Berkley Downtown Development Authority

I have decided to volunteer with the Berkley DDA. Basically, my drive behind this is twofold: first, because I live here, its in my best interest. Secondly, Berkley is in dire need of some branding. The city does not seem to have a strong image with the folks that I've talked to. Why not? Unfortunately, I can't answer that without some wild speculation, but I'm good at wild speculation, so here goes...
Berkley for a while had a campaign that was "Berkley is unique" - the goal I think (can't stress enough, this is all speculation/personal opinion), was to not get lumped in with Royal Oak and become something different than that sort of restaurant/bar scene. While it may be unique, that doesn't really communicate a strong message of what it means for the community to be unique.

However, having said that, there are a lot of things that the DDA and city overall does very well. The city hosts a very successful art fair, a Dream Cruise parade/party, and a holiday parade. In the last year or two there are several new businesses that have been attracted to Downtown Berkley. I know there has been parking issues in the past, and the DDA is actively working on those issues.

So, I'm tossing my hat into the ring to help. Here's an except from the letter I am sending them that talks about my vision for Berkley:

For Berkley’s downtown to flourish, I envision a community that has several anchor businesses that provide a wide variety of options for individuals who wish to keep their dollars in the community, with a wide variety of business types (e.g. restaurants, bars, clothing shops, music shops, etc.). I recently saw an estimate of the amount of dollars that Detroit residents spend outside the city of Detroit, indicating how much “lost” revenue there is for Detroit businesses. I think a similar study for Berkley would be a fascinating and eye-opening assessment of how the DDA needs to target businesses to move within the city.

In my unresearched, personal opinion, I believe there are two key demographics that are driving the future of the downtown in Berkley – families and the “subculture” of young urbanites who use scooters and bicycles for transportation. The Berkley DDA should focus on attracting business that fit these niches (or really ANY niche as long as it is well defined and substantiated) for its downtown business development work. Catering to both groups will hopefully result in an attractive, lively downtown with strollers, scooters, and pedestrians sharing the pavement on their way to local businesses.