| Abstract: | Field examination of 40 upstate New York villages reveals their commercial structure consists of six common elements: CBDs, railroad-oriented districts, early automobile expansion zones, mixed use areas, outlying commercial strips, and highway commercial intersections. The economic health of CBDs is quantified by a “downtown vitality index.”Variation in the observed vitality of downtowns may be attributed to site and situation factors, including downtown centrality with respect to the surrounding population, route layout, and regional location of the community. Downtowns are not being abandoned so much as changing their function. |
