Gallatin: A Downtown Focus to Transforming a City

In Case Studies, Publications, Quality Growth, Resource, Sumner
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Quality Growth Case Study

Written by Kasey Talbott, 2010

Downtown Gallatin has experienced a total revitalization. Through committed efforts by city leaders the downtown area has become one of the most attractive, walkable and most envious downtowns in the region. With an emphasis on infill development and high design standards this award-wining effort has set a new bar in Middle Tennessee.

View the Downtown Gallatin Case Study, PDF

Background

In 2000 the City of Gallatin sparked a public debate about whether or not to move the Sumner County jail and court system out of downtown Gallatin. In the end a compromise was made and the judicial system stayed, but what followed was a renewed interest in the preservation and revitalization of downtown Gallatin. Gallatin recognized that a major component of the City’s overall viability and long-term sustainability was directly related to a vibrant and prosperous downtown neighborhood. In 2002, the City hosted a Walkable Communities workshop funded by the Nashville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. The workshop helped to educate and inspire city leaders, business owners, and citizens on ways to improve the walkability, livability, and vitality of downtown Gallatin, and was motivation behind the City’s efforts to prepare a Downtown Master Plan.

Collaborative Leadership

In 2004, the City of Gallatin hired The Walker Collaborative and a team of five sub-consultant firms to create a Downtown Master Plan as a starting point to begin a major downtown revitalization effort. The objective of the Downtown Master Plan was to identify and respond to economic development, commercial, housing, recreation, and transportation issues in the downtown area. The City envisioned that the adoption of a Downtown Master Plan would help establish the framework necessary to improve the livability of the downtown area, as well as revitalizing the commercial sector. In the five years since the Downtown Master Plan was adopted the City has realized many of the visions that were recommended in the Plan.

Visioning and Consensus

The preparation of the Downtown Master Plan followed a four-step process in which each step was sequenced to build upon the previous step.

Research & Analysis
Charrette & Concept Plan Development
Preparation of the Draft Master Plan
Plan Presentations & Final Revisions

The Downtown Master Plan project started with a public“kick-off” meeting in September 2004, followed by a market survey, the preparation of a Background Study, and a public charrette which was utilized to help create an overall Concept Plan.

Program Action

The final Downtown Master Plan document included sections on:

Land Uses and Buildings
Streets and Streetscape
Parking
Public Spaces and Facilities
Economic Restructuring
Marketing and Promotion
Funding
Financial Incentives
Public Policies and Implementation

Strategic Implementation

The Plan included a variety of specific projects, including:

Architectural and urban design principals
Illustrative street cross sections
New downtown library
Parking garage screened with a new City Hall annex
Public park
Enhanced Public Square for special events and streetscape improvements
Greenway along Town Creek
Farmers Market
Mixed use infill development
Parking lot improvements
Parking management program
Centralized retail management strategies
Historic zoning
Incentives for building rehabilitations

Current Status

The Plan was adopted by the City of Gallatin in 2005 and many of the “near term” projects that were recommended in the Plan have been completed or initiated. Accomplishments include the completion of a new downtown Public Library located adjacent to the square, the completion of a $2.6 million renovation of the public square and streetscape improvements on East Main Street and North Water Avenue, the completion of a new Farmers Market, updated sign and zoning code regulations, and the construction of the first phase of the Town Creek Greenway into downtown is due to be completed in September 2010. In addition, the extensive public involvement and public private partnerships that were fostered throughout the entire project have continued after the Plan was adopted and have enabled the City of Gallatin to successfully implement the Downtown Gallatin Master Plan.

Keys to Success

Jim Svoboda, Community Development Coordinator for the City of Gallatin Codes/Planning Department contributes a lot of the plan’s success through grant money totaling over 2.3 million dollars, good coordination efforts and excellent visuals to motivate and inspire the community.