Gloucester Downtown Work Plan
The City of Gloucester, known for its rich heritage and unique city-form, hired Utile to develop a work plan that lays out the next steps for transforming its historic downtown from a seasonal destination to a true year-round neighborhood. Through multiple public meetings and a complete existing conditions analysis that looked at demographic patterns, housing values, downtown businesses, and public realm improvements, Utile was able to identify and prioritize future studies that should be undertaken to further the vision of creating a more livable downtown for Gloucester. Utile recommended a retail and housing market analysis, a reexamination of the current downtown zoning, finalizing an in-progress parking study, and completing select public realm improvements as the “next steps” for the City of Gloucester.