A strong viable downtown is essential to economic development in the community. A downtown is often considered a barometer of the community’s overall quality of life.
In addition to a successful and healthy downtown, other quality of life indicators suggest that a healthy downtown is not the only thing that builds a successful community. Shopping, entertainment, cultural and recreational choices, a diversity of housing types and ranges of affordability, pedestrian friendly neighborhoods are also crucial to a community’s success. Therefore, while a downtown is often considered the “heart and soul” of the community, there are many things that need to “go right” to build a highly desirable and successful …show more content…
The best attempts occurred when the Town Hall and Library were constructed there. In fact, there is very little information about the location of or direction to Downtown in the interchange area, which is now the main pathway for coming to and leaving the community. While Downtown has a number of good commercial uses, it also has issues and, in its current form, may not meet the desired purposes of a downtown that are noted above. As a result of all this, some have questioned the whether the historical location of Downtown New Castle will best serve the community’s