Many Ohioans have experienced the phenomenon of retail lifestyle centers. Cleveland’s Crocker Park, Toledo’s Levis Commons, “The Greene” near Dayton, and the gigantic Easton in Columbus are among those centers that feature a combination of retail, residential and office space in a centralized setting.

This blog has previously looked at lifestyle centers, particularly as they can be described as traditional downtowns built from scratch in the middle of vacant land, each of which draws substantial shopping and office traffic from communities whose own downtowns experience economic decline. As such, they tend to be “poster children” for the downside of urban sprawl.

Traditional Ohio downtowns differ from these centers in at least one key aspect - unified ownership. Instead of corralling the numerous levels of interests represented in downtown, including individual property owners, merchants, service providers, restaurateurs, etc. -- lifestyle centers can easily set uniform hours and engage in cooperative promotion through lease restrictions.

One Ohio community is currently seeking to change that paradigm.  Valley Ventures, a unique non-profit economic development organization working to secure investment in one Ohio county and three counties in West Virginia, has set out to duplicate the lifestyle center approach in downtown Steubenville. Their plan is straight-forward … to concentrate entrepreneur-focused investment in a 12-block target area.  With a target of generating 30 to 40 new businesses in the next 5 years, the organization has had some limited initial success with the planned opening of 6 new ventures this summer.  The goals include an emphasis on mixed-use development. Click here for local newspaper and here for TV coverage, including video.

For an interesting look at historic commercial buildings available for purchase or lease in downtown Steubenville, click here.

Photo: Downtown Steubenville - OZinOH/Creative Commons License