Business View Civil and Municipal | February 2021

70 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL FEBRUARY 2021 TAYLOR , TEXAS were also notable contributors to the growth of the community. Now a city with a population close to 20,000, Taylor still maintains its quintessential small-town feel. In the 1950s, residents of Taylor resisted the idea of the construction of an interstate highway system (I-35) through the city, supporting a move further west. This turned out to be a setback for the community, as Tom Yantis, Assistant City Manager, explains, “Taylor kind of became stuck in amber for about 50 years, where not a lot happened. It had some down times during that period where the growth had stopped, and a lot of the activity moved west in the county.” As it has throughout its history, the city is now coming back strong. With the Austin Metro area growing, Taylor is becoming more attractive to people looking for a smaller established community. Historic homes and commercial buildings, walkable neighbourhoods, and grand old trees, are just some of what the city has to offer. “Now it’s just about rediscovering and revitalizing that existing fabric,” Yantis shares. For 20 years, Taylor has been part of Main Street, a national program working to revitalize downtowns across the U.S. Once a thriving hub of the city, Taylor’s downtown is experiencing a rejuvenation. “There’s been an ongoing effort to see our downtown come back to its former glory,” says Yantis. “It was a bustling downtown in the early part of the 20th century. We have these beautiful old buildings and many of them are underutilized right now. The city has really been focusing on trying to work with property owners to bring those buildings back into productive use.” One example is the McCrory Timmerman building, a 33,000 square foot project on the corner of Main and 2nd streets. The restoration of the original 128-year-old building introduced new opportunities for retail space, spacious loft apartments, gallery and studio spaces, and office suites in the city core. The city participated in that project via tax increment financing through its economic development organization – granting funds to help some of the anchor