Naysayers: “The arena will only bring people downtown on game nights or when events are planned at the arena”

Pictured below is a random Wednesday. The arena was dark this night. This is the Hamilton Kitchen & Bar. There were 50 ppl dining al fresco on new outdoor patio. From the outside looking in it looked like most tables were full inside. Up and down the street around the arena people were everywhere. Downtown feels like a city again. People who haven’t spent much time there last 20 years are now doing so again. Will it last?

Yes, the city still has issues. But it’s tough to say this isn’t a step in the right direction. 

The NIZ will be successful because its MUCH MORE than just the arena. If it was just the arena, or an entertainment district or a convention center or any of the usual “magic bullets” it wouldn’t have worked.

The NIZ is mixed use, residential and commercial all integrated together in the time tested traditional urban form. That was always the key.

On a night the arena is dark, Hamilton Kitchen was packed.