How One Mayor’s Design Background Is Changing City Development

Written by:

Rudi Davis

Date:

25 Jan 2026

Share

Share via Facebook

Share via Linkedin

Share via X

Copy to clipboard

A small but growing number of U.S. cities are seeing the impact of leaders with design backgrounds, rather than the usual legal or administrative training. These design-trained officials are approaching infrastructure, downtown revitalization, and public spaces with methods that challenge decades of municipal precedent, and the results are showing up in property values and private investment.

Tim Kriebel, Mayor and Commissioner of Public Safety for Ventnor City, New Jersey, offers a clear example of this shift. Before entering public office, Kriebel worked in industrial design and high-end custom cabinetry. His path into politics began not with a campaign or policy dispute, but with a makeshift street bench constructed from two trash cans and scrap lumber.

“I saw that the city had a bench built out of two trash cans and some old discarded lumber,” Kriebel recalls. “It was a turning point for me. We could do better in our town. People shouldn’t have to wait for the bus sitting on two trash cans.”

Motivated by that moment, Kriebel formed Imagine Ventnor, a team that has now led the city for a decade. While the bench itself was a small detail, Kriebel’s response highlights how a design mindset—one that emphasizes generating multiple solutions and studying best practices—can diverge sharply from conventional municipal decision-making.

How Design Thinking Changes City Management

Kriebel describes the difference as a matter of process. In his design work, he sought out the best existing solutions before considering how to improve or reimagine them. “You take a product and try to tweak it, or come up with something entirely new,” he says. “That way of thinking appeals to me, and it applies to municipal work too.”

Instead of settling for the status quo, Kriebel evaluates what works and what doesn’t, then looks for ways to eliminate negatives and strengthen positives. This method of iteration—standard in product design—guides his approach to city planning.

In practice, this has led to visible changes in Ventnor. Kriebel has used space planning to turn underused public land into parks. He created a unified look for municipal buildings by applying color theory, choosing gray roofs, red lettering, and white and gray trim for consistency. He also redesigned beach patrol headquarters and firehouses, applying the same spatial analysis he once used for custom kitchens.

Kriebel sees this as a clear break from traditional municipal operations, which often default to “the way we’ve always done it.” He argues that long-standing processes can lead to inertia, while creative leaders push for options and improvements. “Give me three options for something, and I’ll choose from the top three,” he says.

Beyond Looks: Driving Economic Development

The design-based approach extends into economic strategy. Kriebel and his team identified unused liquor licenses and used them to attract experienced restaurant operators. One such operator purchased an abandoned 1920s theater, investing about $3 million to restore it as a restaurant-bar-movie theater that now anchors the downtown district.

As a result, real estate listings in the area now highlight proximity to the revitalized theater—something they never mentioned when it stood empty and deteriorating. Property values in the neighborhood have risen as a result.

Ventnor also secured a $960,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation for streetscape improvements in an underperforming business district. The grant, awarded to 40 projects out of 67 applicants statewide, will fund lighting, sidewalks, bike racks, and new curbing. Kriebel says these upgrades will help vacant commercial buildings “look more like investments” and boost residential values behind them. “If you can draw people to your downtown for coffee or a meal, they’ll want to come back,” he explains.

What Design Brings to City Leadership

The key question is whether design-trained leaders consistently achieve different results than those with traditional municipal backgrounds. Kriebel’s experience points to a subtle but essential difference: design training does not provide expertise in zoning or finance, but it does foster a mindset that questions assumptions and looks for successful models elsewhere before deciding on a solution.

Kriebel believes more creatives should enter public service because they are not bound by precedent. Instead, they look for best practices, research what similar communities are doing, and adapt those lessons locally.

This approach appears especially effective in areas like downtown activation and public space design, where cities often fall back on generic templates rather than analyzing what actually draws people and investment. By focusing on what works elsewhere and adapting it, design-trained leaders can create environments that attract activity and private capital.

However, design-driven improvements require long-term support. Revitalized spaces need ongoing maintenance, new businesses need continued backing, and infrastructure upgrades demand sustained investment. Without follow-through, even the most promising changes can lose their impact.

A Model for Other Cities?

It remains to be seen whether more municipalities will follow this model. Design professionals are still rare in city leadership, and the traditional pathways into municipal government are well established. But Kriebel’s decade in office shows that a design approach can deliver measurable gains in property values, business investment, and overall community appeal.

For real estate professionals, the presence of design-trained leadership may indicate a city more likely to invest strategically in infrastructure and create the kinds of amenities that draw higher-income residents and quality businesses. The bench made of trash cans may be gone, but the mindset that saw it as a solvable problem is beginning to influence how at least some cities approach development.

As more cities face pressure to compete for residents and investment, the track record in Ventnor suggests that design thinking could offer a practical template for revitalization—one built not just on aesthetics, but on the willingness to question assumptions, study what works elsewhere, and commit to continuous improvement.