Some communities spend millions trying to create a downtown people want to visit and still cannot quite figure it out. Travelers Rest, South Carolina, feels different because it understands something simple but incredibly important. Great places are built through details. As we explored downtown, that idea showed up over and over again. One moment, you are walking beside cyclists rolling through town on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Next, you notice flowers spilling out of planters

I'm a downtown economic developer by profession. With almost twenty years of experience helping communities revitalize their downtown, connecting downtowns to trails is one of those ideas that shows up in almost every conference, strategic plan, and community conversation. Everyone agrees it’s important. Everyone can point to great examples. But far fewer communities actually move from talking about it to seeing real people come off the trail, into downtown, and spending mon