
VISIONING
Tryon, North Carolina
Downtown Tryon Visioning and Strategy
Tryon is a town of 1,500 residents in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Incorporated in 1885, it has a thriving artisan community and a strong equestrian tradition. Despite the downtown’s positive facets, until recently, there were several vacant buildings and it struggled economically.
Consequently, the Tryon Downtown Development Association (TDDA) hired TWC’s Phil Walker in 2015 to conduct a visioning and planning process to craft a strategy for the downtown.
That initial project included several stakeholder meetings and a presentation of the strategy. This effort resulted in funding from a local development foundation to hire a full-time Main Street Director, the strategy’s highest priority. Because of their success with implementation, TDDA had Walker back in 2019 for an updated process and strategy, which included several meetings and a public charrette workshop.