Inside/Outside State College is a regular column by Jeff Deitrich offering views on downtown and the outdoors within a 30-minute driving distance.
The Downtown State College Improvement District and I have one big thing in common: We’re both committed to improving downtown State College. The fact that an organization like DID exists tells you one thing—as great as our town is, it still needs ongoing attention to make it better.
What that means to each of us is different, but what it means to an organization like the DID needs to be broad and overarching. Take, for example, the new Hiester Street East End Social pocket park. It’s not just there for just one reason.
It’s a test for how a pedestrian mall will be used and received. It’s an opportunity to bring more business downtown. It’s a vision for what part of downtown might become. Perhaps most importantly, it’s a real effort to create a “third place” downtown for area residents.
“We want to create a living room for the community,” Lee Anne Jeffries, executive director of the DID, told me recently. “We want people to discover downtown in a way they haven’t before. This is a third place for people to come to grab a coffee, have lunch, bring your book club. This creates a space where you can create community.”
More than all of those other great reasons, creating a community that people enjoy being in is a big goal of the DID. When community is created, both businesses and individuals thrive.
“My biggest goal is getting the community to feel welcome downtown,” Jeffries said. “I invite people to walk around downtown and to enjoy the pocket park.
In my past writing, I’ve noted that some adults don’t like to come downtown, because they think it’s all student-centered. Likewise, they think that parking is a big issue. I don’t.
“I think some people have a misperception,” Jeffries said about parking. “The parking here is inexpensive compared to a city.”
I agree, and I usually have to walk only a very short distance from where I park. Likewise, if you park in one of the three borough parking garages, many DID members will validate your parking for up to three hours. Click here for a list of participating businesses.
East End Social is also a great example of a community partnership. It came about due to enthusiastic businesses like Comet Properties, the Student Book Store, the Family Clothesline, The Press and more. Jeffries noted Erica Quinn, formerly of 3 Dots Downtown, connecting many dots to take care of lots of details, such as building the park’s stage. The grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority that made it possible came through the State College Redevelopment Authority, and the Central PA Tasting Trail is using its expo permits to allow its members to vend beverages outside of their business premises. Naturally, the Borough of State College is also heavily involved with street closures, permits, barricades, sanitation and more.
“It’s all about the partnerships you need to make this happen,” said Jeffries.
Jeffries noted that people or groups can sign up to host their own events in the park. Already there were plans for full moon and new moon dance events, music, and a World Cup Soccer watch party.
The watch party for the USA vs. Australia match was outstanding! I watched from just inside The Press. The street was packed with people cheering on the red, white and blue—most definitely a vibrant scene—and that was after a salsa dancing event the evening prior.
Check the DID website for upcoming East End Social events.
Beyond the park, the DID has an ever-growing list of efforts to attract new businesses as well as to make downtown more appealing to residents and visitors alike. Just this year, DID received a grant from the Knight Fund at Centre Foundation to create 19 new public murals downtown in partnership with Penn State’s Palmer Museum of Art.
“We wanted to create a connection with the Palmer,” said Jeffries. “The timing is perfect with the America 250 celebration and selecting portraits from the Palmer that were American works. They show a diversity of American life, from the Colonial era to today.”
According to Jeffries, each of the 19 new works will have a QR code that links to actual works owned and viewable at The Palmer. These new murals will add nearly 50% more to the existing 40 murals downtown.
Another grant earned by the DID supports improvements to business facades downtown. Part of a new PA State Main Street Matters program, the grants involve a 50-50 match.
“We had 13 businesses interested. That’s exciting and will likely be implemented this summer,” said Jeffries.
A fourth effort is the Calder Way Pop-Up Shop located at 236 E. Calder Way. This partnership with Comet Properties currently hosts Linked Permanent Jewelry through the end of July. Thanks, It’s Vintage takes over in August, followed by It Is What It Is candy and gifts and then Whitetail Lane Farm Goat Milk Soap beauty products to round out the year.
In May it hosted Rusted Few Trading and Burning Ma’am, which went so well that both have moved to 206 E. Calder Way. The goal is to provide a rent-free location to see whether their business idea is viable. So far, three businesses have had their starts there, including Town Pride next door and two that are currently outside of downtown.
“We’re winning an award for that, the Townie Award,” said Jeffries. The award through the Pennsylvania Downtown Center honors excellence in community innovation and recognized this unique approach to creating opportunities for emerging business owners that supports entrepreneurship, activates vacant storefront space, and contributes to the vitality of downtown. “It’s been a wonderful addition.”
In addition to these programs, DID has been fortunate enough to hire someone specifically to recruit new businesses to downtown. Kendra Kielbasa, retail and commercial business advocate, has been in that new role since 2024. The position is funded by the DID and the State College Redevelopment Authority and housed at the DID.
While Kielbasa frequently seeks out businesses to attract to State College (for instance, she was in Las Vegas at the ICSC Real Estate Conference when Jeffries and I spoke in May), she is also an invaluable resource for local businesses trying to find the right location and property owner.
“Kendra is a connector,” said Jeffries. “She is focused on recruiting new businesses but also helps new businesses here to navigate their way to finding a good location and developing a sound business plan.”
As I’ve mentioned in past columns, it’s a great idea for potential businesses to reach out to the DID and Kielbasa first.
The DID works in partnership with the Redevelopment Authority (RDA) in that position, and the RDA does its own good work to support businesses in town. This publicly supported authority is all about creating a vibrant community downtown and in the borough by bringing in new residents to town.
In an effort that started in other towns stemming from the COVID period, the RDA developed Rediscover State College online. “We’re trying to recruit families and young professionals to town,” said Ed LeClear, planning and community development director for the Borough of State College. “After COVID, we needed to find a way to create a presence on the internet as a recruiting tool.”
According to LeClear, a key role of the RDA is to develop public-private partnerships on municipal or public land. A great example is the State College Town Centre project, which is developing the land across the street from the Borough Building on South Allen Street.
If you’ve read my columns, you know that I fully agree with the first statement on its web site: “Locals were craving more high-end dining. Out-of-town visitors have been asking for more downtown hotels. And everyone loves a rooftop view. This project delivers it all.”
I am very much looking forward to the completion of that RDA project, which is being developed by Highland Holding Group and will include a Canopy by Hilton hotel, two restaurants with outdoor and rooftop dining options, music and banquet venue and a food hall-style incubator kitchen.
Another example of the RDA’s work sits at 406 S. Pugh St. The old chemical engineering fraternity property has been rehabbed and leased to Centre Helps, an organization intended to connect area residents to the resources they need. Four residential units are also planned for the top floors.
Back to the DID, it’s worth noting that a lot of people think that the programs and efforts they run are done by the borough. They are not. The DID is a separate, business-funded enterprise that comes up for reauthorization every five to 10 years. This year happens to be the summer that DID is seeking reauthorization. At least 60% of the businesses must vote to reauthorize.
If that doesn’t happen, of course, then all of the above programs as well as things like the State College Clean Team, which cleans up and makes town look better, will likely go away, because they are not Borough of State College programs.
It should be noted that the DID is not alone in working to bring in businesses and help them get their start, though they are the sole entity focused exclusively on downtown. DID meets regularly with other regional economic development partners to share information, align resources, and support area entrepreneurs and businesses. These partners include:
- Economic Development Council of the CBICC
- Penn State Small Business Development Center
- Invent Penn State
- Happy Valley LaunchBox
- College Township Industrial Development Authority
While any potential business owner should reach out directly to the DID, there is also a good resource online with great tips for getting started: Guide to Opening a Business in Downtown State College.
I’ll add that, when it comes to adding vibrance to downtown, I greatly appreciate all of the hard work of other organizations, like the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, Central PA Fourth Fest, First Night State College and many more. All of these events contribute to a vibrant community, and that’s just the kind of place where I want to be.
I look forward to seeing you downtown this summer!
Jeff Deitrich is a retired hotelier and outdoors writer living in State College. He welcomes comments at psumohs@yahoo.com.
