In the early 1980s, El Dorado’s downtown occupancy was less than 15%. It was a near slum. My office building, which I bought and renovated at the time, was the only new construction since the ill-conceived Union Square Mall was removed in the mid-1970s.

The small East Arkansas town of Trumann (population 7,332 in the last census), which like so many Delta communities has watched its downtown die, is about to be reinvented — and perhaps serve as a guide to other rural areas — thanks to the 140-acre mixed-use development Steel Creek.

How best can we transform our cities and towns with 21st century design ideals that put community and lifestyle first and cars second? Block, Street & Building put that question to city planners via the Arkansas Times Blog and the Arkansas Municipal League, initiating a competition of ideas to create walkable, livable spaces where commercial and residential needs co-exist, and dozens responded with their ideas.

It takes a village to save a downtown. But first a village needs a generator, a spark. What impact can one person have on the resurrection of a struggling part of a city? Consider the case of Jimmy Moses and the success of Little Rock’s River Market and the entire central business district.