American cities seeking to reinvent themselves can do so by using creative financing, among other tools, according to a panel of experts at the 2016 ULI Spring Meeting in Philadelphia. The panel also served as the launch event for the new ULI publicationReaching for the Future: Creative Finance for Smaller Communities.

Municipalities must first take inventory of their competitive advantages, sincerely want to transform, be willing to take on some risk, and use innovative public/private partnerships, said Thomas Murphy, ULI senior resident fellow and a former mayor of Pittsburgh. “There is always money somewhere; it’s the vision of where you want to go that’s important,” said Murphy. “The conversation must begin with the community making a choice of what it wants to be.”

Metropolitan areas across the United States—including Greenville, South Carolina; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; and Cincinnati, Ohio—have taken control of their destiny and successfully transformed themselves. “Today, many cities are trying to figure out their place in the world,” said Murphy. “Virtually every city has seen a decline in manufacturing. A city making a new choice about its future needs a clear understanding of what its competitive advantages are. In addition, cities should have strong leadership, a strategic vision, and knowledge of public financing tools.”

Municipalities must also become entrepreneurial. “There is always money available. You just have to know where to look,” Murphy said. “The ideas are more important and the vision of where you want to go.”

An example is Greenville, a textile market that decided to reinvent itself decades ago. “One of its advantages was that Greenville was the site of the largest textile convention in world, and European companies visited Greenville,” said Stephen P. Navarro, executive vice president in the Greenville office of CBRE. “European firms knew about its ‘Southern’ advantages: it is a right-to-work state, has a low cost of living, cheap taxes, and low-cost labor.”

Before long, overseas companies started expanding into the area. International tire maker Michelin established its U.S. headquarters in Greenville, and later BMW opened a plant there that now manufactures more cars than any other site outside Germany.

Developers began to revitalize Greenville’s central business district, focusing on the Reedy River Falls, which had been hidden by a massive, ugly bridge.

“Many people didn’t know about the waterfalls. Greenville didn’t have any tourism to speak of, job generators, nor significant history,” Navarro said. “What it did have was strong leadership. Greenville had three amazing mayors over 30 years, all with a similar attitude to think big. All were great communicators to the public sector, to their staff, and to the business community.

“In addition, Greenville had a strong city administration with an ability to create partnerships and to plan and invest in infrastructure that laid the groundwork for development. This is probably the most important element of Greenville’s success,” he said.

Strong civic leadership was important in the transformation of downtown Cincinnati, said Anastasia Mileham, vice president, marketing and communications, at Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), a private nonprofit real estate group.

Click here to read the full ULI article written by Mike Sheridan.