Pop, shop & rock it at the new Pop-Up Shop in Downtown Allentown!

Artists have begun installing a colorful new mural on the public parking deck along the ArtsWalk at City Center. The mural design—a stylized sunrise that will span the south- and west-facing corners of the parking deck at Church Street—was chosen from proposals submitted this summer, with Amber Art and Design of Philadelphia having their proposal selected.

Local painting-party studio Roey’s Paintbox is relocating to The Shops at City Center on the ArtsWalk. The studio will officially open in early November, although it is already accepting party reservations online.

Downtown Allentown was cited as a success story in a new report from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) that examines the abilities of smaller communities to leverage their strengths and position themselves as attractive places to live, work and invest. Reaching for the Future: Creative Finance for Smaller Communities highlights examples of leadership in urban and suburban communities that demonstrate the use of innovative partnerships and financing to gain a competitive edge.

Both millennials and baby boomers are drawn to the lifestyle of urban living, according to a recent article in Lehigh Valley Business. The lure of city living for these two demographic groups has been growing over the last decade and a half in cities across the nation, and now its pull is being experienced in the Lehigh Valley.