Thanks to a grant from two years ago, the City of Navasota has finally had a Downtown Assessment report conducted by Texas Downtown (TXDT).
Economic Development Director Reyna Teicheira presented the findings at a special meeting of city council recently, first highlighting the positives.
“They were very impressed with the downtown crosswalk project, and the relationship we have with the Texas Department of Transportation. They also highlighted the city has strong commitments to downtown efforts, and that we are becoming a destination for businesses, and attracting people form outside of Navasota,” said Teicheira.
However, as was the point of the assessment, they also had plenty of short-term recommendations on which to begin working…
“Surveying downtown stakeholders, and leveraging the Blues Capital of Texas designation. They also noted unifying the branding and marketing of Navasota as a complete district, and removal of sub-districts,” said Teicheira. “They recommended establishing a downtown merchant group, provide small business support, explore year round shop local campaigns. And then, finally, removing signage from businesses that are closed..”
She said another recommended focus from TXDT was to address the parking issues in downtown.
Teicheira said city staff are beginning to work on addressing the findings, and will provide updates at future meetings.