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Say goodbye to elevator rides and treks down a long green hallway Downtown Inc.

The nonprofit is relocating its office to a former bank building just around the corner from Continental Square. The move means Downtown Inc will have a visible presence in the York City business district that it promotes.

“It puts us right in front of our constituents,” said Director Sonia Huntzinger.

Read more: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/news/ci_20053959

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York PA Mayor, Kim Bracey is a doer, a mover and a shaker.  14 months ago, Mayor Bracey became York City’s first African American Mayor.  Prior to being elected mayor, Kim was the Community Development Director for the City of York. 

Sonia Huntzinger, Director of Downtown Inc., describes Mayor Bracey as a builder of partnerships and relationships.  Citing her own organization’s positive relationship with Mayor Bracey, Sonia Huntzinger stated that in the past Downtown Inc. did not have a positive and progressive relationship with the administration like it does now. 

Another recent example of Mayor Bracey’s relationship/partnership buildings skills was the Building York Summit the mayor held a few short weeks ago.  The summit was a gathering of city and county leaders to form a unified vision for the City of York and to make a way forward.  York County realizes that its heart is the city.  As the city goes, York County goes.

Mayor Bracey is a huge promoter for York City.  She can even been seen wearing an I Love York City tee-shirt around town.  The mayor goes to as many events as are humanly possible.  Large and small, it makes no difference.  Mayor Bracey has a vision of what is possible and she passionately promotes York City and engages others in doing so.

Evidence of revitalization is apparent in downtown York with new stores, restaurants, high-end condos, a renovated Central Market and a huge industrial development project a few blocks down the street.  The challenge going forward is that money is drying up for funding these projects from the state and federal government.  Unfortunately, like many other Pennsylvania cities, York still has hurdles to climb and transformation will not happen overnight.  

York is moving forward, maybe too slowly for some, but nevertheless revitalization is happening.  Having a former Community Development Director and grant writer for a mayor certainly must have its advantages!  Bracey is popular on both sides of the aisle and reaches out to find the best solutions to solve the city’s problems.

We wish Mayor Bracey the best in her efforts to revitalize a former capital of the United States of America and Pennsylvania’s 14^th largest city.

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A goal that emerged from the Build York Summit, that concluded yesterday, was for York to become a walkable community.  We here at Roy’s Rants think is a great goal.  York has a compact and very historic downtown like Lancaster and Bethlehem.

Urban land use expert, Chris Leinberger from the Brookings Institute was a keynote speaker at the conference and emphasized that York should embrace the “walkable community” strategy to redevelop the city.  Walkable communities are desired by college students as well as other segments of the population.  Walkable communities have a higher rate of retention once students graduate college and seek employment.  York is already a college town so this strategy could be easily implemented and bear fruit quickly.

Downtown Inc. Director, Sonia Huntzinger took this a step further and said York could also capitalize on the city’s hospitals.  Hospitals tend to be large employers.  Having a vibrant, walkable downtown to present to prospective employees would make recruitment easier for the hospitals.

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A goal that emerged from the Build York Summit, that concluded yesterday, was for York to become a walkable community.  We here at Roy’s Rants think is a great goal.  York has a compact and very historic downtown like Lancaster and Bethlehem.

Urban land use expert, Chris Leinberger from the Brookings Institute was a keynote speaker at the conference and emphasized that York should embrace the “walkable community” strategy to redevelop the city.  Walkable communities are desired by college students as well as other segments of the population.  Walkable communities have a higher rate of retention once students graduate college and seek employment.  York is already a college town so this strategy could be easily implemented and bear fruit quickly.

Downtown Inc. Director, Sonia Huntzinger took this a step further and said York could also capitalize on the city’s hospitals.  Hospitals tend to be large employers.  Having a vibrant, walkable downtown to present to prospective employees would make recruitment easier for the hospitals.