Has it come to your attention that there needs to be something done around your city or town to help improve it? You or a group can do a plethora of little things to help improve the town aesthetic of wherever it is you call home. Take a look at some of these easy ways to make your city distinguished from others and somewhere that people want to visit.
Making Basic Changes
There are plenty of fundamental actions you can take around the city to help make the town aesthetic look more modern and well-kept. For instance, you can plant a tree, install lighting, or create a new pathway. Paving contracting businesses will often give you a discount if they live and work in the city you’re trying to improve, so be sure to ask when you’re getting estimates.
Some other basic upgrades include installing more park benches, placing garbage cans along active walkways, and adding fresh signs or art throughout the city. By making even the smallest changes, you’ll be surprised at how much difference it makes the next time you walk or drive through the region where the improvements are achieved.
Getting Through the Necessary Repairs
Have you recently realized that there are features around your city or town that desperately need some TLC? Some things will wear and break that, unfortunately, the city won’t think they’re important enough to fix. For instance, items like a slat broken on a park bench, a ripped basketball hoop at the city park, or lights that are broken or burnt out are often overlooked. The irony comes when it’s more noticeable to the town aesthetic after these are damaged instead of when they are operating properly. The result is an unpleasant impression of that area. Examples like these are often quick to fix and reasonably priced for repair. The features require someone to put in the time and effort to complete the work.
Local fire hydrant repairs, major potholes, and broken water or sewer lines are a little more significant and will require the help and approval of whoever is in charge of the city maintenance. If you notice problems like these that need to be fixed in a timely manner, try showing up at one of your city town hall meetings and making it a point. Often, people in these positions don’t recognize a problem until someone else points it out. You can call your village, town, or city to determine when these meetings are held. They’re almost always open to the public.
Cleaning Up After A Disaster
Natural, unplanned, and unexpected disasters can happen anytime. Cleaning up afterward is often a massive task that takes time to accomplish. For example, if a hurricane or heavy downpour has gone through your region, your city will require flood damage restoration after all the water has subsided. It is a major job and one that will require help from several groups of people. While tragedies like this can be extremely overwhelming, that doesn’t mean community members should look the other way when it comes time to reclaim their town aesthetic.
First, get the word out that you’re going to work on rebuilding the city. There will be people that show up to help you. Send out a note in the newspaper, online, or even put up signs around the neighborhood. Set up a time, place to meet, and include any notes like tools or equipment needed to help with the restoration process. It could be cleaning up debris, repairing broken features, or building destroyed items. You might be surprised at how quickly the process goes when you have a decent number of people assisting you.
Assisting the Community
While you might not be able to see it right away, assisting your community is one way to certainly improve your town aesthetic. Are there organizations or individuals that are having a hard time? A good example would be helping out with farmer funding assistance. If you live in a rural area, farming is likely one of the biggest industries for your region. After a tough season or if some tragedy strikes, these operations can take a long time to become fully functional and efficient again. Even if the farmer wants to avoid seeking help because of their pride or other reasons, you can check it out and see what’s available.
In addition, a plethora of organizations can help individuals in your community or your community as a whole. Think about researching food banks or pantries, clothing drop-offs, or you can set up a reasonably priced resale store for those in need.
Some Cosmetic Changes Are Essential
Think about what can be changed around your city or town to help with creating an elegant appearance. Many advancements will be considered cosmetic, but it’s your home, and it’s okay to splurge a little bit here and there. Stone mason contractors that work with materials like granite and marble can help put up a gorgeous wall, for instance, in the city park. It might not sound like much, but after installation, you’ll see what an incredible difference it makes to the town aesthetic.
Some other cosmetic changes you can discuss with your neighbors include putting up artwork, adding decorations, or improving the appearance by planting gardens or setting up large planters throughout the city. Of course, all of these actions cost money, so you’ll want to determine what budget you have to work with before making any major decisions.
Modernize Event Space
Is there a place in your city or town to hold events? It could be a hall or athletic center that’s open and free for the community’s citizens. The problem with event spaces like this is that nobody really takes care of them. Over time they will wear out, and eventually, nobody will utilize the buildings anymore. Then, when you need it, it’s not as usable or appealing as you would like it to be. By taking the time to modernize the space regularly, people will be able to take advantage of what the city is providing its residents.
Event halls or places where people hold meetings, baby showers, or family parties can always use more updated elements like chairs, tables, and lighting fixtures to increase the town aesthetic. If there’s an athletic event center in your area, consider having athletic floor installations done. Not only will it draw more people to the building, but it will also help ensure the surfaces are protected and will last a lot longer. Outdoor event spaces like park pavilions can always use new picnic tables, access to electricity, and a fresh coat of paint.
Help Improve Beloved Local Companies
If you’ve lived in your town for a while, you’ve likely recognized some local businesses as adored by the local community. These companies have often been around for decades, and they get worn out. While some age adds a uniqueness you don’t necessarily want to get rid of, there are typically small changes that can be made to improve the building without taking away from the small town aesthetic that people are familiar with.
A local funeral home is usually a good example of what kinds of local companies can use updates. Funeral homes are those buildings that nobody wants to have to visit, but when you do, you hope that it’s warm, inviting, and comfortable. Adding in new furniture, brighter lights, and updated flooring is all it takes to help improve the environment of a local business that most people are trying to stay away from.
Is there a favorite restaurant in your area that’s not seeing as much traffic as it was because it needs to be updated a bit? Small changes like a new menu, replacing silverware, and updating decor or paint can make a huge difference. Plus, when people driving by see that there are changes being made, they won’t be able to help themselves from stopping in to check it out.
Bringing in More Businesses
Going into a city or town and having businesses to patronize is essential. Not only does it help improve the town aesthetic, but it also makes it an area where people want to stay. Nobody wants to drive away from their own community to go to a store or office, especially if there’s a place for it. Are there empty buildings downtown or areas that can be developed into businesses? What’s keeping potential owners from occupying those spaces? This is something that you should discuss with your local officials. It could be a tax situation, or the rules and guidelines for owning a business in your region need to be updated. Get to the bottom of it, and soon the doors will open.
A local med spa, shopping center, pet store, restaurants, and a gym could benefit any community if you don’t already have them. By improving the town, you’ll bring in more people. Increasing the population means more customers for these business owners, which helps everyone.
Improving Tourism and Attracting Visitors
Of course, you want to bring people to your city or town in terms of tourists because tourism brings in money, and that’s always good for the community! However, how can you attract more people to the area where you live? Along with what’s mentioned in this list so far to improve the town aesthetic, there’s more. Take a look around your region. Are there local attractions that will interest people enough to travel to? If there are, you should see what can be done with them to make them even more appealing. If they need to be updated, worn, or too expensive to take advantage of, see what changes can be made. Often, a quick touch-up or a discount on the admission rate will have people coming back.
If there are no local places that draw people in, you need to look around and see what’s there that others might need to learn about. Do you have a favorite spot? Others will likely enjoy it, too, if you’ve already recognized what’s so great about it. In the event of hidden treasures, see what you can do to get the word out. Share pictures on social media or submit the attractions to travel magazines so others can hear about the locations.
Places to Stay
Now that you’ve attracted the tourists, they need a place to stay while there, and the local runaway shelters aren’t going to cut it. Are there hotels, motels, or campgrounds where people can enjoy extended stays? If so, are they modernized and inviting places to stay? When individuals come to visit your area, you want them to stick around and spend money, not to mention come back again.
The only way to ensure that happens is by having welcoming, comfortable places to stay. In the event there aren’t, consider what can be done to change it. Is building a hotel reasonable? You could take the lead and build your own bed and breakfast. Another option is always renting out rooms in your home or your entire house. Not only will tourists be relaxed, but you can make some extra cash too.
You don’t have to spend a fortune or waste a ton of time and resources to improve the town aesthetic. If you want to incorporate one or more of these items into your city, you should consider getting some funding to help with the process. You can host fundraising events like dinners, silent auctions, or carwash to help offset the price of implementing some of these ways of improving your city. Chances are you will get a nice response because your friends and neighbors will want a nice place to live too.