Napa Makers District: An Invitation To Get Involved

Press release from the City of Napa:

NAPA, CA — 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," the city's Economic Development Coordinator Jennifer Owen said. "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, Owen invited business owners, landlords, developers, and members of the local artisan maker community to gather at Ohm Coffee's Roastery on Jackson Avenue. The purpose of the gathering was to share the work they'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, Owen explored things like area branding, events and programming, and the possibilities of creating a Business Improvement District (BID) to fund projects in the area. She shared historical 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 from the meeting.

If you want to be involved in this work effort, email jowen@cityofnapa.org.

This press release was produced by the City of Napa. The views expressed here are the author’s own.