An “Uptown” Concept Meeting was held this week at the Town of Beloit Fire Department Station 1. Several members of the business community were invited to share ideas and brainstorm about what the Town needs and wants in the area surrounding Inman Parkway. Since the opening of the Inman Parkway/County HWY BT corridor to the Interstate, there has been a large increase in traffic making this area a very desirable residential and commercial destination. With over 90% of the Town’s population living within 1.5-2 miles of this corridor, this is the perfect time to gather ideas, plan and execute so the community has a clear path to seeing the change it wants in the area. With current residential, commercial and infrastructure development, Inman Pkwy is clearly one of the most important “main streets” in the Town.
00Town staff are developing mechanisms to gather more citizen and business community input for this and other areas of the Town to be included in the forthcoming Marketing and Economic Development Plan. Town officials hope that the unique opportunity presented in the Inman Parkway corridor will draw visitors and consumers to the area while providing worthwhile shopping conveniences for regional residents.
The original concept for the “Uptown” moniker came from Town of Beloit Fire Department Paramedic Casey Bellard, and is truly fitting. In addition to being an exciting opportunity to grow the Town, the area could act as a regional hub for weekly shopping as well as an alternative to, or supplement, the City of Beloit’s Downtown area. The Town says it has no intention of duplicating the type of district seen in the City of Beloit and hope that the unique opportunity presented within this area of the Town yields equally unique business concepts and options. This is one way the Town of Beloit and City of Beloit can complement each other to draw more visitors to the area and benefit the entire region.
