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.
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.
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!
Join us in our work to advance shared prosperity, create strong economies, and improve quality of life in downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts.
This article was originally published in Public Management magazine’s August 2016 issue, and is reposted here with permission from ICMA. View the original article at icma.org/pm.
Over the course of the past decade, America’s downtowns have experienced a renaissance, with boomers and millennials choosing to live in communities that are walkable and that provide distinctive character and diverse amenities. This is true for the biggest of counties and smallest of towns.
But even with these powerful demographic forces at work, downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts can still face an uphill battle. Achieving the right mix of housing, retail, restaurants, transportation, green space, and more is a complicated calculus.
For a lucky few downtowns, greatness may happen effortlessly with a strong sense of place that seems to develop organically and simply sustain itself. For most places, success doesn’t happen by chance.
Over the past 35 years one tool in particular—the Main Street Approach—has helped communities to effectively organize, execute, and achieve their vision for success downtown.
A Way Forward
The Main Street Approach, and indeed the Main Street movement, grew out of rising concerns in the late 1970s and early 80s that the increasing suburbanization of the American landscape and urban renewal efforts were doing irreparable harm to downtowns and their older and historic structures.
Harnessing a unique mixture of professional downtown management and volunteer engagement, the program offered a way forward for communities. It helped them prevent or reverse deterioration of the character of downtowns and commercial districts by focusing comprehensively on the overall health of these areas.
While Main Street-style revitalization has always looked slightly different depending on the local context, successful downtowns typically have one thing in common: They have pursued revitalization strategies that are comprehensive in scope.
There is no quick fix or single project that can turn a downtown around. Successful place management and transformation can only be achieved through forward-looking strategies, a comprehensive focus, and work across these four key areas:
Development of targeted economic development strategies that improve the mix and vitality of downtown businesses, cultural institutions, and housing.
The pursuit of quality design, including improving transit accessibility and walkability, as well as building rehabilitation and façade improvements.
Marketing of the district, including the development of a distinct branding and programming for the area to attract shoppers and visitors.
The successful development of a professionally managed downtown organization—whether that entity is housed with a city or county, or is a stand-alone nonprofit.
Main Street America’s long-standing revitalization strategy, called the Four Point Approach, offers a critical playbook that corresponds to each of these four areas of focus—economic vitality, design, promotions, and organization—enabling local leaders, downtown managers, and volunteers to take revitalization into their own hands. Over the past 35 years, this approach has been used in more than 2,000 communities, generating nearly $65.6 billion in downtown reinvestment—often in downtowns and neighborhood commercial districts that have faced significant disinvestment and decline (see Figure 1).
An Enhanced Tool
A refreshed version of the Main Street Approach was launched last fall and is in beta mode now. It’s aimed at helping communities of all sizes embrace a more strategic, outcome-oriented approach to revitalization.
Fundamentals of the Main Street Approach remain the same, but there is increased focus on long-term economic transformation and helping local leaders to strategically organize their efforts to achieve tangible, measurable goals.
Since implementation of the Main Street Approach makes use of professional downtown managers and mobilizes volunteers, it can substantially lessen the burden on local government to “turn around downtown” or reinvigorate fledgling neighborhood commercial districts.
In successful communities, however, lasting revitalization depends on strong partnerships and coordination between the Main Street organization, local government, and small business owners. Modest financial support from local government, combined with small business sponsorships and event-generated revenue, are needed to sustain downtown improvement efforts.
Where special district financing is available, it can be particularly effective at generating a sustainable revenue stream for revitalization work.
Main Streets at Work
What does Main Street revitalization look like in practice? Communities using the Main Street Approach come in all stripes, from the bustling H Street NE corridor in Washington, D.C.; to the scenic college town of Milledgeville, Georgia; to rural Rawlins, Wyoming.
As different as they are, each of these places has used Main Street as a framework to guide inclusive, strategic, and effective revitalization efforts.
The H Street NE corridor, for example, has undergone dramatic transformation since the mid-20th century. Disinvestment, segregation, violence, and high-vacancy rates all posed serious challenges to this neighborhood that, at one time, was a major hub of African American culture and industry in the city.
While the District of Columbia is now one of the hottest real estate markets in the country, H Street’s dramatic resurgence is not simply attributable to the city’s overall economic boom. The commercial district, with the support and leadership of this H Street Main Street program, has strategically navigated the forces of new development, gentrification, and preservation using Main Street as a guide.
Today, H Street NE is a diverse, lively neighborhood filled with a mix of historic character, local flavor, and new development. It has become a destination for residents from other neighborhoods, while still managing to support a mixed-income population and diverse group of business owners.
Main Street Director Anwar Saleem sees his role—and that of the H Street Main Street Program (HSMS)—as the community’s go-to resource for residents, business owners, and developers.
“HSMS has been the on-the-ground and accessible clearinghouse of relevant information about proposed or pending development projects,” says Saleem. He notes that the success of the H Street District is related directly to intensive engagement with the community and partnership building with local businesses.
"'Traditional approaches’ [to economic development] are very distant into the past now, since we have actively engaged residents and the business community for 14 years now about the need for growth and managed change.”
While different in scale, the revitalization challenges in smaller, more traditional Main Street-style communities can be equally challenging, and require strategic goal setting and strong leadership. Rawlins, Wyoming (population 9,200), like rural communities across the country, faced significant economic challenges in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Since adopting Main Street in 2006, Rawlins has brought the downtown vacancy rate down to 10 percent from 45 percent and leveraged local community involvement, amounting to more than 7,000 volunteer hours.
While maintaining the town’s historic character and charm is a key priority, the leaders at the Rawlins Downtown Development Authority/Main Street program are not relying on charm alone to shape the future of the community. The Main Street program, for example, was instrumental in helping to open the Rainbow Te-Ton Entrepreneur Center (RTEC). Situated partly in an old hotel—once known locally as the “pigeon hotel” for its state of disrepair—the RTEC now gives fledgling businesses a chance to share expenses and ideas with one another. It offers conference and training rooms, virtual office space, and monthly business classes.
And it works: The center has generated 200 new jobs and 28 new businesses downtown. This innovative reuse of a historic building, dedication to fostering local entrepreneurship, and clear economic impact are illustrative of the way Main Street can help small communities live up to their full potential. On the other side of the country, Milledgeville, Georgia (population 19,401), serves as yet another example of how Main Street communities can tap into local resources, build partnerships, and build on their history to ensure a strong future.
The Milledgeville Main Street program is nearing its 30th year in the program and has continuously built on its successes to ensure the downtown is an inviting, economically thriving, and diverse destination. Since its founding in 1988, the Milledgeville Main Street program has helped generate 394 jobs and 89 building rehabs, as well as bringing in 154 net new businesses and adding 22 downtown housing units—all while reducing the vacancy rate from 50 percent to 8 percent and tapping into a network of thousands of local volunteers of all ages.
While this success alone is testament to the strength of Milledgeville’s program, Milledgeville is embracing change and is an early adopter of an updated version of the Main Street Approach. Carlee Schulte, director of the Milledgeville Main Street program, attributes the Main Street “refresh” with helping her program to “envision our downtown in a way that makes for easier and more strategic planning for the future. We now have a tool with which to identify our unique strengths and leverage them for invaluable community ownership and identity.”
Thus, what makes a place like Milledgeville or H Street or Rawlins work and what makes them thrive is precisely what sets them apart from other places—their authenticity, their distinct vision, and their residents. What unites them is a shared commitment to partnership building, strategic growth, and community engagement.
A Movement of the Future
At its core, this commitment is what Main Street is about. While preserving authentic character, harnessing the value of historic buildings, and helping communities get started on their revitalization efforts are all important components of what Main Street does, the work is never really done.
Even the most successful Main Street programs in communities that are seen by standard metrics as successful, are constantly confronted with change. Managing that change is just as important and central to what Main Street does as getting started.
As the field of community development and revitalization shifts to respond to new trends and challenges (think: housing, transit-oriented development, the rise of online commerce, sustainability, brownfields remediation, and more), Main Street continues to be a tool that helps local government leaders adapt to and make the most of these changes. Main Street always has been, and continues to be, a movement of the future.
For more information on Main Street America and for details on how to get your community involved, visit mainstreet.org.
This article was originally published in Public Management magazine’s August 2016 issue, and is reposted here with permission from ICMA. View the original article at icma.org/pm.
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.
Online registration and the regular rate are available through Friday, April 26. Download the conference mobile app, sign-up for the attendee webinar, grab some Shop Main Street merch, get recommendations, and more!
With just a little over a month to go until we convene in Birmingham, Alabama, for the 2024 Main Street Now Conference from May 6-8, we are excited to announce that the full schedule is available online and the mobile app is ready for download.
From budgets and staffing to programming priorities and the myriad of backgrounds that bring people to Main Street, the insights and key findings from this year's trends survey provide a snapshot of the state of the Main Street Movement.
REV Birmingham and Woodlawn United share how they work to reenergize spaces and places in Birmingham, Alabama, through civic infrastructure projects in the city’s historic commercial corridors.
With a specially priced registration rate of $199, tailored education track, free lunch & learn session, and abundant networking opportunities, Main Street Now 2024 is made for civic leaders passionate about community preservation and economic development in historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial corridors.
Opportunities to experience time-tested Main Street Approach techniques and creative solutions in action abound in Birmingham with these great excursions.
Starting in early 2024, we will engage in an intensive program assessment of MSAI. We look forward to bringing an enhanced Main Street professional development experience to the network later in the year.
Founded in 2003 and currently housed within the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), Michigan Main Street (MMS) recently celebrated 20 years of impact across 41 communities.
This three-week live, online course will prepare local leaders to more effectively work with small business owners in their districts and create an environment that is supportive of entrepreneurship.
We are excited to share a recent collaboration with Spark! Places of Innovation, a traveling exhibition curated by the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program.
We are excited to welcome Jenice Contreras to the Main Street America Board of Directors. Jenice has a long record of leadership across community and economic development with deep experience with equitable growth, small-scale development, and cultural preservation.
Join Main Street America experts in Vancouver, Wash., to gain first-hand experience in harnessing transformation strategies to successfully revitalize your Main Street!
We are excited to announce that 862 Main Street programs across the country have earned Accredited status, Main Street America’s top level of recognition.
The MSARP credential is the highest level of achievement offered through the Main Street America Institute, requiring dedication to completing a rigorous curriculum of online courses, readings, assignments, workshops, and a challenging final exam.
Over the course of three days, nearly 1900 Main Streeters from near and far gathered for dynamic educational sessions, immersive mobile workshops, and network-building activities.
Check out our new shop featuring clothing and apparel, accessories, home and office goods, and kids’ and baby items inspired by the Main Street Movement.
Main Street America is proud to recognize John Bry, Program Coordinator at Main Street Oakland County (MSOC) in Michigan, as the 2023 Mary Means Leadership Award recipient.
We’re excited to announce a new suite of resources designed for Main Street! The Main Street Foundations Series provides an overview of each Point through four comprehensive introductory videos, one-page guides, materials from our resource center, and more.
From the ongoing pivots needed to meet changing community needs to the timeless power of place, these are the most popular blog posts we published this year.
At the Opening Plenary at the Main Street Now Conference in Richmond, Virginia, Patrice Frey shared lessons and reflections from her past nine years at Main Street.
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.
A series of small, incremental improvements, when taken together, provide momentum for long-term economic transformation and improved quality of life in a community.
The National Main Street Center, Inc. announced the 2017 Great American Main Street Award (GAMSA) during its annual conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The National Main Street Center and the Brookings Institution have jointly authored a response to Mr. Hyman’s piece, The Reality of Main Street, that is featured on Brookings’ blog.
Michigan Main Street Center was the first Coordinating Program to implement the new Main Street approach on a large scale. In this article, they share their robust process and valuable lessons.
Fritz the dog has made his way into the hearts of the residents of LaBelle, Florida, and helped our Main Street Community find a way to make what we do more noticeable.
Back in October 2015, we introduced the three key components of the refreshed Main Street Approach: inputs, outputs and Community Transformation Strategies.
While there have been over $1.2 billion in public and private investment in Wisconsin Main Street communities over the past 27 years, what really makes it special are the people and places that have been involved.
Although a “beach town,” Rehoboth Beach is open 365 days a year, and with that has the unique challenge of catering to both year-round residents and tourists within a wide range of ages, interests and economic levels
In communities across the country, hardworking business owners and buy local advocates come together to foster an organized effort to reinvent and revitalize Main Streets and downtown districts.
The National Main Street Center is pleased to announce that Cape Girardeau, Mo., Montclair Center, N.J., and Rawlins, Wyo. were selected as the 2015 Great American Main Street Award® (GAMSA) winners.