Join us May 6 – 8 in Birmingham, Alabama, for the 2024 Main Street Now Conference!
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Marion, Iowa © Tasha Sams
We work in collaboration with thousands of local partners and grassroots leaders across the nation who share our commitment to advancing shared prosperity, creating resilient economies, and improving quality of life.
Emporia, Kansas © Emporia Main Street
Made up of small towns, mid-sized communities, and urban commercial districts, the thousands of organizations, individuals, volunteers, and local leaders that make up Main Street America™ represent the broad diversity that makes this country so unique.
Chicago, Illinois © Main Street America
Looking for strategies and tools to support you in your work? Delve into the Main Street Resource Center and explore a wide range of resources including our extensive Knowledge Hub, professional development opportunities, field service offerings, advocacy support, and more!
Waterloo, Iowa © Main Street Waterloo
Your one-stop-shop for all the latest stories, news, events, and opportunities – including grants and funding programs – across Main Street.
Kendall Whittier — Tulsa, Oklahoma © Kendall Whittier Main Street
Join us in our work to advance shared prosperity, create strong economies, and improve quality of life in downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
The Main Street America Research team is excited to share the newest component of our housing work, the At Home on Main Street Housing Quiz. The quiz is an experimental tool designed to help local leaders assess strengths and challenges related to housing in their downtowns or commercial corridors. Respondents are prompted to answer 12 questions to find out the "personality" of their district and are directed to resources that cover related housing topics.
The intent of the quiz is to:
Provide a quick assessment of a local organizational approach to a unique housing situation.
Assist Main Street leaders in navigating the numerous housing resources available through Main Street America and beyond.
Create a platform for data collection and resource sharing that supports the network and influences the direction of our ongoing housing-related efforts.
The Housing Quiz follows the release of At Home on Main Street: A Report on the State of Housing in Downtown and Neighborhood Commercial Districts, a data-centric report on the state of housing in Main Street districts, and At Home on Main Street: A Housing Guidebook for Local Leaders, a user-friendly guide containing recommendations for supporting housing and case studies from Main Streets across the country.
As an experimental and evolving tool, we are hoping to use feedback about the model and offerings of the Housing Quiz to adapt it in an ongoing manner. At the end of the quiz, respondents are invited to submit housing resources and offer commentary on how the tool can better serve the needs of their community. In time, we envision the Housing Quiz Resource Library becoming a go-to hub of housing resources for Main Street leaders, expanded by the network and updated regularly.
The Housing Quiz is part of Main Street America’s At Home on Main Street project dedicated to conducting research and disseminating resources related to housing in downtowns and commercial corridors. This work is generously supported by the 1772 Foundation.
We hope you enjoy and find value in the new Housing Quiz. If you have questions or comments about this work, please let us know either by posting them to The Point or by emailing research@mainstreet.org.
Urban Impact Inc., harnesses strategic investments and collaborative efforts to foster a vibrant and sustainable future, from visionary adaptive reuse ventures to transformative development grants for small businesses and property owners in Birmingham, Alabama's historic 4th Avenue Black Business District.
We are excited to announce the Building Opportunities on Main Street (BOOMS) Tracker, a new free tool to help designated Main Streets unlock the potential of their vacant properties. This user-friendly property inventory tool allows local leaders can gather, store, and showcase information about their district’s built environment to plan and advocate for new property uses.
Denison, Texas © Mel Climer – Climer Design
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $20B in federal Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) awards distributed to eight national non-profit consortiums. Main Street America looks forward to partnership and engagement with awardees and local programs to identify projects and expand impact throughout our network.
Hillsboro, Oregon © Alicia Gallo
Middlesboro Main Street in Middlesboro, Ky., Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Chicago, Ill., and Sugar Creek Business Association in Charlotte, N.C., have each been awarded $100,000 through The Hartford Small Business Accelerator Grant Program in partnership with Main Street America.
Learn how the HUD Pro Housing Program and other opportunities can help you increase affordable housing in your community.
Learn how Majd Alsaif, Celeste Constancio, and Leilani Commons supported Main Street America this summer.
Learn how the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) and the Clean Communities Accelerator Fund (CCIA) will pump billions of dollars into reducing carbon emissions from the built environment in the coming years.
Main Street America is leading a coalition urging that the EPA make available the GGRF funds for adaptive reuse and location-efficient projects because of the substantial greenhouse gas emissions reduction offered by such developments.
Spencer Main Street's Main Street Micro Grants is injecting key funding into their small business ecosystem.
Spencer, IA © Spencer Main Street
From 19th-century mill girls to Maine's mill redevelopments and the regional manufacturers of tomorrow, learn about the amazing history and promise of the New England mill.
Biddeford, ME © Heart of Biddeford
A practical and easily digestible report containing practical “how-to’s” designed to help local leaders support housing development in their communities.
Main Street America's research team takes a look at the data presented in the At Home on Main Street and offers relevant insights for Main Street managers looking to understand downtown and neighborhood commercial district housing trends.
In Fall 2022, MSA partnered with infill developer and small-deal guru Jim Heid and the Incremental Development Alliance to conduct surveys on the barriers to small-scale real estate projects across the United States. Here we share the results.
This article was published on January 10, 2023, by Next City, a nonprofit news organization focused on socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable urban practices.
Learn about the City of Boston’s efforts to invest in economic equity.
Learn how this West Virginia community redirected façade improvement funds to revive local commercial kitchens.
Interested in implementing a small-scale development project in your district? Mike Scholl of Ayres Associates, who worked with Downtown Laramie Wyoming on their Empress Lofts project, lays out some of the key considerations for Main Streets working on development projects.
Laramie, WY © Mike Scholl
Main Street America launches a project to learn more about the specific barriers to small-scale real estate development on our Main Streets and identify solutions for financing small-scale deals.
learn how Rethos: Places Reimagined is encouraging upper-floor development through their program funded by the Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grant Program.
Red Wing, MN © Megan Tsui
Insights from Main Street leaders and Main Street-oriented housing developers who recently participated in a virtual convening on this topic.
California communities to share their latest developments, including innovative initiatives, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, and profoundly place- and people-based projects.
Fremont, CA © City of Fremont
Read how Virginia Main Street programs have driven progress downtown through key small-scale real estate projects.
Leverage NC, a partnership between North Carolina Main Street and the North Carolina League of Municipalities, hosted a four-part webinar series titled Better Community Planning & Economic Development led by Ed McMahon, Chair Emeritus of Main Street America and a leading national authority on land use policy and economic development.
In contrast, the Main Street Program in Laramie, Wyoming, is thriving, having successfully cultivated millions of dollars to help fill these vacant, blighted spaces with permanent structures.
In 2016, the North Carolina Main Street & Rural Planning Center partnered with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Interior Architecture (UNCG) to provide design assistance to Main Street communities.
In Winchester, Virginia, one woman’s vision and commitment to downtown’s revitalization created an innovative community space for the Creative Class.
