND:\u00a0 It was great to return to the former capital of the conferate union where we lived during my short stay with Circuit City in the \u201890\u2019s. We were attracted by the beautiful neighborhoods both old and new when we moved there.\u00a0 There is a sense of pride in the colonial atmosphere and d\u00e9cor that make it such a comfortable city.\u00a0 The downtown has energized the rebranding of the city with development along Broad Street from downtown near VCU and its art center to the western suburbs.\u00a0 The rapid growth of shopping and chain restaurants has given way to boutique hotels , galleries, the National Theater and the Hippodrome.\u00a0 While the monuments to the south have departed the historical and traditions of this city have made it a hub for financial and hospitality organizations.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>These are just a few that I have visited, but there are more smaller and lesser known cities that have rebranded themselves.\u00a0 While retailing in the age of mega-malls has definitely dwindled, the return to cities and towns that welcome people and homes have helped rebrand the US cities.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Ken<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>KEN BANKS\u2019 MAY\/JUNE 2022 PRESS PLAY>>TO VIEW THIS MONTH\u2019S WELCOME VIDEO RE-BRANDING OUR CITIES! My recent visit to Savannah, Georgia, was short but enlightening.\u00a0 Not having been to the South Georgia city for over 10 years, I was impressed at how the city continues to revitalize itself as a destination for tourist and businesses.\u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1172"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1178,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions\/1178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenbanks.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}