GERMANTOWN DOWNTOWN MASTER PLAN

CUDA Studio led a team of consultants including Small Nation and retail strategy consultants, Urban Fast Forward, to create a highly focused, pragmatic master plan for downtown Germantown, Ohio.

Germantown, a quaint, historic city of about 6000 in southwest Ohio, has a struggling downtown. Like many small Midwestern cities, it is surrounded by rural land but not far from large cities. It has regional amenities which are under-leveraged and too much conspicuous storefront vacancy. In short, it has strengths which are too hidden and weaknesses which are too apparent. 

The CUDA Studio team led a stakeholder engagement effort to dive deep into Germantown’s circumstances and potential. We spoke to those who love and live in Germantown, business owners who steadfastly forge ahead, and even tracked down some business owners who had left.

The resulting master plan contains 23 initiatives in 4 categories which are practical, straightforward, and readily implementable. With clear graphics, pinpointed case studies, and a detailed implementation matrix, we showed Germantown how to build upon its strengths, turn vacancy into occupancy, and add life to its urban core.

The Germantown Downtown Master Plan gives stakeholders a step-by-step map toward to vitality.