The Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership announced last week it was putting together a Route 66 Case Studies Project with a Rutgers University professor to help Route 66 towns learn to use the road for economic development.
The professor is David Listokin, who shepherded and co-wrote the influential Route 66 Economic Impact Study in 2012 that prompted numerous municipalities to take a harder look at Route 66 and its role in their local economies.
According to a news release from the partnership:
With Dr. Listokin’s assistance, the Road Ahead hopes to document the policies, strategies, and tools used by Route 66 communities of varying sizes that have successfully leveraged Route 66 for economic development. With these case studies in hand, the Road Ahead will then work to share these findings with local leaders to help them recognize and leverage the economic development potential of Route 66 in their own communities. […] The new Route 66 Case Study Project will focus on municipalities in general, as opposed to specific projects.
The original Route 66 Economic Impact Study contained over 20 examples along the Mother Road that positively affected economic development, including the Palms Grill in Atlanta, Illinois; La Posada in Winslow, Arizona; the murals of Cuba, Missouri; the original Four Women on the Route in Galena, Kansas; Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico; and the U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas.
The new project is slated to begin this fall, with a tentative conclusion of summer 2020.
This project has been on the partnership’s radar for a while. It’s going to be interesting to see what Listokin cites with his success-story examples and how other Route 66 communities will react to the project.
(Image of downtown Atlanta, Illinois, by Paul Sableman via Flickr)