Downtown Revitalization in Eureka & Garberville

North Edge has been working with the California Finance Consortium on an initiative exploring downtown revitalization across rural Northern California. Funded by Wells Fargo and led by Superior California Economic Development (SCED), the project brings together North Edge, SCED, 3CORE and Yuba-Sutter EDC to examine eight Northern California communities.

The National Association of Development Organizations (NADO), an association representing more than 500 regional development organizations, is providing consulting support. The goal is to better understand what rural downtowns need to remain vibrant—and what communities, economic development organizations and funders can do to help.

Two of the outcomes of the project include:

• Finding ways to remove barriers that prevent local governments from taking action on vacant or blighted downtown properties

• Providing actionable tools (policies, scripts, templates, and incentives) that cities and counties can immediately apply. This will also include detailed information about the properties in these zones.

In Humboldt County, the project is taking a closer look at downtown Eureka on 5th Street between C and G Streets and Garberville downtown. While very different communities, conversations with local businesses, civic leaders and community organizations revealed some strikingly similar themes.

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  IL Forno Bakery, Redwood Drive

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  Art Activation at Vacant Storefront Location

Both communities in Humboldt County have significant assets: locally owned businesses, arts and cultural activity, distinctive identities, and access to visitors traveling Highway 101. But both also struggle to turn those assets into consistent downtown activity.

Vacant and deteriorating buildings, infrastructure and streetscape needs, limited evening activity, and difficulty capturing highway travelers emerged as common challenges. In Eureka, participants highlighted the need to address vacant properties, building rehabilitation costs and the divide created by Highway 101. In Garberville, the collapse of the cannabis economy has made attracting outside spending and tourism particularly important.

Perhaps the clearest finding is that revitalization isn't about any one project. It requires coordinated investment in buildings, businesses, infrastructure, placemaking and experiences that give people a reason to stop, explore—and come back.

The findings from the overall initiative will be presented at a ZOOM meeting for all of the communities, with a date to be determined. The City of Eureka discussed the results of their specific findings with its Economic Development Commission on Sept. 28.