 Some retail establishments were unwanted though, and the city successfully defended zoning restrictions on pornographic theaters before the U.S. Supreme Court in "Renton v. Playtime Theatres, Inc."

The Renton Public Library was built directly over the Cedar River and opened in 1966.It stretches across the river, next to Liberty Park, and was the main branch of the city's independent library system until its 2010 annexation into the King County Library system.The city government has encouraged redevelopment of industrial areas around Downtown Renton and near Southcenter since the 1980s.