Do Downtowns Still Matter?

America’s downtowns are at a crossroads.

Many urban economic centers are struggling to get back to pre-pandemic norms. In addition to an increasingly hybrid workforce, many downtowns are confronting a lack of affordable housing, rising crime, and recent policy reforms that have made it difficult to combat a deepening drug crisis on their streets.

Seattle is not alone in this struggle. But it has a history of overcoming the odds of previous boom-and-bust economic cycles.

But how are we measuring success with downtown Seattle’s recovery? What does the future of downtown look like? And what solutions are business and policy leaders focused on as Seattle wrestles with the role of downtown in our daily lives?

Listen in as the Seattle team at Hubbell explores the evolution of downtown Seattle’s economic, social and cultural recovery. 

In this episode, we talk with some of Seattle’s most influential business and policy leaders about the road ahead, including Jon Scholes, President & CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association, Pat Callahan, CEO of Urban Renaissance Group, Richard Florida, urban studies expert and author of The New Urban Crisis, City Councilor Sara Nelson, and Markham McIntyre, Director of Economic Development at the City of Seattle.

Join us as we dive into the challenges reshaping the economic trajectory of Seattle – and the potential for yet another comeback.