Makers District Gathering

Just north of downtown, in the area where the Rail Arts District and St. Clair Brown have breathed new life into a collection of warehouses that used to serve Napa's fruit farmers, is an area that we've been calling the Makers District for a few years now. From where we sit, this part of town has a ton of potential: the buildings are distinctive and have a sense of place, it is walkable from downtown, and there are pioneer business in the area already drawing foot traffic. With its industrial zoning, could this part of Napa provide artisan makers a place to make and sell their products, thus attracting locals and visitors alike?

On August 21st, I invited business owners, landlords, developers, and members of our artisan maker community to gather at Ohm Coffee's Roastery on Jackson Ave. The purpose of the gathering was to share the work I've been doing, and the call to action was to create a public-private partnership to continue intentionally shaping the character of the area.

During the morning meeting, we explored things like area branding, events and programming, and the possibilities of creating a Business Improvement District (BID) to fund projects in the area. I shared historic images from the area and examples from other communities as inspiration and lessons-learned, and the group weighed in on their priorities and ideas for the area. The group will convene again later in October to begin working on some of the ideas that came out of the meeting.

If you would like to be involved in this work effort, email [email protected].