Main Spotlight: 2026 Main Street Director Survey Results Indicate Strength and Durability
Main Street America's research team shares the results of the 2026 Director's Survey, including the state of Main Street budgets, boards, and priorities.
As the Senior Director of Research, Mike develops research projects that demonstrate the power and potential of Main Street communities. This includes work managing research partnerships, steering research efforts from design through execution, and gathering and analyzing data related to the performance of Main Streets across the country.
Mike has more than 15 years of experience conducting groundbreaking research on the links between communities’ physical fabric and their social, cultural, and economic vitality. Between 2013 and 2020, Mike led research for the National Trust for Historic Preservation that empirically assessed the contributions that existing buildings and commercial districts offer cities.
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Through the Trust’s “Older, Smaller, Better” and “Atlas of ReUrbanism” projects, he demonstrated the statistical links between blocks of older, smaller, mixed-age buildings and an array of important community and economic development outcomes in more than 50 U.S. cities. Mike also played a significant role in the National Trust’s Partnership for Building Reuse with the Urban Land Institute, steering policy conversations focused on strengthening building reuse opportunities in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, and Louisville. He holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree (2006) and a doctorate in Planning, Policy, and Design (2010), both from the University of California, Irvine.
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Articles & Publications
Main Spotlight: Appreciating the Reality of a Storefront Business Owner
This conversation between Main Street America's Director of Research and the owner of a plant shop in Tacoma, Wash., reveals the unique struggles of today's storefront business owners.
Main Spotlight: Main Street Business Owners are Eager for Holiday Sales and Economic Stability
New research shows that Main Street businesses continue to struggle with economic uncertainty caused by tariffs and political changes, but they are hopeful that the holiday shopping season can provide stability and support.
Main Spotlight: Understanding Main Street Leadership
New research dives into the challenges and needs of Main Street leaders in Boston and North Carolina and provides recommendations for support and resources to help local leaders succeed.
How to Add More Housing Downtown: Six Lessons From Real Main Street Communities
Main Streets present an opportunity to increase affordable housing and ease the housing crisis by adding upper-floor housing. Learn how Main Street communities are finding opportunities upstairs and making it easier for people to live downtown.
Retail Matters 2025 Report
The 2025 Retail Matters research report, developed in partnership with the Virginia Retail Alliance, explores the top retail trends for 2025 impacting entrepreneurs, small business owners, and the broader retail landscape.
Main Spotlight: Main Street Business Owners Express Significant Concerns in Spring 2025 Small Business Survey
The results of our Spring 2025 Small Business Profiles Survey show increasing economic anxieties among Main Street business owners across the country.
Main Spotlight: Insights, Reflections, and What’s Next with the BOOMS Tracker
Data from the past year and updates on our building inventory tool, the Building Opportunities on Main Street Tracker
