Successful Urban Revitalization Through Social Media

Social media can successfully promote revitalization efforts in urban areas struggling to regain their former economic, historic and artistic glory. As David Barrie, principle consultant at David Barrie & Associates, suggests, “Online social media [can] bridge communities and network local life in a collective way.”

No place seems to know this better than Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, thanks to an organization called RenewLV. Launched in 2005, RenewLV promotes “Smart growth and regional collaboration to revitalize the Lehigh Valley’s core communities, preserve open space, and establish a sustainable foundation for the region’s future growth.” Mike Schlossberg is Assistant VP of Community & Technical Management at the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, a Councilmember for the City of Allentown, and a member of the RenewLV Leadership Council. He is also a champion for using social media to aid the area’s revitalization effort. People like Mike in revitalizing communities like Lehigh Valley make success stories like the two below possible. They are from a blog post called, “Top 10 Lehigh Valley Social Media Stories of 2009,” from a Lehigh Valley blog called, “Be the Bee.”

Lehigh Valley’s Top Social Media Success Stories of 2009

#2 “Hosfeld Insurance (@HOSFELDInsuranc) and Black Forest Deli (@BlackForestDeli) are people we got to know online not just for their businesses but as people too. The rumor is that the hottest sandwich in the second half of 2009 at Black Forest Deli was the MOB, named after Michele of Bethlehem (@MOB514) on Twitter. What is on a MOB? It’s a triple decker sandwich with turkey, crispy bacon, avocado, honey mustard, tomatoes and lettuce. Am I making you hungry? The growth of blogging locally also came into the fold in 2009. Three that really took advantage of social media were Lehigh Valley with Love (@LVwithLove), LV Scene (@lvscene) and the newest blog The El Vee (@theelvee). If you haven’t already, check them out.”

#1 “There were 8 Tweetups this past year in the Lehigh Valley. April 13, 2009 was the first one at Allentown Brew Works. We gave away T-shirts to the 30-some folks that came out that night and took a chance. Since then there have been 8 total in Easton, Bethlehem, and Orefield. Many business sponsors kicked in money, food and more, and we gave away t-shirts, beer mugs, golf balls, and sweatshirts throughout the year. At our December Tweetup at Bethlehem Brew Works, we had over 100 attendees (see our Twitter list for who came), collected a large box of toys for Toys for Tots, and over 7 boxes of canned goods for the Trinity Soup Kitchen all in the holiday spirit. Our silent auction raised almost $400 total for these two charities as well as some for the Lehigh Valley Zoo. Many friendships and business networking opportunities blossomed as an outcome of these events. Tim Fortner (@timshady) mentioned “I think of all of the off-line friendships that have been created from on-line introductions. I’ve meet some pretty cool people that I talk on the phone with and actually hang out with. It’s easy because you can meet people with common interests.”

From these two stories, it’s clear that social media helped provide critical strides towards revitalization in the past year. It created viral buzz for small businesses, charitable assistance for local communities, and human connections that brought the people of Lehigh Valley together both on and offline.

So, it’s obvious – and not surprising – that social media can play a major part in successful urban revitalization campaigns. I’d love to add more true stories like Lehigh Valley’s to my blog periodically. Do you have any statistical or anecdotal information on social media and urban revitalization efforts in America or around the world? I’d be very grateful for any stories you can share!