It was a busy summer in Anchorage’s Town Square Park. There were weekly kids events, a night market and concerts by some of the city’s most beloved local artists – and even a few national acts. You could hear the action from a block away, said Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.
“There are times when I have, like, heard the music from my office, and I'm like ‘Oh yeah, it’s Thursday night and Live After Five is starting up!’ Tons of people [were] down there dancing and having a good time, especially with a nice summer that we've had,” she said.
The city added more community-focused events to the Town Square calendar this summer as part of a strategy to upgrade the park and make it safer.
Town Square Park was created through a citizen-led initiative in 1984. At the time, it was imagined as an urban escape in the center of Downtown. LaFrance called the area the city’s “living room” that was created as a community cornerstone but said it has become the focus of public safety concerns.
“Coming into this job, I heard a lot of negativity,” she said. “People would say they felt scared coming downtown.”
Those safety concerns are the reason many residents avoid Downtown, according to a survey from the Anchorage Community Development Authority that gathered input from nearly 750 residents. Respondents also said they wanted to see more community-centered events.
And there are early signs the city’s effort to increase the number of events in the park is driving down crime. The Anchorage Police Department responded to about half the amount of incidents in the area this summer compared to last, according to data from the department. But, it’s still higher than earlier baseline levels. Officers were called to or visited the area over 1,000 times in 2024.
There have been numerous conversations about how to bring more people to the city’s core, said Ellen Devine, the city’s Parks and Recreation community engagement coordinator. She said it’s related to a bond passed by Anchorage voters in April.
“That conversation kind of got it kicked off on what else we can do to bring people to Downtown,” Devine said. “We're improving the space, like physically, but we also want people to find community there. And so how does that work?”
Upgrades are set to start in 2026 and include increasing visibility and lighting in the park. This summer, seven security cameras were installed with the goal of deterring crime.
Some of the events happening in the area have been around for a few years, like Anchorage Downtown Partnership’s Live After Five each Thursday which brings free concerts to the city’s core. Or Biker Buddies each Tuesday, which took place in Town Square, but is normally in the Wax Bunker at Kincaid Park in the spring. In the first few months of the year, the park was the home of Skater Tots – a weekly family-friendly event geared towards littles looking to get on the ice that rotated between Town Square and Chanshtu Park in Muldoon.
But the weekly Anchorage Summer Night Market was new, and hundreds of locals flocked to Town Square on Friday evenings to mingle with others, shop handcrafted goods from local vendors and dance to music performed by local artists.
There’s a growing sense of unity regarding the park, Devine said.
“What is great about all the programming we've been doing and how our Anchorage community works is, we have more and more people who are like, ‘This is our hometown. Like, let's get out there and show up!’ It allowed people to come back and be like, ‘Oh, It's not something that I need to be scared of,’” she said.
The municipality also waived fees for events in the park for the summer to encourage more activity.
LaFrance said the park upgrades and increased activity fits in the broader theme of revitalizing Downtown Anchorage. The city’s mobile crisis team increased outreach in the park this summer and school resource officers patrolled the area, she said.
LaFrance agreed that the park’s reputation has improved, but said there’s a lot more work to do.
“Having a space that is safe and, you know, vibrant and welcoming for everyone lends itself to a healthier economy downtown and for our whole community, not just for visitors, and we want them to see all the great stuff we have and to really show off our community,” LaFrance said.
City officials said events are likely to be more limited in the park next year due to the park upgrades.
