Mayor Adams celebrated on March 6 the New York City Planning Commission’s approval of his “City of Yes for Economic Opportunity” proposal, which now proceeds to full City Council consideration on April 8. It is the largest overhaul of the city’s commercial and manufacturing zoning in 60 years, and it holds great promise for all New Yorkers. That’s because it allows small clean production businesses in commercial corridors in all five boroughs for the first time, and that will benefit everyone.

Reflecting on this past year, small businesses, downtowns, and what makes it all work (or not), I’ve been thinking about what we’ve learned. We can all admit, it’s been a weird year. Interest rates are up, spending in small businesses seem to be down, the pandemic is not the core conversation, but its impacts are definitely still lingering on our local economies.

The time is now for companies to take an active role in the future of downtowns – for the sake of their employees, their bottom line, and brand allegiance.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused massive retail vacancies in downtowns across the United States. These vacancies are hard enough to fill in previously thriving urban areas, let alone in already struggling Rust Belt areas and small cities. Yet Euclid, Ohio—a majority-Black Rust Belt city of 47,000 people, located on Lake Erie just east of Cleveland—is testing a creative approach to filling its vacant storefronts and paving the way for business districts of all sizes to recover and grow from within.

Research recently published by Harvard Business Review finds that entrepreneurship has the power to revitalize impoverished communities — if policymakers shift their focus away from venture capital-style, “scaling up” investing and instead design programs that help neighborhood businesses in “scaling deep.” My experience, working with small cities and towns across America, supports that finding and offers lessons for any community looking to build a resilient, home-grown economy.

Yes, I was up at 2am. It happens. I was thinking about the jobs we choose and the roles we serve in our cities. Why 2am? Who knows. Here is where I landed with that middle of the night thinking… What does it mean to choose our cities? Why do we opt to work with or for our city of choice? What are we each working to achieve? Why do we do this work?

America’s downtowns were struggling before the COVID-19 pandemic — with vacant storefronts common, especially in formerly industrial communities and smaller rural cities. Now they’re common in business districts across the country, too. It’s time to bring our downtowns back to life by making small-scale manufacturing a zoning priority — to increase business growth, add needed vitality, and enhance racial equity.

Holiday pop-up markets have become a welcome annual tradition, as they festively attract shoppers to America’s downtowns and main streets in search of one-of-a-kind gifts, handmade crafts and decorations, local food and other unique treats. Their return to our cities and towns this year is cause for special celebration as we work our way through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Entrepreneurship has been a key element of building personal wealth since the founding of our nation, yet access to entrepreneurial opportunities remains highly inequitable – with Black Americans having far fewer opportunities than white Americans. But Baltimore, a city whose population is 62.3% Black, offers a model for the nation for diversifying economic opportunity. It’s a model that should be recognized and scaled nationwide.

As America continues its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, it must revitalize its downtowns and nearby neighborhoods. The nation also needs to create more opportunities for wealth-building among populations who have been historically excluded. The key is to prioritize small-scale manufacturing, and five cities are pointing the way for the nation.

When Pete Buttigieg was elected mayor of South Bend, Indiana in 2011, the city was typical of many across the American heartland. For decades, its downtown had been plagued with empty storefronts and vacant properties left to decay by absentee building owners. Major industries left large vacant buildings, and many landlords would only rent to "low-risk" national chain stores.

The distribution of federal funds to local communities under the American Rescue Plan, now underway, follows closely the designation of Juneteenth as a national holiday. This confluence provides a unique opportunity to invest in racial equity in downtown development that communities of all sizes nationwide should seize.

We’ve missed a lot of things in the last year and a half, but one of the things I miss most is street festivals. Whether a Caribbean carnival in a big city or a strawberry or tomato festival in a small town, street festivals always embody what makes a place thrive: people walking and relaxing, music playing, artists performing, families and friends coming together, the smell of food cooking, and vendors selling all kinds of colorful things.

When community leaders in Columbia, Missouri, first set out to revitalize The Loop, the prospects felt daunting. This stretch of Highway 40 serves as the entrance to Columbia but has been neglected for decades. Local small businesses were few, and struggling.

American Rescue Plan funding is a once in a century chance for cities to innovate. For smaller cities in particular, this influx of funding will be an opportunity to do economic development in new, more forward-thinking, and more inclusive ways. It’s a chance to meet immediate short-term needs, yes, but also to invest for future resilience and growth, in ways that help city finances by building wealth for the people in local communities.

Once upon a time, there was a wonderful small city that loved manufacturing. And manufacturing loved that city. Manufacturing created good paying jobs, brought people to invest in the city, and brought pride to the community. But then the manufacturing went away. Or so the city thought.

In the spirit of #Berniesmittens and #Michellethesuperhero, and wishing for the day when we can freely travel again to our local main streets and distant favorite downtowns, here are my top 5 hopes for every community to make great places that our mittens (and all kinds of small-scale manufacturing!) will call home.

We are at a decision point. Which side of history we will stand on? One of hate and racism? Or one of action and compassion? On January 6th, 2020, the White mob was given free rein in Washington DC to break into the Capital building, and then “escorted” to leave. If we ignore this, we turn away from the truth of where we stand as a nation.