Downtown Charlottesville, Virginia Strategic Plan
Image courtesy of Friends of Cville Downtown
Building capacity — and support — for the future of an iconic place
The downtown mall in Charlottesville, Virginia is a beloved civic space and an icon of landscape architecture. Designed by Lawrence Halprin, the mall is where Charlottesville’s artists, foodies, entrepreneurs, students, and visitors come together. It is also associated with a civic trauma — a divisive protest that turned deadly.
Beginning in March of 2023, Friends of Cville Downtown engaged Public Sphere Projects to conduct a strategic assessment of the organization’s current governance and programs, and to facilitate a discussion among its board regarding ongoing operational sustainability. In cooperation with the Friends staff and board leadership, Public Sphere Projects led a process to collect multiple sources of information, conduct benchmarking against industry best practices, and to invite stakeholders into a thoughtful discussion. These inputs have been synthesized and systematized into a strategic framework.
Location
Charlottesville, Virginia
Client
Friends of Cville Downtown
Partners
Local businesses and residents, developers, artists, the University of Virginia
Year
2023
In cooperation with the Friends of Cville staff and board leadership, Public Sphere Projects led a process to collect multiple sources of information, conduct benchmarking against industry best practices, and to invite stakeholders into a thoughtful discussion.
This report culminates a three-month discovery and visioning process. It offers a reflection of the organization’s current priorities, worries, and ambitions. It summarizes salient points of multiple diverse, at times divergent, stakeholder perspectives. It highlights case studies from around the U.S. that illustrate potential programmatic or strategic approaches. It illuminates financial and operational implications of key decisions. It suggests short- and medium-term actions, rooted in the stated desires of organizational leadership. Taken in aggregate, this document provides an initial framework for the evolution of Friends of Cville Downtown as it seeks to become an influential and sustainable civic agency.
“Our group was vocal and passionate. Public Sphere Projects heard them all — and helped us unite around a common message.”
