Downtown Turnaround (Hunter Field Editor’s Note)

I ventured out on President Clinton Avenue one night after work last week and felt an odd mix of hope and despair.

The despair came from the surprising number of empty bars and restaurants that before the pandemic would’ve been brimming with people on a Thursday night.

The hope came from the meeting I’d just left of business and civic leaders gathered to discuss the materializing plans to revitalize downtown Little Rock.

Those plans are vast, chronicled in a 134-page draft report that our Mark Friedman summarized well on the cover of last week’s issue of Arkansas Business.