Why Residents are the Most Overlooked Asset in City Rehabilitation

People walking through a downtown area

We spend weeks or months courting "Big Names" for grand openings, ground breakings, addresses... It’s ceremonially expected, it looks good, and the support from dignitaries plays a big role in giving legitimacy to the event. It shows that the city is in full support. But in just focusing on this, we are missing a key piece.

Engaging Residents for Lasting City Rehabilitation

We have to be realistic about who drives the daily traffic of a district. Dignitaries may buy coffee once a month at the coffee shop that just opened, but that is just not enough. They don't defend your downtown in the comments of a local Facebook group. Your residents do.

Neglecting the people who live and work in your district is a strategic mistake. Without residents touting where they live, showing up to your events, or supporting your businesses, your downtown is just a beautiful image; and one that won't last. When we ignore the fact that these residents have their own networks and social accounts, we leave our city rehabilitation efforts open to an untimely demise.

Want proof?

The data supports what most of us have seen on the ground for years. According to Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family over any other form of marketing. In fact, post-pandemic data from the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer shows a massive shift toward "insular trust." People are narrowing their circles to local, familiar voices, this means your residents’ opinions now carry more weight than "official" city messaging ever could. Further research in the Journal of Marketing regarding "Psychological Ownership" confirms that when people feel a personal stake in a project, they transition from spectators to advocates - meaning they are significantly more likely to defend a district online and support its growth in person.

So what am I saying?

This isn’t a suggestion to invite the entire city to every meeting. We’ve all seen the generic "open house" that only attracts the same three people who want to complain about parking. Instead, identify your key players and invite them personally. Think of the school principal who is well liked by the local parents, the bartender that sees 100 faces a day, or the resident who has a massive presence in the neighborhood. Don't send them a flyer, invite them personally; tell them their opinion counts, their attendance matters, and that you want them to see what’s coming first-hand. Make them feel special, important, because guess what? They are.

I’ve seen this work time and time again in my years working with BIDs. When you bring a "connector" into the fold, they become part of the effort just by being there. They start seeing business owners as actual human beings trying their best, not just storefronts. If they have a good time, they’ll bring others. More importantly, they’ll extinguish fires before they start. Because they were involved, they’ll explain misconceptions to their friends and tell the skeptics to wait until everything comes to fruition. No one wants to attack a friend, and no one wants to be proven wrong about a project they’ve endorsed.

The bottom line is that these residents are the ones who decide if your city is worth investing in. If you want your efforts to stick, stop treating your rehabilitation efforts like a cold organization and start building those personal bridges. Make your biggest future supporters feel special - feel chosen. It really works.

A Note from the Field: This article is born from years of direct experience working within Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) and urban centers. I have seen first-hand that the most resilient downtowns aren't the ones with the biggest budgets, but the ones with the strongest human networks. Befriending a person who may be swayed by negative comments and showing them the "human side" of development isn't just a soft skill—it is a survival strategy for any modern city rehabilitation effort. Plant little seeds and see them bloom.